Contemporary Japan - Paperback

by Jeff Kingston (Author)

The second edition of this comprehensive study of recent Japanese history now includes the author's expert assessment of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami, including the political and environmental consequences of the Fukushima reactor meltdown.

• Fully updated to include a detailed assessment of the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami
• Shows how the nuclear crisis at Fukushima was an accident waiting to happen
• Includes detailed discussion of Japan's energy policy, now in flux after the mishandling of the Fukushima crisis
• Analyzes Japan's 'Lost Decades', why jobs and families are less stable, environmental policies, immigration, the aging society, the US alliance, the imperial family, and the 'yakuza' criminal gangs
• Authoritative coverage of Japanese history over the last two decades, one of the country's most tumultuous periods

Back Jacket

Praise for the previous edition

"One of the foremost foreign writers on modern Japan, Kingston provides another wideranging analysis of interest to all of those with a stake in the nation's future." The Japan Times

"Kingston's discussion of the changes Japan faces in the twenty-first century is among the most comprehensive and accessible treatments of Japan's recent history available." Choice

This comprehensive study of Japanese history since the 1980s has been expanded and updated to include analysis of the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 as well as their aftermath. The author includes an assessment of the environmental impact of the Fukushima nuclear power station meltdowns and examines its political consequences, including the ouster of prime minister Naoto Kan by pro-nuclear advocates and efforts to boost renewable energy.

With energy policy in flux and a massive reconstruction project just beginning in a time of global economic downturn, this is a critical moment in Japanese history. One of the foremost authorities on the history and politics of the region, the author sets the nation's current challenges in the context of events since the 1980s, when rampant speculation created an economic bubble that, when burst, plunged the country into prolonged stagnation as housing and share prices imploded and public debt surged. With penetrating analysis of key issues that have loomed large in Japan since the end of the Cold War, including the erosion of job security, as well as its immigration policies, aging society, and alliance with the US, this volume remains a superb guide to recent events in Japan.

Author Biography

Jeff Kingston is Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at the Japan Campus of Temple University. He has written widely on modern Japanese history and Japan's relations with Asia, including the books Japan in Transformation 1952-2000 (2001) and Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the 21st Century (2004). He has also edited Natural Disaster and Nuclear Crisis in Japan (2012). With academic interests that include a broader regional purview, he contributes to a variety of major publications and is regularly interviewed by global media outlets.