Customer Reviews

Japan Swings: Politics, Culture and Sex in the New Japan

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If you're a Japan-basher, this book is a must read as it will supply you with an almost endless supply of ammuntion for your battles with Japanophiles. Written by Richard McGregor, an Australian Journalist who spent years in Japan, this book provides the low-down on all the scandals, corruption, monopolies, bloody-minded politicians, right-wingers, human-rights violations, sexism and conformity that Japan-bashers love to hate. McGregor's topic is the collapse of the bubble economy, and how it has affected Japanese business, government and culture. One of the most interesting sections of the book is the chapter on "Money Politics", which tells the unbelievable story of Prime Minister Tanaka's involvement with right-wing groups, and his use of them to silence political opponents. "The Nanny State" which tells about the ways Prime Ministers become pawns of bureaucrats, and about why Japan's courts have a 99% conviction rate is also fascinating. In the "Bad Girls and Mummie's Boys" chapter, you will read nearly unbelievable stories of women passively accepting sexual harassment and cases of gender-based discrimination being routinely swept under the carpet. Although Japan Swings seems to focus rather obsessively on Japan's problems, and could have been a much better book if it had talked about some positive changes as well, it is definitely worth reading.

Japan Swings is undoubtedly an eye-opener for those who've always though of Japan as the land of conformity and homogeneity. Through an esily digestible style of writing, McGregor describes Japan as he saw it while working there. Although a good introductory read, Japan Swings does not go into great detail about the various issues that it raises and is best supplemented with other academic sources for a better understanding of modern Japanese culture.