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A review by zkhesbak
A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present by Andrew Gordon
4.0
I completed my months' long survey of Japanese history with this book, which is actually a textbook. It does a good job at covering what is a long space of time, and all of its political tumult with all corresponding factionalization, rounds and rounds of political infighting, and broad social and economic trends. I think it provides an adequate and interesting scaffolding for further reading in focused topics of Japanese history.
There is a touch of editorializing here and there, but for the most part it maintains a relatively objective tone and is interesting to read. Perhaps more interesting to me than the Samson trilogy, but this may be either due to the short space of time if covers or its modern relevance to me personally.
On reflection, I think reading the history (this or others, I'm sure) provides a different perspective than cultural exports I have enjoyed over the past couple decades would allow. It is a story that is less a monolith of a united and focused peoples and more a series of reactions to outside influences as they are incorporated into a Japanese protoplasm. A society which responds in varying degrees and with varying success to the challenges which it faces but typically with a mind on the community (though not immune from scandal and self-immolation).
In many ways, it is the story of all nations. There are idiosyncratic traits, to be sure, but it has always been and will continue to be interesting to me how individual voices sing out from such a mass of peoples. I recommend this book as an introductory text to modern Japan, and perhaps a more pertinent starting point than delving into the chaos of the pre-history and medieval chaos which preceded it.
There is a touch of editorializing here and there, but for the most part it maintains a relatively objective tone and is interesting to read. Perhaps more interesting to me than the Samson trilogy, but this may be either due to the short space of time if covers or its modern relevance to me personally.
On reflection, I think reading the history (this or others, I'm sure) provides a different perspective than cultural exports I have enjoyed over the past couple decades would allow. It is a story that is less a monolith of a united and focused peoples and more a series of reactions to outside influences as they are incorporated into a Japanese protoplasm. A society which responds in varying degrees and with varying success to the challenges which it faces but typically with a mind on the community (though not immune from scandal and self-immolation).
In many ways, it is the story of all nations. There are idiosyncratic traits, to be sure, but it has always been and will continue to be interesting to me how individual voices sing out from such a mass of peoples. I recommend this book as an introductory text to modern Japan, and perhaps a more pertinent starting point than delving into the chaos of the pre-history and medieval chaos which preceded it.