Emperor Hirohito reigned for more than sixty years, yet we know little about him or the part he really played in the turbulent history of Showa Japan.
Stephen Large draws on a wide range of Japanese and Western sources in his study of Emperor Hirohito's political role in Showa Japan (1926-89). This analysis focuses on key events in his career such as the extent to which he bore responsibility for Japanese aggression in the Pacific in 1941, and explains why Hirohito remains such a contested symbol in Japanese post war politics.

Japanese architecture is one of the most inspired manifestations of Japanese civilization. This study argues that architectural styles are more than just symbols of the powers that created them. William H. Coaldrake explores the symbiotic relationship between architecture and authority throughout Japanese history, exploring key structures as active conveyors of power, and relating buildings to the political ambitions and religious beliefs of the major historical eras in Japan.

The issue of how Japanese society operates, and in particular why it has succeeded, has generated a wide variety of explanatory models, including the Confucian ethic, classlessness, group consciousness, and uniqueness in areas as diverse as body images and language patterns. In Ideology and Practice in Modern Japan the contributors examine these models and the ways in which they have sometimes been used to create a sense of Japaneseness, that obscures the fact that Japan is actually an extremely complex and heterogenous society. In particular, practice at the micro-level of society is...

The future of basic scientific research is foreshadowed in the developments at Tsukuba Science City. This planned scientific community is vital to the basic research effort in Japan: 45 per cent of Japan's public sector researchers work at Tsukuba and 48 per cent of the nation's reseach and development budget is spent there. Yet Tsukuba remains a controversial social scientific experiment. The author tells the story of Tsukuba Science City and draws conclusions about the possibilities of planning successful research in order to achieve economic growth. This text explores the motivations...

Japanese architecture is one of the most inspired manifestations of Japanese civilization. This study argues that architectural styles are more than just symbols of the powers that created them. William H. Coaldrake explores the symbiotic relationship between architecture and authority throughout Japanese history, exploring key structures as active conveyors of power, and relating buildings to the political ambitions and religious beliefs of the major historical eras in Japan.

Brian J. McVeigh uses a unique anthropological approach to step outside flawed stereotypes of Japanese society and really engage in the current debate over the role of bureaucracy in Japanese politics.
To many in the West, Japan appears as a paradox: a rational, high-tech economic superpower and yet at the same time a deeply ritualistic and ceremonial society. This adventurous new study demonstrates how these nominally conflicting impressions of Japan can be reconciled and a greater understanding of the state achieved.

This study explores the Japanese motivations in raising the proposal for racial equality at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The story which unfolds underlines the complexity of politics and diplomacy surrounding the racial equality proposal. Moreover, it highlights how the idea of racial equality was understood by contemporaries in 1919.

Sino-Japanese relations were beset by a series of political controversies throughout the 1980s. These related to matters of past history and in particular Japan's record of aggression in China during World War II. The attempt by the Japanese Education Ministry in 1982 to downplay atrocities through the re-writing of school textbooks created a diplomatic storm. This book examines the decision-making processes of the Chinese and Japanese governments during the textbook issue. It reveals that Chinese and Japanese policy-makers were more concerned with changes taking place in international and...

A breakthrough into the political mainstream seems unlikely for Japan's green political parties. Increasing concern about the environment has yet to manifest itself in a fashion similar to the rise of Green parties in Europe. For Japan the well-oiled party machines of the established political groupings continue to dominate the social networks that are crucial for electoral success. Lam Peng-Er examines the strengths and organization of Japan's greenest party NET (The Network Movement) as well as the older parties such as the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) and JCP (Japan Communist Party) he...

As Japanese government seeks to play an increasingly larger role within its region, this work provides a timely look at Japanese regional foreign policy. The book studies specific regional issues and problems, exploring recent related political developments in Japan, and how these might impact on future foreign policy priorities and objectives. The expert body of contributors consider issues such as: the nexus between domestic politics and foreign policy; environmental aid and management; human rights and democracy, and conflict management.