Japan: A Reinterpretation [Paperback]

Patrick Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1998

Current Affairs/Asian Studies

Winner of the Overseas Press Club Award
for the best book on Foreign Affairs
A New York Times Notable Book of the year

"A stimulating, provocative book . . . fresh and valuable."  
--The New York Times Book Review

In 1868, Japan abruptly transformed itself from a feudal society into a modern industrial state. In 1945, the Japanese switched just as swiftly from imperialism and emperor-worship to a democracy. Today, argues Patrick Smith, Japan is in the midst of equally sudden and important change.

In this award-winning book, Smith offers a groundbreaking framework for understanding the Japan of the next millennium. This time, Smith asserts, Japan's transformation is one of consciousness--a reconception by the Japanese of their country and themselves.  Drawing on the voices of Japanese artists, educators, leaders, and ordinary citizens, Smith reveals a "hidden history" that challenges the West's focus on Japan as a successfully modernized country. And it is through this unacknowledged history that he shows why the Japanese live in a dysfunctional system that marginalizes women, dissidents, and indigenous peoples; why the "corporate warrior" is a myth; and why the presence of 47,000 American troops persists as a holdover from a previous era.  The future of Japan, Smit suggests, lies in its citizens' ability to create new identities and possibilities for themselves--so creating a nation where individual rights matter as much as collective economic success. Authoritative, rich in detail, Japan: A Re
interpretation is our first post-Cold War account of the Japanese and a timely guide to a society whose transformation will have a profound impact on the rest of the world in the coming years.

"Excellent . . . a penetrating examination."
--International Herald Tribune

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For years westerners have viewed Japan as a nation of democratic, hard-working, unabashedly pro-Western people, a viewpoint promulgated mainly by a group of postwar scholars known as the Chrysanthemum Club. Journalist Patrick Smith takes a hard, fresh look at Japan and its relations with the West--particularly the United States--in Japan: A Reinterpretation. Smith asserts that the economic miracle we in the West have long admired was achieved at the expense of true political reform, creating a corporation instead of a democracy. Now that the miracle has collapsed, the Japanese are in a state of cultural, political, and social malaise.

Smith approaches Japan from many different directions: first by reinterpreting the country's postwar history as presented by the Chrysanthemum Club, then by delving into the lives of ordinary Japanese. From the overworked salarymen to the upper echelons of Japanese politicians, Patrick Smith paints a bold new picture of a nation suffering from overdevelopment. In addition, Japan: A Reinterpretation focuses on infrequently examined topics such as Japan's educators and writers. Though some of Smith's statements may seem a bit hyperbolic, his book is solidly researched and impeccably presented. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Smith, a journalist (New York Times, International Herald Tribune), attacks the view of Japan held by most Americans. Articulated best by Edwin O. Reischauer (The Japanese, 1977; updated as The Japanese Today, LJ 1/88), it sees the Japanese as "our hard-working, uncomplicated, compliant friends." This view, argues Smith, glosses over many unattractive things about Japan, including the subservient position of women, violence in the educational system, poverty in rural areas, and undue stress in the workplace. Smith believes that by acting as apologists for Japan, Reischauer and others in what has become known as the Chrysanthemum Club have failed to allow the Japanese their own past. After examining Japanese history, society, and culture, Smith sees the Japanese "re-creating themselves, making themselves anew." This will allow them to see themselves as they actually are. A thoughtful work; highly recommended.?William L. Wuerch, Micronesian Area Research Ctr., Univ. of Guam
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (September 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679745114
• ISBN-13: 978-0679745112
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,166,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good snapshot, May 8, 2001

By 

Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan: A Reinterpretation (Paperback)

WHile Japan was viewed as The Economy to Emulate, a number of very bad books came out that exagerated and distorted what its corporations and government accomplished. In retrospect, these fawning books, such as Ezra Vogel's J as #1, appear ridiculous. Then, as fears of J's superiority mounted, there was a rash of "revisionist" books, which argued that Japan was competing unfairly rather than better.

Now that Japan has faded from the scene somewhat, more balanced perspectives are coming out. Smith's book is one of the better such ones. Not only does offer it praise of certain companies and their innovations, but it does not flinch when criticizing the grotesque underdevelopment of the political system as well as the stunted individuality - the neurotic underside - of the Japanese character. Smith demonstrates convincing that there is terrible sickness within, that the country suffers from a "culture of irresponsibility" and that the younger generation may be the one to make reforms - after the older one dies off.

It is deeply pessimistic, but for anyone who has lived in Japan, a welcome breath of fresh air: critical but not a polemic, empathic without scorn. Recommended.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars flawed but readable, March 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Japan: A Reinterpretation (Paperback)

The apparent inscrutability of Japan and the Japanese to foreigners has spawned a legion of books ever since the Meiji Restoration. Smith's contribution to this vast literature is a popular book, but while the writing itself is good, the organization and content of _Japan: A Reinterpretation_ are unfocused, as points are made early in the book but never built upon, chapters wander from topic to topic, and occasionally the book turns into a not-too-original criticism (some would say "bashing") of Japan and Japanse culture.

Early on Smith makes a valuable point, that during the Occupation the United States essentially put the deposed rulers back in power and developed Japan in its own image and for its own purposes. Smith seems to think a lot of this, and it is certainly not orthodox history as they teach it in high schools, but it is never followed up completely, and the middle chapters consist of a wandering, dull, anecdotal criticism of Japanese society with little or no consideration for where the various strands of culture emerged. Smith seems never to have taken an anthropology course in college, since his criticisms are unabashedly Western-oriented. The standards of U.S. culture are implicitly held up as the measuring block for all of Smith's analyses. Put another way, Smith seems a bit culturally myopic, and doesn't have a very good idea of just what his ramblings mean, as interesting as they are to some degree.

Further, while it may be true that the average Japanese has a rough time of it compared to Americans, the usual depiction of the Japanese as oppressed, neurotic, and depressed is not only overstated as usual, but Smith never tries to come to grips with the cultural and political structure that brings about this situation.

On the other hand, I for one was relieved that Smith, like me, is no Japanophile. For orientalists, all aspects of Asian society, even Indian society, are routinely subjected to mystification and worship that defies common sense. To admire Japanese art, music, and so on for its own sake is one thing (and I happen to love Japanese chamber music), but to systematically glorify them is something else altogether. Of course, Smith's indifference sometimes goes to the other extreme, including some statements about Japanese art that are simply a little too subjective to be taken seriously, but at least he doesn't judge Japan based on aesthetic factors, as many people do.

As a popular book, one would not expect extensive footnotes or documentation for _Japan: A Reinterpretation_, and Smith purposely avoids making his book look too "scholarly." There are no raised numbers in the text itself to indicate when to flip to the back of the book, which seems to me pointless and confusing; instead of having the text indicate where the footnotes are, one must continually flip back and forth.

A final note: Smith lived in Japan for 20 years, but seems never to have learned Japanese! I base this on a few comments about people translating things to him (even anecdotes from the 90's) and his ignorance of even simple Japanese grammar. This is a serious blow, in my opinion, to the reliability and value of the dozens of anecdotes sprinkled throughout this book.

For those with a decent grasp of Japan's history, this book makes an interesting supplement. I would not recommend it for the lay reader, however, despite the (ironic) fact that this is intended as a popular book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Original Approach, December 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Japan: A Reinterpretation (Paperback)

I really appreciated this book. First - the approach is terrific. The telling of Japan through its artists, poets and everyday people is much more effective than the western style of politicians and military leaders. Second - Smith does a terrific job of connecting things in Japan that are not readily understood. I lived in Japan for 10 years and was looking to be critical and find flaws in his story. I found very few faults, learned alot and was never bored. Glad he wrote it.