This new in-depth study of Hasegawa Nyozekan (1895-1969) examines his life and intellectual contributions as a pre-eminent liberal reformer through his role as a journalist and social critic, particularly in pre-war and wartime Japan.

By 1925 the process of Japan's transition to a modern industrialised, westernised state was pretty much complete. Not only had the imperial tradition been restored with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, but some forms of democratic parliamentary institutions had been set up. However, during the years that followed, the so-called imperial democracy came under pressure as the Japanese sought to impose tight control over not only their own people but their neighbours as well. This impressive survey looks at developments at home, Japan's aggressive foreign policy particularly in China during the...