Strategic Asia: Fragility and Crisis
By Aaron Friedberg, Richard Ellings, et. al. The Strategic Asia Program at The National Bureau of Asian Research is a major ongoing research initiative that draws together top Asia studies specialists and international relations experts to assess the changing strategic environment in the Asia Pacific. Review by Tomohiko Taniguchi
Japan's Managed Globalization: Adapting to the Twenty-first Century
Edited by Ulrike Schaede and William Grimes Globalization and multilateralization of the world political economy have pressed new pressures for all industrialized democracies to adapt, change, and reform their policies and economic structures. Nevertheless, no country seems more challenged by these pressures than Japan that has resisted global rules for its domestic markets for a long time. Review by Mikihiro Maeda
Japanese Foreign Policy At The Cross Road - Challenges and Options for the Twenty-First Century
By Yutaka Kawashima In Japanese Foreign Policy at the Crossroads, Yutaka Kawashima clarifies some of the defining parameters of Japan's past foreign policy and examines the challenges it currently faces, including the quagmire on the Korean Peninsula, the future of the U.S.-Japan alliance, the management of Japan-China relations, and Japan's relation with Southeast Asia Review by Mikihiro Maeda
Children of the Japanese State - The Changing Role of Child Protection Institutions in Contemporary
By Roger Goodman In Japan today, over 30,000 children are in the care of the state. Drawing on his long-term fieldwork in an institution for such children, Roger Goodman describes what happens to them in a country with no professional social workers and little tradition of adopting or fostering children in need of care. Review by Sean Curtin
Economic Reform in Japan: Can the Japanese Change?
Edited by Craig Freedman Nowadays everyone is asking if Japan can change. This conference volume explores some answer to this question by featuring internationally renowned scholars and Japan specialists with diverse opinions. Review by Takahiro Miyao
Unequal Allies? United States Security and Alliance Policy towards Japan, 1945-1960
By John Swenson Wright This carefully researched and scholarly study sheds new light on one of the most important themes in modern Japanese history, the US-Japan Alliance after WWII. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Hokusai and His Age
Edited by John Carpenter This profusely illustrated volume presents a wide range of current scholarship on the Edo artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and his immediate artistic and literary circles. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Human Bullets: A Soldier’s Story of the Russo-Japanese War
By Tadayoshi Sakurai A fascinating glimpse into prevailing nationalistic and militaristic attitudes in early-twentieth-century Japan, Human Bullets is also an engaging story of combat and an excellent source of insights about an influential conflict. Review by D. Colin Jaundrill