Postwar Japan: 1945 to the Present - Softcover

Paul J. Bailey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631179011 ISBN 13: 9780631179016

Publisher: Blackwell Publishers, 1996

Synopsis

Within forty years of the end of the Second World War, Japan was transformed from a nation in defeat to one of the most successful economic forces in the world. In this book, Paul Bailey draws on the most recent research to analyse the significance of the American Occupation (1945-52) as well as the later political, social and economic factors that contributed to postwar recovery.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Within forty years of the end of the Second World War, Japan was transformed from a nation in defeat to one of the most successful economic forces in the world. In this book, Paul Bailey draws on the most recent research to analyze the significance of the American Occupation (1945-52) as well as the later political, social and economic factors that contributed to postwar recovery.

Challenging the usual image of Japan as a country of stability and consensus during this period, the author focuses attention on internal tensions, including political conflict and citizen protest. He discusses, for instance, the opposition to the ruling conservative party's attempts to roll back the occupation reforms, the anti-pollution and anti-Vietnam War movements, and the achievement of electoral success by the left-wing opposition at local government level. He also examines foreign policy, explaining, in particular, Japan's ambivalent relationship with the United States and the growing importance of Sino-Japanese relations. Finally, the book assesses the reasons for the hegemony of the ruling conservative Liberal-Democratic Party in the postwar period, and how it unravelled in the early 1990s.

About the Author:

Paul J. Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in East Asian history at the University of Edinburgh. His previous publications include China in the Twentieth Century (Blackwell, 1988).

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0631179011
• ISBN 13: 9780631179016
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 226