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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
INCISIVE COMPILATION OF SOCIAL ILLS, WITH FORGIVABLE ISSUES, February 21, 2004
This review is from: Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose (Hardcover)
While Alex Kerr's "Dogs and Demons" harped on about the travails of the Japanese construction industry, John Nathan picks on a social axe to grind. Which makes for an indulging read indeed, although the supporting evidence is occasionally lacking and the inferences about the future are to the tune of "It's unpredictable, time will tell." You've probably read other authors crunch economic data or political misgivings of the sushi nation, but Nathan turns his gaze to schools, novels, manga comic books, and the minds of young entrepreneurs and maverick local politicians. Is Japan's notoriously conformist society finally giving in to the longstanding recession? How is this affecting national identity? We first take up the issue of social corrosion. No surprise there, Japan is in a crisis. An incisive lens is directed at the schooling system, which is now a hotpot of truancy, felonies, alienation, angst amongst increasingly wayward kids. Sadly, parents are woefully underprepared to handle these issues, as are school authorities. Next we take the jingoistic extremism and of course, as people close to Japan may expect, the whacky governor of Tokyo Ishihara comes up, contrasted to the softer Tanaka of Nagano. A third person in the fray, the popular cartoonist Kobayashi, contends that Japan should in fact drop its US-linked past and become more self-assured. All of this makes for a very pithy discussion, but there may be little here that's new to people who follow Japanese news. To others, these essays alone alone are reason to grab the book. Now for the minor gripes. The section that highlights the growing capitalism cites the same pseudo-successful entrepreneurs to claim that Japan is becoming more entrepreneurial: Masayoshi and Oki Matsumoto (sigh, Monex!). To be fair, Japan does have a growing list of people stringing out on their own, but a recent Nikkei Weekly article did a much less sycophantic job of enumerating more convincing and down-to-earth examples. The author also gives in to sweeping statements such as his claim of America's encouragement to Japan to beef up its nuclear arsenal in order to egg China into getting involved with the North Korea issue. Where did this come from? Finally, be warned that the tone of the book in general is somewhat murky, and there is preciously little in terms of What Next, or How To Deal With It. Forgivable weaknesses? May be. For me, the book was an insightful read. At the very least, it'll equip you with interesting little tidbits for those Oh-Japan dinner conversations. In particular people who don't have the time to follow Japanese news on a regular basis will probably find this book eye-opening. A worthy purchase.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What's Missing?, August 9, 2004
This review is from: Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose (Hardcover)
The central question that "Japan Unbound" explores is why the Japanese collectively are obsessed with their identity. Nathan makes an interesting point that one could argue that at the center of the individual and collective psyche is a void. He profers up some examples of different perspectives of people that he interviews -- troubled youths, tormented educators, happy families, dysfunctional families, etc. He devotes a chapter to each of the governor of Tokyo prefecture and the mayor of Nagano, both very interesting and inspiring characters in their own light, whose profiles (and the public reactions they illicit) shed a very intimate light on different and distinctive aspects of the Japanese character.
That being said, the question of from where the void emerged and what might fill it is never satisfactorily explored on its own. We wanders in a rather unfocused manner from one Japanese obsession to another: American-worship, materialism and consumerism, ultra-nationalism. Answers are only hinted at through examples that Nathan uncovers through journalistic interviews. I admittedly have my own thesis which colors my review, however, which is that the void is the result of the destruction of Japan's religion at the end of WWII -- a state religion based on Emperor worship as the devine entity of the unique Japanese people. This reality should not be underestimated. The void at the center, I would argue, is a spiritual, and the spiritual hunger that longs for fulfillment has found collective expression in Japan through various attempts at "Americanization", excessive consumerism, extreme fad-ism, and nostalgic ultranationalism. Nathan somewhat blithely assumes the confidence that Americans have is a result of our culture of individuality. But I think that ignores the important and defining role that the judeo-christian tradition played in defining the western psyche. By missing that connection, he missed an opportunity to explore in greater depth the question that he tackles in this book.
Another oddity about the book is some equally blithe comments in the epilogue about how Japan is turning away from America and towards Asia, particularly China, in its continuing search for identity. And he draws the fact that Chinese tea shops are popular as an example (even though Starbucks, he admits, is even more popular). Again, Nathan misses the irony in his assessment. China also once had a society organized around a emperor who was considered devine. The Confucian order that Japan imported from China fit dovetailed nicely with the Shinto basis of Japan's imperial-religious system because it provided a social order as an expression of the spiritual "reality" of the state devine organization. However, China cast off its system much earlier than Japan did (aided by the fact that the last dynasty was of foreign invaders). China, too, has gone through a similar identity crisis which continues to this day, which often manifests itself in ultranationalism as well.
Thus, I would argue that the feeling of the void is the continuing expression of a sense of loss that occurred after the emperor was discovered to be mortal, which turned on its head the entire religious system which the state was based on. So Nathan may have benefited if he had explored this further, and perhaps explored the appeal (or lack thereof) of cults and alternative religions.
I would recommend for the serious student to also consider reading "Embracing Defeat." I found that to be one of the best books I've read about understanding Japan today, even though it only covers the immediate post-war era.
A general observation: "Japan Unbound" is hybrid of literary criticism and journalism. That's not a bad thing though. I thought it interesting that author repeatedly draws reference back to the writer Yukio Mishima (regarding whom Nathan also wrote a biography, which I have not read). I did in fact learn a lot from this book about Japan, and I think Nathan's perspective and thoughts will benefit anyone trying to better understand Japan. In particular, he illustrates the Japanese celebration of the bittersweet beauty of impermanence quite well. Moreover, he does a good job of bringing to life the characters that he covers, and he selects them well. I would recommend this read for anyone interested in expanding their understanding of Japan, although it is far from a definitive account.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Is this the "real" Japan?, December 16, 2004
This review is from: Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose (Hardcover)
Let me start by saying that I am a big fan of Prof. Nathan's biography of Yukio Mishima, especially Nathan's lucid prose and "insider's" knowledge. However, I am of two minds with his latest venture Japan Unbound.
On one hand, I revel at Prof. Nathan's clarity, keen observations, and passion for his subject. (If nothing else, it is fast paced and interesting: I, a slow reader at best, read it in two sittings.)
On the proverbial other hand, I have two (perhaps petty) axes to grind. First, his use of "case studies," such as the "typical" family in Osaka, seems more geared to proving his own thesis about changing societal values than shedding any light on contemporary realities.
Second, and this may indeed be a small gripe, I was both shocked and dismayed at Nathan's depiction of the bully Shintaro Ishihara (Gov. of Tokyo) as a macho, caring guy full of sensitivity for the general public (a real "sun king") while lambasting the hugely popular Yasuo Tanaka, a down-to-earth grassroots reformer, as effiminate and foppish and describing how (for what reason, I dunno) the tips of Tanaka's fingers shake like Tiny Tim's during times of stress. I suppose Prof. Nathan is just trying to realign the scales a bit, that is, to go against the norm (i.e., the typical American academic and media representation of Ishihara as a "facist" and Tanaka as a "freedom fighter") which is fair enough, but it struck me as yet another "case study" to prove a (seemingly) nonexistence point.
Though it is a page-turner in its own right, I kept wondering throughout the book what exactly were Prof. Nathan's motivations for writing it: what is his point after all is said and done? Is this book meant purely as personal asides and self-promotion? (How many times do we need to read that he went to Tokyo University?) Or is it in fact a personal attempt to really understand "his" notion of modern Japan?
As good as this book is, and as easily as it reads (and remains a fine general background for the lay reader), I cannot help that thinking that the former is true, and hence, my somewhat harsh rating. I suppose most readers will find something of value in it, though, and probably enjoy it more than I did.
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