Japan's Postwar History - Softcover

Allison, Gary D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801483727 ISBN 13: 9780801483721

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Japan's Postwar History presents the first integrated analysis of the social, economic, and political changes that Japan has experienced since 1945. Drawing on more than three decades of first-hand experience with the country, Gary D. Allinson depicts a dynamic, often turbulent history and illuminates its impact on individuals, families, and communities. Between 1932 and 1952, war, devastation, and foreign occupation caused significant changes in Japan. However, the society that emerged during the 1950s still resembled its prewar predecessor in many ways, according to Allinson. Thereafter, by exploiting a fortunate combination of domestic and international conditions the Japanese people ushered in twenty years of extensive development. Growth created problems as well as profits and imposed some wrenching adjustments after the world economic crises of 1973 and 1979. Nonetheless, Japanese society steadily assimilated the benefits of affluence, Allinson argues. Until worldwide recession drew Japan into a severe economic downturn in the late 1980s, it continued to adapt to the social and political demands of a rich nation enmeshed in a global economy. By the mid-1990s, Japan had reached the end of a cycle of historical change. Plagued with uncertainty and striving to find a formula for regeneration, Japan once again found itself confronting the dilemmas of inequality, instability, and insecurity.

About this title

Review:

"Allinson guides his readers through the political, social, and economic changes . . .that lead Japan to its present world position. . . .This. . . finely-crafted [book] should be read by any American who wants to make the effort to understand contemporary Japan."

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0801483727
• ISBN 13: 9780801483721
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224