Product Description
Japan was ruled by warriors for the better part of a millennium.From the twelfth to the nineteenth century its political history was dominated by the struggle of competing leagues of fighting men.This volume, comprised of chapters taken from Volumes 3 and 4 of The Cambridge History of Japan, traces the institutional development of warrior rule and dominance.Although samurai influence waned with the development of constitutional government, warrior values remained central to the ethical code of modern Japan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Excellent book on medieval Japan
This book is a must buy for those who are interested in medieval Japan, but can not afford the Cambridge History of Japan. This book consists of a articles written by such luminaries as Jeffrey Mass and John Whitney Hall. Taken together, their articles trace the political history of Japan from the Genpei War to the formation of the Bakuhan system under the Tokugawa. Essentially, it traces the political eveolution of medieval Japan.

Wow what a price!
Don't be shocked of the thickness of the book. I still have my (paperback) copy from '95,and flipped when I saw the price on Amazon.Com. Exellent book,and very deep and thorough information on (Sengoku Jidai era) 16th century Japanese history. This book is for the serious history student,and I mean money no object. Book talks about the military government of Kamakura, Muromachi, and Edo Bakufu's.

Serious book on Institutional History of Bakufu (Shogunate)
Warrior rule in Japan is a compilation of essays by well-known authors on history of Japan: Jeffrey P. Mass, Ishii Susumi, John Whitney Hall and Harold Bolitho.This is a serious academic book on history of institutional development of Bakufu (the warrior government, or, as it is widely known, the Shogunate) in Japan from the times of Minamoto Yoritomo through Tokugawa Bakufu).In contrast to books by, for example Steven Turnbull, who wrote extensively on military strategies, tactics, campaigns and concentrated among other things on personalities of samurai leaders, this author goes into the in-depth analysis of the development of Bakufu as an institution and describes governance of Japanese society, gives some insight into economic and judicial powers of its branches.

"Warrior rule" is a serious reading for a serious scholar.Due to abundance of Japanese terms, it is not easy to read.However, without getting an exposure to the subject of this book, it is not possible to understand, what really stood behind many military campaigns and moves famous people of those turbulent times and feel the atmosphere of samurai age.The life of famous daimyo was not 100 per cent war, but also administration, politics, influence, economics, rituals, law and justice.

In addition, Harold Bolitho provides a general outline of the concept of Han, or local government, or the government of a daimyo, his area of administration and source of power and structure of loyalties.One learns here concepts of local samurai, fudai (or hereditary retainers, although this concept is quite described by other authors as well), shugo, jito and other concepts necessary to learn history of this legendary age.

A great thorough Sengoku Jidai book
This is a great alternative for those who wants to get the extensive "The Cambridge History of Japan Vol.3" Most of the contents were culled from the later. I find this book very helpful, and concise. Itoffers alot of good information of the Kamakura Bakufu and the invasion ofthe Mongols. Plus it's priced moderately. A must for students of theSengoku Jidai.

A thorough book
This book is best suited for readers looking into specific topics of the vast Japanese Medieval history. For those, who is looking for another affordable alternative to the excellent "Cambridge History ofJapan" series, I would recommend this book. It devotes a section tothe Mongol Invasion and the Decline and Fall of the Kamakura Bakufu. Thiswas culled from the Cambridge History of Japan and is very informative. Thebook is thorough and it should be among your collection of Sengoku Jidaibooks. ... Read more

Product Description
As the Japanese economy languished in the 1990s Japanese government officials, business executives, and opinion leaders concluded that their economic model had gone terribly wrong. They questioned the very institutions that had been credited with Japan's past success: a powerful bureaucracy guiding the economy, close government-industry ties, "lifetime" employment, the main bank system, and dense interfirm networks. Many of these leaders turned to the U.S. model for lessons, urging the government to liberate the economy and companies to sever long-term ties with workers, banks, suppliers, and other firms.

Despite popular perceptions to the contrary, Japanese government and industry have in fact enacted substantial reforms. Yet Japan never emulated the American model. As government officials and industry leaders scrutinized their options, they selected reforms to modify or reinforce preexisting institutions rather than to abandon them. In Japan Remodeled, Steven Vogel explains the nature and extent of these reforms and why they were enacted.

Vogel demonstrates how government and industry have devised innovative solutions. The cumulative result of many small adjustments is, he argues, an emerging Japan that has a substantially redesigned economic model characterized by more selectivity in business partnerships, more differentiation across sectors and companies, and more openness to foreign players. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

quick and good!
this book is one of my required textbook, I ordered from Amazon, quick action and very good service!

Japan Is Changing, But In Distinctly Japanese Ways
Twenty years ago, Japanese management wall all the rage. Then came a long, protracted slump and attention turned elsewhere. Japan fell into oblivion. But while nobody took notice, an interesting thing happened. The Japanese model implemented its own transformation. It was remodeled into something new, but still distinctly Japanese. How this transformation occurred and what kind of new model came into being form the story of this book.

The Japanese traditional system differs from the liberal market model in important ways. It emphasizes the benefits of long-term relationships in labor, banking, and supplier relations. You have an active external labor market on the one hand, a lifetime employment system and a dual economy on the other. A market for corporate control dominated by shareholders' rights versus a main bank system and stakeholders governance. Free market entry and exit versus supplier networks. No model is intrinsically better, although the liberal model may be better adapted to a fast-changing economy at the technology frontier or to sectors where radical innovations occur, whereas the Japanese model has an institutional advantage in a catching-up phase or in sectors that rely on incremental improvements in production processes, such as automobiles and consumer electronics.

Contrary to what some expected, the Japanese model did not converge toward the U.S. one. Nor did it become an hybrid, although elements of flexibility were introduced at various levels. In fact, Vogel shows that liberal market reforms have very few natural advocates in Japan: even groups with the greatest apparent stake in liberalization, such as large manufacturing exporters or consumer associations, are reluctant to embrace reforms that might affect social stability or undermine relations with workers, financial institutions, other business partners, and the government. The Koizumi administration nevertheless succeeded in introducing important reforms, but with a distinctive policy pattern. Japanese authorities proceed with reforms slowly and cautiously; they package delicate compromises, including substantial compensation for those who might be disadvantaged by the reforms; they design reforms to preserve the core institutions of the model as much as possible; and they seek new ways to build on the strengths of existing institutions.

The remodeled Japan differs from the earlier version in at least three important ways. It is more selective: In the face of hard times, companies have become more discriminating in their Partnerships. They have reevaluated their long-term relationships with workers, banks, and other firms, and they have loosened some and tightened others. They have shifted from a reflexive acceptance of these partnerships to a more rational assessment of their costs and benefits. It is more differentiated: Companies have become more variable in their practices. There never was a uniform Japanese model that applied equally to all sectors and all companies, but the model has fragmented further. And it is more open: Japanese corporations have more foreign owners, managers, and business partners than ever before, and these foreign actors bring with them different practices and norms.

Apart from telling a compelling story, this book also distinguishes itself by its extensive use of the comparative case method. It compares patterns of institutional change across countries (Japan versus the United States and Germany), across policy issues (labor market reform versus financial reform, for example), across industrial sectors (automobiles versus retail), across companies (Toyota versus Nissan, etc.) and across time (Seiyu before and after allying with Wal-Mart). This variation across issue areas allows the author to test several hypotheses about the impact of reforms, with sometimes surprising results. The author's scholarship also spans across disciplines, and the result is a fine example of how political science can blend with business studies and institutional economics. ... Read more

Product Description
This fourth edition provides an in-depth, up-to-date, chronological analysis of Japan’s current political system and the contributions of its leaders. It emphasizes why Japan and its politics matters in a global society.

• Ideal for college courses on Japanese or comparative politics as well as for those interested in Japanese war memory, constitutional revision, and Japan’s relationship with the US, China, and North and South Korea
  
• Investigates the divided aspects existing below the veneer of consensus in Japanese politics
  
• Explores conflicts between power-hungry political groups as well as fundamental differences regarding Japan’s constitution, the interpretation of Japanese actions in the Asia-Pacific War, and Japan’s place in today’s world
  
• Advocates a system that readily permits changes of party in power for the present system dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party
  
• Examines the extreme statements of high profile politicians to determine whether a "nationalist resurgence” in Japan is real or not
  
• Sheds light on the official incompetence and the spectacular rise of civil society following the Kobe earthquake
  
• Features numerous Japanese sources

Product Description
This book analyzes the transformation of the university systems of England and Japan and argues that convergence between these university systems is, to a large extent, explained in the 1980s transformation of the university system in England, and the continuity of the Ministerial jurisdictional mechanism in Japan. ... Read more

Product Description
Changing Politics in Japan is a fresh and insightful account of the profound changes that have shaken up the Japanese political system and transformed it almost beyond recognition in the last couple of decades. Ikuo Kabashima--a former professor who is now Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture--and Gill Steel outline the basic features of politics in postwar Japan in an accessible and engaging manner. They focus on the dynamic relationship between voters and elected or nonelected officials and describe the shifts that have occurred in how voters respond to or control political elites and how officials both respond to, and attempt to influence, voters. The authors return time and again to the theme of changes in representation and accountability.

Kabashima and Steel set out to demolish the still prevalent myth that Japanese politics are a stagnant set of entrenched systems and interests that are fundamentally undemocratic. In its place, they reveal a lively and dynamic democracy, in which politicians and parties are increasingly listening to and responding to citizens' needs and interests and the media and other actors play a substantial role in keeping democratic accountability alive and healthy. Kabashima and Steel describe how all the political parties in Japan have adapted the ways in which they attempt to organize and channel votes and argue that contrary to many journalistic stereotypes the government is increasingly acting in 'the interests of citizens'--the median voter's preferences. ... Read more

Product Description

In many ways,the story of Tanaka is the story of modern Japan, a nation in whichgovernment corruption was tolerated in the interests of continuingeconomic growth. The past few years have seen both the bursting ofJapan's economic bubble and the exposure of repeated governmentscandals. For anyone who has watched and wondered at the state ofJapanese politics, Jacob M. Schlesinger's Shadow Shoguns offersa cogent explanation of how business, bureaucracy, and politics madesuch unholy bedfellows. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent portrayal of the Tanaka political machine
For anyone who has lived in Japan, there are way way too many books that attempt to explain away what we witnessed as severe problems via complex cultural blah-blah about the "Japanese exception."

The great value of this book is to explain the corruption and autocratic impulses as the product of a rather straightforward politican machine - there is nothing exceptional that offers anything of intrinsic value beyond understanding it for what it was:just a moment in time that a corrupt leader, Tanaka, was able to create a seat for himself at the center of power.As Schlesinger argues, with all that power, the great failure of Tanaka was that he did so little with it in terms of serving the public interest:instead, it just served him and his cronies.As such, now that the machine has been watered down, many needed reforms are far more difficult to implement (and the need for remedies, after decades of neglect, is worse than ever).

This is the product of a truly intelligent and thoughtful journalist.I knew him briefly in Japan, and was always impressed with his clear sightedness and willingness to question anything, in addition to his humor.It is a great pleasure to read this book and recognise the original mind that I knew.

Warmly recommended.

Politics is power. Power is numbers.
This is a far better book than the more theoretical approach by Karel van Wolferen in 'The Enigma of Japanese Power'.
After reading this book there is no enigma anymore.

Jacob M. Schlesinger reveals extremely clearly how the Japanese system worked and who pulled the strings. He shows that Japanese politics in the last half of the 20th century was firmly controlled by four men, with Kakuei Tanaka as the most predominant tycoon.

Tanaka's tactics were very simple: use his home base as a platform for his political career by lavishy spending state money in his election district and by buying votes; use his financial clout to control the Japanese majority party; become still richer by corrupting the state bureaucracy, bid-rigging (200 % and more margin) and briberies (by private companies).

In fact, the author shows clearly that the whole system was controlled by a corrupt oligachy.
The men in power were not afraid of racket type interventions. One example: the ruling government proposed stiff taxes on automobiles. After the automobile industry paid heavy contributions to the party in charge, the bill was watered down.

This book is an exemplary analysis of a corrupt political system. Not to be missed.

The Hidden Power Behind Japan's Political System
Why has Japan changed its prime ministers with such frequency through much of the post-war period?Why did those prime ministers seem powerless to affect real change to the political system?"Shadow Shoguns" answers these questions by way of a brilliantly told story of the Liberal Democratic Party's most powerful political faction called the "gundan".

The story of the "gundan" - which means "army corps" -- is primarily the story of the man who created and ruled over it for much of the 70s and 80s, Kakuei Tanaka.Jacob Schlesinger spends more than half of "Shadow Shoguns" examining Tanaka's life, including his roots in the construction business, his entry into politics, how he made money work for him in consolidating political power, and finally, his fall from power.

Tanaka was a fascinating figure.In many ways he was a combination of LBJ and Boss Tweed. His appetite for power and money was huge, and his experience in the construction industry gave him the ability to amass both.Coming from one of the poorest prefectures in Japan, he fought hard to bring huge pork barrel construction projects back to his constituents, and they in turn gave him unflinching support even when he was charged with crimes and became a national symbol of corruption.

A scandal removed Tanaka from the prime minister's seat in 1974, but due to his constituents' support, it did not remove him from the parliament.From then until the mid-80s, Tanaka would be the power behind the throne, using money from construction projects to strengthen his faction, and his faction to strengthen his hold over national politics.

What finally removed Tanaka from his position as leader over Japan's most powerful faction was not angry voters, other factions or their political leaders, but his own underlings.Tanaka had attracted some of the most talented politicians in Japan to his faction, and handling those egos was a full-time job.After a stroke in 1985, Tanaka was unable to reassert his power, and three of his protégés (Shin Kanemaru, Noburu Takeshita, and Ichiro Ozawa) wrenched the faction away from him.

The final third of the book focuses on those protégés, their strengthening of the faction, and finally the fall of their machine as Japan's economy began to flounder.As Schlesinger tells it, the success of the faction was always predicated on continued strong economic growth.When the Japanese economy faltered throughout the early 1990s, so did the mechanism by which the "gundan" governed Japan.

This is a book that gives vivid life to a political system and to politicians many people find boring.Schlesinger shows that because Japan's most capable and interesting politicians operated out of the limelight for much of the last three decades, their story is a compelling one as well as the key to understanding the history of the modern Japanese political system.

The Land of the Rising Bribe
Concise and well written, it opens up postwar Japanese politics. Incredulous happenings! Maybe we should send some of our congressmen to Japan to check this out.-- Short shrift is given, however, to the all-pervading involvement with, and use of, the criminal organisations where the police seem powerless. Also, it should have photographs of the main actors to make it more three-dimensional. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

False Assumptions-Later Corrected
Do not be fooled into paying a big price for this book (over $20.00).The author himself admits it to be a false set of assumptions, later corrected in his book "Yoritomo And The Founding Of The First Bakufu".Unless you collect bad information this book is worthless. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This book offers a systematic comparison between Japanese and Western political institutions in the premodern period. It offers a brief discussion of the meaning and significance of the term Feudalism, and it suggests ways in which the term might be used for explorations in comparative history. Because of its brevity, it can be used as one of many paper backs in the premodern Japanese history course, or as background reading for courses on modern Japanese history and modern Japanese politics. Given its comparative approach, it can also be used as supplement in Western or world civilization course. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Well written explination of Japanese Feudalism
I read this book for a class entitled, "The History of East Asia before 1800."This book details from 6th century Japan up until the Meiji Restoration.The epilogue contains some useful insights into modern Japanese culture.

It's very well written, and outlines the rise and fall of Japanese Feudalism.To be sure, it's a broad overview of the rise and fall of Japanese Feudalism.It covers the broader details, and paints a good historical view of Japan.

Well Presented
Concise,well presented view of the dynamics of Japanese Fuedal structures. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

Product Description
The third edition of Governing Japan provides a comprehensive introduction to Japanese political institutions, processes and culture, taking account of the remarkable changes of recent years. ... Read more

Product Description

For the business and government relationship in Japan, the pre-war period was an era of considerable change. Framed by Japan’s nation-building efforts, the relationship adapted and evolved with the often fluid economic and political circumstances. As both business and government had vested interests in the direction and success of Japan’s industrialization process, on one level they became partners. At the same time, though, they were both stakeholders in the fiercely competitive iron and steel industry.

This book explores how that partner-competitor relationship worked during the amalgamation of this strategic industry from 1916 to 1934, demonstrating how both parties engaged in meaningful negotiation through the open forum of the Shingikai - or Councils of Deliberation - throughout the pre-war period. Drawing upon the original minutes of the debates, it shows the ways in which the participants defended their vested interests and sought to forge agreement, taking the forum seriously as a means of influencing outcomes, and not simply as a mere exercise of artifice deployed to shroud the real locus of decision-making.

Business-Government Relations in Prewar Japan is an important contribution to the literature on the relationship between government and business in pre-war Japan.