Kategoria BISAC: History >> Asia - Japan

The acclaimed actress and legendary singer, Yamaguchi Yoshiko (aka Li Xianglan, 1920-2014), emerged from Japan-occupied Manchuria to become a transnational star during the Second Sino-Japanese war. Born to Japanese parents, raised in Manchuria, and educated in Beijing, the young Yamaguchi learned to speak impeccable Mandarin Chinese and received professional training in operatic singing. When recruited by the Manchurian Film Association in 1939 to act in national policy films in the service of Japanese imperialism in China, she allowed herself to be presented as a Chinese, effectively...

Japan is aging rapidly, and its government has been groping with the implications of this profound social change. In a pioneering study of postwar Japanese social policy, John Creighton Campbell traces the growth from small beginnings to an elaborate and expensive set of pension, health care, employment, and social service programs for older people. He argues that an understanding of policy change requires a careful disentangling of social problems and how they come to be perceived, the invention (or borrowing) of policy solutions, and conflicts and coalitions among bureaucrats,...

The Burakumin. Stigmatized throughout Japanese history as an outcaste group, their identity is still "risky," their social presence mostly silent, and their experience marginalized in public discourse. They are contemporary Japan's largest minority group--between 1.5 and 3 million people. How do young people today learn about being burakumin? How do they struggle with silence and search for an authentic voice for their complex experience?

Voice, Silence, and Self examines how the mechanisms of silence surrounding burakumin issues are reproduced and challenged in Japanese...

Kabuki is well known for its exaggerated acting, flamboyant costumes and makeup, and unnatural storylines. The onnagata, usually male actors who perform the roles of women, have been an important aspect of kabuki since its beginnings in the 17th century. In a "labyrinth" of gendering, the practice of men playing women's roles has affected the manifestations of femininity in Japanese society. In this case study of how gender has been defined and redefined through the centuries, Maki Isaka examines how the onnagata's theatrical gender "impersonation" has shaped the concept and...

This masterful history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War--the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944--when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a "conquering tide," concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in the Marianas. It was the largest, bloodiest, most costly, most technically innovative and logistically complicated amphibious war in history, and it fostered bitter interservice rivalries, leaving wounds that even victory could not heal.

Often overlooked, these are the years and fights...

When the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyed Russia's battle fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, it marked the emergence of Japan as one of the world's major naval powers. Japan's navy had been built up over just two decades, with the IJN acquiring a fleet of modern foreign-built warships. Coupled with the IJN's leadership and high levels of training, this proved enough to destroy the fleet of one of the world's historic naval powers.

This book explains in concise detail the IJN's fleet of 1904-05, from its battleships and armored cruisers to the torpedo boats that launched "the first...

Although seen as a replacement for the A6M Zero-sen carrier-based fighter, the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden was actually designed as a land-based naval interceptor optimized for speed rather than maneuverability. Engine cooling problems for its Mitsubishi Kasai 23 engine and airflow and flight control issues plagued the Raiden's development, but despite these production delays, aces Sadaaki Akamatsu Yoshihiro Aoki, Susumu Ito and Susumu Ishihara all claimed significant scores in the Raiden.

Kawanishi's N1K family of fighters were privately developed by the manufacturer from the N1K Kyofu...

Ikebana and tea ceremony, karate and calligraphy-all traditional Japanese arts and practices share certain ideals and techniques to achieve the same goals: serenity, mind/body harmony, awareness, and a sense of connection to the universe. This collection of three complete books provides H. E. Davey's unique insights into the rich universe of these Japanese spiritual, artistic, and martial traditions while introducing the reader to practical examples of two Japanese forms of "moving meditation" that exemplify the union of art and spiritual growth.

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways presents...

The text focuses specifically on the dynamic histories of sexuality; gender ideology, discourse, and legal construction; marriage and the family; and the...

On March 11, 2011, an underwater earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, Japan, triggered one of the most devastating tsunamis of a generation. The aftermath was overwhelming: communities were reduced to rubble, thousands of people were missing or dead, and relief organizations struggled to reach affected areas to provide aid for survivors and victims of radiation from compromised nuclear reactors.

In Japan after 3/11, editors Pradyumna P. Karan and Unryu Suganuma assemble geographers, economists, humanists, and scientists to consider the complex economic, physical, and...

In 1871, five young girls were sent by the Japanese government to the United States. Their mission: learn Western ways and return to help nurture a new generation of enlightened men to lead Japan.

Raised in traditional samurai households during the turmoil of civil war, three of these unusual ambassadors--Sutematsu Yamakawa, Shige Nagai, and Ume Tsuda--grew up as typical American schoolgirls. Upon their arrival in San Francisco they became celebrities, their travels and traditional clothing exclaimed over by newspapers across the nation. As they learned English and Western customs,...