The Technological Transformation of Japan: From the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Century [Paperback]

Tessa Morris-Suzuki (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521424925 | ISBN-13: 978-0521424929 | Publication Date: November 25, 1994

For decades, Japan has been at the cutting edge of much technology, becoming an industrial superpower in the process. It is not widely acknowledged, however, that Japan's status as technological leader is the result of historical processes over centuries. This landmark book is the first general English-language history of technology in modern Japan. Impressive for its scope and insight, the book also considers the social costs of rapid technological change. It will be read not only by people interested in modern and premodern Japan, but by those who wish to learn from the "Japanese phenomenon."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is hoped that Tessa Morris-Suzuki's book will provide a springboard for debate." Gail Ann M. Honda, (source???)

"This book is especially informative, and insightful, because it never loses sight of the political, social, and economic contexts within which the history and development of technology in Japan must be considered." J.W. Dauben, Choice

Book Description

Although Japan has been at the cutting edge of technology for decades, it is not widely acknowledged that its status is the result of historical processes occurring over centuries. This comprehensive English-language history considers the social costs of rapid technological change as well.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 25, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521424925
• ISBN-13: 978-0521424929
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tessa Morris-Suzuki was born in England and lived and worked in Japan before emigrating to Australia in 1981. She is professor of Japanese history in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, where her research focuses on Japan's frontiers and minority communities and on questions of historical memory in East Asia.
Her most recent book is To the Diamond Mountains: A Hundred Year Journey through China and Korea.
To learn more about this book, WATCH THE VIDEO "To the Diamond Mountains: Behind the Book" below!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shifting Away from Feudalism, November 14, 2009

By 

K. Petersen "KHS Ramp Bookworm" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Technological Transformation of Japan: From the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)

This was the idea that was presented in regards to this book. Part of the main assignment. In Japan, things have really changed since the beginning of where this book takes place. It is hoped that other Asian nations can follow the lead of a country like Japan which shifted from a feudal cultural system to a technology-based cultural system. And the effects of how society is influenced by technology or how technology is influenced by society can be seen here. The line is not always clear and sometimes shifts occur as to what affects what.

In the beginning of the book we have feudal warlords who are at the forefront or the selling and control of the various prefectures and new technologies. Then the shift is made to more governmental control under peaceful measures. Such practice is essential for the peaceful progress of a country as a whole, and this has been demonstrated by Japan and by the writer who wrote this book. Developing nations in Asia can survive and not move backward if they follow by example of the region's leader. Japan can be compared to the U.S. when it comes to leading by example for "peer countries" in their regions. At the point of this review, U.S. President Barack Obama is in fact in Tokyo, Japan, and is discussing the more "Pacific-oriented President" (he spent a short time in Indonesia) and how China should not be feared. He is also discussing how the U.S. wants to take a more defined and active role in Asia.

Japan feared many countries and shut itself off to them in trade, as demonstrated in this book. The country was open only to the Netherlands for quite some time. Then a U.S. military officer more or less forced open the gate to trade to this previously isolated and nationalistic country and that has been one of the most important factors in the development of Japan.