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In this sweeping narrative, Andrew Gordon paints a richly nuanced and strikingly original portrait of the last two centuries of Japanese history. Gordon takes us from the days of the shogunate--the feudal overlordship of the Tokugawa family--through the modernizing revolution launched by midlevel ...

In this sweeping narrative, Andrew Gordon paints a richly nuanced and strikingly original portrait of the last two centuries of Japanese history. Gordon takes us from the days of the shogunate--the feudal overlordship of the Tokugawa family--through the modernizing revolution launched by midlevel samurai in the late nineteenth century, the adoption of Western hairstyles, clothing, and military organization, and the nation's first experiments with mass democracy after World War I. Gordon offers the finest synthesis to date of Japan's passage through militarism, World War II, the American occupation, and the subsequent economic rollercoaster. But the true originality and value of his approach lies in his close attention to the non-elite layers of society. Here we see the influence of outside ideas, products, and culture on home life, labor unions, political parties, gender relations, and popular entertainment. Gordon shows the struggles to define the meaning of Japan's modernization, from villages and urban neighborhoods, to factory floors and middle managers' offices, to the imperial court. Most important, he illuminates the interconnectedness of Japanese developments with world history, demonstrating how Japan's historical passage represents a variation of a process experienced by many nations. Japan forms one part of the interwoven fabric of modern history. As head of the prestigious Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, Gordon is one of the foremost American authorities on Japanese society. In this striking book, he brings all his knowledge and deep personal experience to bear, providing the most comprehensive portrait to date of Japan and its place in the wider world.

"The early modern Japanese geographical archive is as distinctive and diverse as any in the world. Yet the very profusion of these texts, and their slippage across disparate genres (from maps and gazetteers to travel accounts and imaginative writings), have made it difficult to grasp Tokugawa ...

"The early modern Japanese geographical archive is as distinctive and diverse as any in the world. Yet the very profusion of these texts, and their slippage across disparate genres (from maps and gazetteers to travel accounts and imaginative writings), have made it difficult to grasp Tokugawa spatial sensibilities as a whole. "Mapping Early Modern Japan gives us our first comprehensive overview of this fluid field. Like the texts she so elegantly describes, Yonemoto's careful research 'cracks the geographic code' of literate Edo for English-language readers. A superb addition to the growing body of early modern geo-historical studies."--Karen Wigen, coauthor of "The Myth of Continents

"A bold and ambitious work that traces the ways Japanese people have drawn maps and represented travel from ancient times through the mid-nineteenth century. It contains a novel juxtaposition of maps in all shapes and sizes, poetry, travel accounts, encyclopedias, satire and parodies, and demonstrates how these shared the same mental universe. In short, this is one of the best examples I have seen of the 'new' cultural history in a Japanese context."--Anne Walthall, author of "The Weak Body of a Useless Woman: Matsuo Taseko and the Meiji Restoration

"Fascinating! An unusual book on 'geo-sophy'--wisdom on geography and maps--among the Japanese, before the global rationalization and standardization of modern cartography. Marcia Yonemoto tells the delightful life stories of places and maps, with their emotions, opinions, perspectives and more. A truly enjoyable history."--Thongchai Winichakul, author of "Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation