Japan From Prehistory to Modern Times - by John Whitney Hall (1968)
Three kinds of histories get published, don't they ? Histories to entertain the general reader -- histories to be used as textbooks -- and histories for other historians --- and I think this one was intended to be an introductory textbook -- touching on ideas that are current in the discipline, and acceptable within secondary school systems.
One doesn't get the feeling that a great mind has brought it's wide learning and unique focus to bear on the subject -- instead I see a lecturer filling the time with acceptable platitudes -- with one eye on the clock.
How is Japanese feudalism different from European ? How did owner-tenant relationships change over the course of 15 centuries ? The key words used in a discussion of this topic are introduced (and will be on the test !) --- but the differences are hardly explained.
And the great periods of change (the end of the Heian era (beginning of shogunate and samurai)-- the end of the Tokugawa era (end of the Shogunate, beginning of a modern, industrial state) -- and the American occupation (beginning of elected government)seem to be barely understood. The author repeats at least three times that the American occupation and political engineering was "amenable" to the Japanese people -- but what does this mean ? Sid they vote for it -- or did they just accept it --the way a prisoner walks quietly to the scaffold ?
Regional autonomy seems to be a critical issue in these periods of change -- especially in the end of the Shoganate where the armies of two provinces are sufficient to defeat the forces of the central government.
Relevant to the Mishima novels I read earlier -- martial/nationlist idealism (and the politics of assasination) seemed to have been crucial to the sad story of Showa politics that directly led to so much grief in Chinese and southeast Asian history of the 20th Century. Did any of Mishima's characters (or the author himself) ever express one hint of remorse for this disaster ?
One doesn't get the feeling that a great mind has brought it's wide learning and unique focus to bear on the subject -- instead I see a lecturer filling the time with acceptable platitudes -- with one eye on the clock.
How is Japanese feudalism different from European ? How did owner-tenant relationships change over the course of 15 centuries ? The key words used in a discussion of this topic are introduced (and will be on the test !) --- but the differences are hardly explained.
And the great periods of change (the end of the Heian era (beginning of shogunate and samurai)-- the end of the Tokugawa era (end of the Shogunate, beginning of a modern, industrial state) -- and the American occupation (beginning of elected government)seem to be barely understood. The author repeats at least three times that the American occupation and political engineering was "amenable" to the Japanese people -- but what does this mean ? Sid they vote for it -- or did they just accept it --the way a prisoner walks quietly to the scaffold ?
Regional autonomy seems to be a critical issue in these periods of change -- especially in the end of the Shoganate where the armies of two provinces are sufficient to defeat the forces of the central government.
Relevant to the Mishima novels I read earlier -- martial/nationlist idealism (and the politics of assasination) seemed to have been crucial to the sad story of Showa politics that directly led to so much grief in Chinese and southeast Asian history of the 20th Century. Did any of Mishima's characters (or the author himself) ever express one hint of remorse for this disaster ?
posted by chris miller | 8:49 AM
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