A careful analysis of Japan's dealings with its legal system through a time of unprecedented change (1868- 1960). A must for scholars of Japanese studies, historians and jurists alike.

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This study contains twenty-two essays by leading historians on the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868), eight of which have never before been published. The Tokugawa Period has long been seen as one of Eastern feudalism, awaiting the breakthrough that came with the Meiji enlightenment and the opening of Japan to the West. The general thrust of these papers is to show that in many institutional aspects Japan was far from backward before the Meiji Period, and that many of the preconditions of modernization were present and developing much earlier than has generally been believed. This collection will be particularly valuable to students and scholars of comparative and Japanese modernization. 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.

"In 2018 Japan marked the 150th anniversary of the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the establishment of a new government under Emperor Meiji. This was not simply a transfer of political authority but instead signaled revolutionary transformation in Japan, including the abolition of the domains and the formation of a modern nation-state in the years that followed. A period of radical social change was ushered in, with the abolition of the class system, the introduction of Western thought and technology, the development of mass media, and the establishment of constitutional government. The impact on Japan of diplomatic, economic, and cultural pressure from the United States and other Western powers from 1853 onward was previously thought to be the immediate catalyst of this 'Meiji Revolution.' But Japan's modern transformation was rooted in a much deeper process of social and intellectual development that gradually unfolded throughout the latter half of the Tokugawa period. Surveying a diverse group of thinkers spanning the Tokugawa and early Meiji years -- Ogyū Sorai, Yamagata Bantō, Motoori Norinaga, Rai San'yō, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Takekoshi Yosaburō, and others -- this ambitious book liberates modern Japanese history from the stereotypical narrative of 'Japanese spirit and Western technique,' offering a detailed examination of the elements in Tokugawa thought and culture that spurred Japan to articulate its own unique conception of civilization during the course of the nineteenth century." --

In this book social scientists scrutinize the middle decades of the nineteenth century in Japan. That scrutiny is important and overdue, for the period from the 1850s to the 1880s has usually been treated in terms of politics and foreign relations. Yet those decades were also of pivotal importance in Japan's institutional modernization. As the Japanese entered the world order, they experienced a massive introduction of Western-style organizations. Sweeping reforms, without the class violence or the Utopian appeal of revolution, created the foundation for a modern society. The Meiji Restoration introduced a political transformation, but these chapters address the more gradual social transition. Originally published in 1986. 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.

Shows how Japanese anxiety about overpopulation was used to justify expansion, blurring lines between migration and settler colonialism. This title is also available as Open Access.