Synopses & Reviews
Over the past two centuries, Japan has undergone Westernization not only in the external realm of material culture and sociopolitical organization, but also in the inner realm of thought and morals. This comprehensive intellectual history, consisting of chapters from Volumes Five and Six of the Cambridge History of Japan, plus a new Introduction and chapter on postwar intellectual trends, describes the forces that made Japanese thinkers both receptive and hostile to Western ideas and values from the 1770s to the 1990s.
Review
'A valuable contribution to the history of ideas ...'. Mutations Asiatiques
Review
' ... a balanced, full and remarkably objective view of the intellectual basis of modern Japan'. Contemporary Review
Review
'This volume is certainly a welcome addition to the body of writing on Japanese intellectual history in English ... Overall, Modern Japanese Thought is probably the most thorough and accessible overview, not only of Japanese thought, but also of modern Japanese cultural history currently available ... this volume must surely constitute an indispensible addition to a personal or university library collection.' New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies
Synopsis
Comprehensive intellectual history describing the forces that made Japanese thinkers both receptive and hostile to Western ideas and values.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 357-381) and index.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction B. T. Wakabayashi; 2. Japan's turn to the West Hirakawa Sukehiro (translated by B. T. Wakabayashi); 3. Meiji conservatism Kenneth B. Pyle; 4. Socialism, liberalism, and Marxism, 1901-1931 Peter Duus and Irwin Scheiner; 5. Japanese revolt against the West: political and cultural criticism in the twentieth century Tetsuo Najita and H. D. Harootunian; 6. The postwar intellectual history of Japan Andrew Barshay.