The first chapter in this dense collection of Anglophone academia asks, "How and when did modern Japan begin?" Editor James D. Babb, a lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle, has collated a selection of texts that address this question, many of which grapple with the ostensibly inscrutable state of present-day Japan.
The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies, Edited by James D. Babb
672 pages, SAGE, Nonfiction
The tectonic shifts the country has experienced since the 1990s — more than two decades of economic stagnation alongside geographic, political and cultural tumult — are thrown into relief from researchers across the globe.
In any collection there will be unavoidable omissions, but the ones here don't diminish the bedrock of knowledge this "Handbook" offers.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.