Reviews

• Three events in recent Japanese history that capture the spirit of the nation

  This is an excellent look at three newsworthy events in recent Japanese history that capture the spirit of the nation at that time: A woman whose case contesting the legality of her husband's Shinto burial by the state that went all the way to the Supreme Court, the assassination attempt on the Mayor of Hiroshima for expressing his views on Japan's wartime responsibility, and the persecution of a flag-burning shop keeper in Okinawa. The book was published in 1993, but starts with the Showa Emperor falling ill and the events leading up to his death in 1989, which provides the basis for content and structure of the book. The book is unapologetic in its criticisms of Japan, the emperor system, the nation's involvement in WWII, Japan's version of democracy amid strict social structure, and the strength of Japan's Right Wing. But the writer has done her homework and presents the issues with plenty of measured fact-finding as well as including her own viewpoint based on her experiences as a biracial child of the American Occupation, brought up in Japan and later transplanted to the U.S. Perhaps the most interesting part of this book (although it is all worth reading, a few times over) is the interview with the then Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr. Motoshima Hitoshi and the hundreds of letters from Japanese citizens in response to his speech about the Emperor and Japan's responsibility in WWII. I think this book would have been more accessible to a greater variety of readers if the Prologue hadn't been so completely over-written. Thankfully, the book itself finds a nice balance and is easier to read than the Prologue, of which I include the introductory paragraph: "August in Japan. The skies are brilliant, the air is heavy with the souls of the dead. The New Tokyo International Airport heaves with its own ghostly hordes straining for the beaches of Guam and Waikiki and the shops of San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, where everything is cheap, from paper napkins to Vuitton bags. Those who cannot participate in this rite of self-confirmation as members of the newly internationalized breed of Japanese may still join the exodus to the countryside that leaves Tokyo in a sun-blasted silence four or five days of the year. For this is O-bon: time to welcome the souls of the ancestors, feast, and then encourage them to return whence they came so that the living can proceed with the business of the living. Less refreshed than their forebears, families struggle home, laden with gifts received in exchange for offerings dragged from Tokyo but a few days earlier." Wow, you'd have to already know a lot about Japan just to digest that paragraph! And why so much overbearing emotion? I almost put the book down myself after slogging through the Prologue, but am glad I decided to soldier on. There is much to learn in this book that even now holds a wealth of information for anyone who wants an additional perspective on Japan at the turn of the century.

• あたらしい元号がはじまるとき

  本書において記録されている出来事ははたして 約１０年後に日本でまたくりかえされるのだろうか。 そして、あたらしい元号がはじまるとき 本書はふたたびこころある人たちの 注目を浴び、本書の歴史的価値が再評価される のではないか。

• 日本人の深層心理に迫る名著！

  著者のノーマ・フィールド女史は、占領期に、アメリカ人の父と、日本人の母のもとに生を受けた。この境遇と、本書を貫く感性とは、無縁ではないだろう。本書は、昭和天皇崩御の前後の時期、日本全土を覆った希有な報道や、言葉では言い尽くせない奇妙な雰囲気を軸に、日の丸を焼いた沖縄の知花氏、自衛官の夫の合祀を宗教上の理由から拒否した中谷女史、昭和天皇の戦争責任に言及した本島長崎市長（当時）をめぐるエピソードを綴ることで、日本人の深層心理を見事に描き出した好著である。著者は、シカゴ大学で日本文学の教鞭を執っており（当時）、したがって、当然、日本語で原著を著すこともできたわけであるが、それが翻訳という形で出版されざるを得なかったところにまた、深い意味がある。

• 本の状態にがっかり

  中古で購入しました。「良い」状態の商品とのことでしたが、全く良くありません。傷、折れが多数、書き込みもざっと見て数カ所あります。焼けの状態もひどいです。がっかりしました。

• タイトルは素敵だがつまらない

  皇室についての本ではなかった。何より必要のないbig wordの連発で読みにくい。うんざりして最後の長崎市長の事件を読みませんでした。バブルのころ書かれた本で、１９８０年代当時の世相は隔世の感があります。

• Great price and fast shipping!

• good story. Awesome.

• Thiss book was used along with the lectures and personal comments in a class for the Ecannon Valley Elder Collegium. It added to the instructor's presentation and helpd us get a clearer view of Japan in the post WW II years.

• I passed.

• purchased for a class

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