Molding Japanese Minds [Hardcover]

Sheldon Garon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1997

What actually unites the Japanese to achieve so many social and economic goals that have eluded other polities? This book helps readers to understand the Japanese mobilizing spirit as it taps into the intimate relationships everyday Japanese have with their government. To an extent inconceivable to most Westerners, state directives trickle into homes, religious groups and even into individuals' sex lives, where they are frequently welcomed by the Japanese and reinforced by their neighbours. In a series of five case studies, this book demonstrates how average citizens have co-operated with government officials in the areas of welfare, prostitution and household savings, and in controlling religious "cults" and promoting the political participation of women.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Molding Japanese Minds is history at its best; with a thorough command of original sources and scholarship, both in Japanese and other languages, Garon demonstrates that social policy was not solely government-or bureaucracy-driven." -- Times Literary Supplement

"An excellent book. . . Garon has chosen his subject well and. . . he handles it with balance and authority." -- Patrick Smith, The Nation

...[a] splendid book... -- The New York Review of Books, Ian Buruma

As with any superb work of history, one finishes this book with a renewed appreciation of the complexity of the human condition, for this is not a simple story of control from the top. -- Andrew Gordon, Harvard University

From the Publisher

How has the Japanese government persuaded its citizens to save substantial portions of their incomes? And to care for the elderly within the family? How did the public come to support legalized prostitution as in the national interest? What roles have women's groups played in Japan's "economic miracle"? What actually unites the Japanese to achieve so many economic and social goals that have eluded other polities? Here Sheldon Garon helps us to understand this mobilizing spirit as he taps into the intimate relationships everyday Japanese have with their government. To an extent inconceivable to most Westerners, state directives trickle into homes, religious groups, and even into individuals' sex lives, where they are frequently welcomed by the Japanese and reinforced by their neighbors. In a series of five compelling case studies, Garon demonstrates how average citizens have cooperated with government officials in the areas of welfare, prostitution, and household savings, and in controlling religious "cults" and promoting the political participation of women.

The state's success in creating a nation of activists began before World War II, and has hinged on campaigns that mobilize the people behind various policies and encourage their involvement at the local level. For example, neighborhoods have been socially managed on a volunteer basis by smallbusiness owners and housewives, who strive to rid their locales of indolence and to contain welfare costs. The story behind the state regulation of prostitution is a more turbulent one in which many lauded the flourishing brothels for preserving Japanese tradition and strengthening the "family system," while others condemned the sexual enslavement of young women.

In each case, we see Japanese citizens working closely with the state to recreate "community" and shape the thought and behavior of fellow citizens. The policies often originate at the top, but in the hands of activists they take on added vigor. This phenomenon, which challenges the conventional dichotomy of the "state" versus the "people," is well worth exploring as Western governments consider how best to manage their own changing societies.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (March 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691044880
• ISBN-13: 978-0691044880
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,693,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars First half and intro/cncl, November 7, 2010

By 

cxlxmx - See all my reviews

This review is from: Molding Japanese Minds (Paperback)

Like the other reviewer, William Pease, I managed the first half and the conclusion. I think this book is about the way the state calludes with certain segments of the population to produce social outcomes. Negotiation, agreement, and concensus, rather than totalitarianism. I think. Speaking as someone who generally enjoys academics and often chooses to read scholarly works for fun, I found Molding Japanese Minds excessively dry and obscure with an overabundance of superfluous if not exactly tangential details. It's as if the author set about creating a test for the reader: do you have the power to overcome the mind-numbing force of excessive detail and blase prose to understand the point of this book? Aside from the facts that my mind kept wandering and that I kept wishing I hadn't gone to the trouble of getting this book out from the library, I was disappointed in finding it difficult to extrapolate the work onto my own interests in Japan. I suspect this book could be very useful if you were interested in the specific topics the author uses as case studies. I won't be doing any searches on the author name Sheldon Garon, however.

3 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Four good interwar examples of expanding state power, November 21, 2000

By 

William Pease (Napa Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Molding Japanese Minds (Paperback)

Memorable. This review is for the first half and intro/concl. Four examples of the expanding cultural power of the state in Japan, primarily interwar with 19th century background. I found the case for state power in prostitution and cafe society an arresting topic. However, the section on cults contains good horror tales of gov. oppression, and the growth of Christian societies and welfare-type activity new to me.