Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan (Twentieth-Century Japan: The Emergence of a World Power) [Paperback]

T. Fujitani (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520213718 | ISBN-13: 978-0520213715 | Publication Date: February 12, 1998

Using ceremonials such as imperial weddings and funerals as models, T. Fujitani illustrates what visual symbols and rituals reveal about monarchy, nationalism, city planning, discipline, gender, memory, and modernity. Focusing on the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Fujitani brings recent methods of cultural history to a study of modern Japanese nationalism for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A clever, cogent, and convincing book which should be read by monarchists and republicans everywhere." -- David Cannadine, Times Literary Supplement

"A fascinating and detailed account of the invention of the modern Japanese state through displays of Imperial power and pageantry. . . . A complete blueprint of political manipulation indicating what happened and how modern Japan was, in several senses, created." -- Donald Richie, The Japan Times

"A tremendous book. . . . Fujitani brings his skills and insights to bear on a subject crying out to be addressed: namely, the imperial institution and its formative role in the emergence of the modern Japanese nation state." -- John Breen, Monumenta Nipponica

About the Author

T. Fujitani is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (February 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520213718
• ISBN-13: 978-0520213715
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a textbook for the study of Japan, January 3, 2004

By 

pimp (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan (Twentieth-Century Japan, 6) (Hardcover)

this book shows how Japanese customs are made up by the successors of Meiji. most people think that the emperor of Japan has been lasted from the start of Japan, which is very wrong. After the success of Meiji, they made all the customs including weddings, images of the emperor, etc. From inventing all these things, they could easily plant into the people's mind that the emperor has been there watching his people from the beginning of the country. The author, Takashi Fujitani provocates that this is the basement of Japanese nationalism.