Nationalisms in Japan brings together leading specialists in the field to discuss how notions of ‘nationalism’ in modern Japan impinges on all aspects of social, political and cultural understanding of the Japanese nation or the Japanese state. This book is clearly presented and jargon-free, and encompasses a chronological period of roughly two hundred years, beginning with a discussion of some of the early Japanese national thinkers of the Mito School, and ending with a contemporary discussion of the official visits made by Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichiro to the highly controversial Yasukuni Shrine. This wide chronological period allows for important observations about the evolution of nationalism, suggesting that Japan actually houses multiple ‘nationalisms’.
Presenting new insights and understanding, this is a valuable addition to those working on modern Japan and nationalism.
Introduction Naoko Shimazu 1. Japanese National Doctrines in International Perspective Erica Benner 2. Reading the Diaries of Japanese Conscripts: Forging National Consciousness during the Russo-Japanese War Naoko Shimazu 3. Internationalism and Nationalism: Anti-western Sentiments of Japanese Foreign Policy Debates, 1918-1922 Harumi Goto-Shibata 4. Japanese Nationalist Extremism 1921-1941 in Historical Perspective Stephen S. Large 5. The Making of Ainu Moshiri: Japan’s Indigenous Nationalism and its Cultural Fictions Richard Siddle 6. The Battle for Hearts and Minds: Patriotic Education in Japan in the 1990s and Beyond Caroline Rose 7. The National Politics of Yasukuni Shrine Tetsuya Takahashi Conclusions Towards Nationalisms in Japan Naoko Shimazu
Biography
Naoko Shimazu lectures on modern Japanese history at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of Japan, Race and Equality: The Racial Equality Proposal of 1919 (Routledge, 1998).
'This volume makes an important contribution in its emphasis on illuminating the complexities of Japanese nationalism and its commonalities with other states' 'national thinking'...All the chapters are extremely accessible and superbly written. Their rich empirical contents would be of interest to a very wide range of scholars.' - Shogo Suzuki, East Asia: An International Quarterly, Volume 24
'[E]ach one of the the individual investigations conducted by the contributing authors exhibits solid scholarship, and the editor, Naoko Shimazu, deserves special praise for ensuring consistent quality over such a wide range of themes and, by bringing these essays together, for successfully highlighting the pluralistic (and perhaps even conflicting) nature of nationalisms in Japan.' - Koichi Nakano, Monumenta Nipponica, 62:4
