The brilliant and influential statesman, Itō Hirobumi (1841-1909), and the first prime minister of Japan’s modern state, has been poorly understood. This biography attempts to set the record straight about Itō’s thought and vision for Japan’s modernisation based on research in primary sources. It outlines Itō’s life: the son of a poor farmer, he showed exceptional talent as a boy and was sent to study in Europe and the United States. He returned home convinced that Western civilisation was the only viable path for Japan. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Itō became a powerful intellectual and political force behind reforms of Japanese laws and institutions aimed to shape a modern government based on informed leadership and a knowledeable populace. Among his many achievements were the establishment of Japan’s first constitution—the Meiji Constitution of 1889, and the founding in 1900 of a new type of constitutional party, the Rikken Seiyukai (Friends of Constitutional Government), which, reformulated after 1945, became the Liberal Democratic Party that has dominated Japanese politics in the postwar period. Concerning Itō’s role as Japanese Resident-General in Korea from 1905, the author argues that Itō’s aim, not understood by either the Japanese home government or Koreans themselves, was not to colonize Korea. He was determined to modernise Korea and consolidate further constitutional reforms in Japan. This aim was not shared by others, and Itō resigned in 1909. He was assassinated the same year in Manchuria by a Korean nationalist. The Japanese language edition of this book is a bestseller in Japan, and it received the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, one of Japan's most prestigious publishing awards.

The brilliant and influential statesman, It Hirobumi (1841-1909), and the first prime minister of Japan's modern state, has been poorly understood. This biography attempts to set the record straight about It's thought and vision for Japan's modernisation based on research in primary sources. It outlines It's life: the son of a poor farmer, he showed exceptional talent as a boy and was sent to study in Europe and the United States. He returned home convinced that Western civilisation was the only viable path for Japan. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, It became a powerful intellectual and political force behind reforms of Japanese laws and institutions aimed to shape a modern government based on informed leadership and a knowledeable populace. Among his many achievements were the establishment of Japan's first constitution--the Meiji Constitution of 1889, and the founding in 1900 of a new type of constitutional party, the Rikken Seiyukai (Friends of Constitutional Government), which, reformulated after 1945, became the Liberal Democratic Party that has dominated Japanese politics in the postwar period. Concerning It's role as Japanese Resident-General in Korea from 1905, the author argues that It's aim, not understood by either the Japanese home government or Koreans themselves, was not to colonize Korea. He was determined to modernise Korea and consolidate further constitutional reforms in Japan. This aim was not shared by others, and It resigned in 1909. He was assassinated the same year in Manchuria by a Korean nationalist. The Japanese language edition of this book is a bestseller in Japan, and it received the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, one of Japan's most prestigious publishing awards.

"This book is a detailed examination of the intellectual and cultural history that gave birth to Japan's Meiji Constitution at the end of the nineteenth century. In this book, the author employs a cross-cultural perspective to analyze how modern Western ideas of constitutional government were assimilated and adapted by the newly established Meiji state. Japan's leaders had witnessed the piecemeal devouring of Qing-dynasty China by the Western powers, and were determined that Japan should not suffer the same fate. they staked the future of their nation on a concerted effort to understand the political and legal structures that appeared to be the source of the strength and dynamism of Western civilization. The author relates how key leaders of Meiji Japan experienced the west through fact-finding missions and extended overseas travel and research and show how their international experience shaped the policies and character of the nation that they helped build. He looks beyond the constitution as a legal document and demonstrates how its architects used it and the supplementary laws and institutions supporting it to catalyze the emergence of a modern nation-state." -- BOOK JACKET.

This volume examines the Meiji Restoration through a global history lens to re-interpret the formation of a globally-cast, Japanese nation-state.

"With the ascension of a new emperor and the dawn of the Reiwa Era, Kenneth J. Ruoff has expanded upon and updated The People’s Emperor, his study of the monarchy’s role as a political, societal, and cultural institution in contemporary Japan. Many Japanese continue to define the nation’s identity through the imperial house, making it a window into Japan’s postwar history. Ruoff begins by examining the reform of the monarchy during the U.S. occupation and then turns to its evolution since the Japanese regained the power to shape it. To understand the monarchy’s function in contemporary Japan, the author analyzes issues such as the role of individual emperors in shaping the institution, the intersection of the monarchy with politics, the emperor’s and the nation’s responsibility for the war, nationalistic movements in support of the monarchy, and the remaking of the once-sacrosanct throne into a “people’s imperial house” embedded in the postwar culture of democracy. Finally, Ruoff examines recent developments, including the abdication of Emperor Akihito and the heir crisis, which have brought to the forefront the fragility of the imperial line under the current legal system, leading to calls for reform."

Much attention has been paid to the Japanese deployment of Koreans in their war efforts during WWII. Much less attention, however, has been given to the subject prior to 1910. This book will: 1) present the evidence which reveals the presence of Koreans in the Japanese military during the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905, as seen by an American novelist Jack London, before the formal annexation of Korea by Japan; 2) analyze the presence of Koreans on the Japanese and the Russian sides of the war; and 3) investigate why and how these Koreans became involved in someone else’s war. Arirang, a Korean folksong favored and sung by Koreans at home and in exile, has sustained the Korean people in a shared, collective spirit throughout their lives in transnational diasporas in the Russian Far East, Manchuria, and Japan as well as in Korea. This is a study of transnational Koreans as the Arirang people: Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: Koreans in the Russian Far East and Manchuria, Chapter 3: Koreans in the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905, Chapter 4: Korean Transnationals as Stateless People, 1906–1920, and the Conclusion.