"A stunning achievement as the first full account of social science in a non-Western society. Barshay tells an epic story of how a handful of Japanese intellectuals used social science to make sense of the new society into which they were moving. What they did helps us understand not only Japan, but the whole modern world."—Robert Bellah, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Tokugawa Religion and Imagining Japan

Contents: I. "Introduction," Robert E. Ward. II. "A Monarch for Modern Japan," John Whitney Hall. III. "Political Modernization and the Meiji Genro" Roger F. Hackett. IV. "Fukuzawa Yukichi: The Philosophical Foundations of Meiji Nationalism," Albert M. Craig. V. "Modernization and Foreign Policy in Meiji Japan," Marius B. Jansen. VI. "War and Modernization," Nobutaka Ike. VII. "Popular Political Participation and Political Development in Japan: The Rural Level," Kurt Steiner. VIII. "Elections and Political Modernization in Prewar Japan," Robert A. Scalapino. IX. "The Development of Interest Groups and the Pattern of Political Modernization in Japan," Takeshi Ishida. X. "Structural and Functional Differentiation in the Political Modernization of Japan," Bernard S. Silberman. XI. "Law and Political Modernization in Japan," Dan Fenno Henderson. XII. "Decision-Making in the Japanese Government: A Study of Ringisei" Kiyoaki Tsuji. XIII. "Reflections on the Allied Occupation and Planned Political Change in Japan," Robert E. Ward. XIV. "The Politics of Japan's Modernization: The Autonomy of Choice," Ardath W. Burks. XV. "Epilogue," Robert E. Ward. Index. Originally published in 1968. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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The death of Emperor Hirohito marked the end of Japan's Showa era. This collection of original essays on Japan's history and culture in the 20th century provides a mix of American and Japanese perspectives on Showa. It explores the strengths of the Japanese economy, the issue of democracy and Japan's political culture, Japan's achievements in technology and the arts and its relationship with other nations and the United States.