Ian Buruma studied and worked in Japan for many years. He is the author of Bad Elements, The Missionary and the Libertine, Anglomania, A Japanese Mirror, God’s Dust, The Wages of Guilt, and Playing the Game. He lives in London.
“Stylish and illuminating, Inventing Japan has the added virtue of
being admirably concise. Students and general readers alike will
find this grand overview of modern Japan’s many identities engaging
and provocative.” —John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan
in the Wake of World War II, winner of the National Book Award and
the Pulitzer Prize
“In his characteristically penetrating manner, Ian Buruma delves
into why modern Japan—for all its intellectual and artistic
vitality—has not developed a more open, democratic, and
cosmopolitan political order.” —Sheldon Garon, professor of history
and East Asian studies, Princeton University
“Those familiar with Ian Buruma’s impressive body of work on Japan
will not be disappointed by Inventing Japan. This compelling
narrative captures the excitement, triumph, and failure of the
century in which Japan abandoned its traditional ways and entered
into the modern world. Iconoclastic as always, Buruma offers
fascinating insights into the nature of Japan’s uneasy experiment
with constitutional government, the impact of bureaucratic planning
on economic growth, and the ties that closely bind the present with
the past. Equally intriguing are his comparisons of Japan’s
development with those of China, Japan’s ancient cultural mentor,
and with Germany, its modern cultural mentor and another
late-developing nation.” —James L. McClain, professor of history,
Brown University; author of Japan: A Modern History
“A witty and illuminating romp through a hundred years of Japanese
history, written with Mr. Buruma’s usual style and insight. I
cannot think of a wiser or clearer introduction to the subject for
the general reader, and even the well informed will find something
of interest.” —Ronald Spector, professor of history and
international relations, George Washington University; author of At
War at Sea and Eagle Against the Sun
"Stylish and illuminating, Inventing Japan has the added
virtue of being admirably concise. Students and general readers
alike will find this grand overview of modern Japan's many
identities engaging and provocative." -John W. Dower, author
of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II,
winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize
"In his characteristically penetrating manner, Ian Buruma delves
into why modern Japan-for all its intellectual and artistic
vitality-has not developed a more open, democratic, and
cosmopolitan political order." -Sheldon Garon, professor of
history and East Asian studies, Princeton University
"Those familiar with Ian Buruma's impressive body of work on Japan
will not be disappointed by Inventing Japan. This compelling
narrative captures the excitement, triumph, and failure of the
century in which Japan abandoned its traditional ways and entered
into the modern world. Iconoclastic as always, Buruma offers
fascinating insights into the nature of Japan's uneasy experiment
with constitutional government, the impact of bureaucratic planning
on economic growth, and the ties that closely bind the present with
the past. Equally intriguing are his comparisons of Japan's
development with those of China, Japan's ancient cultural mentor,
and with Germany, its modern cultural mentor and another
late-developing nation." -James L. McClain, professor of
history, Brown University; author of Japan: A Modern
History
"A witty and illuminating romp through a hundred years of Japanese
history, written with Mr. Buruma's usual style and insight. I
cannot think of a wiser or clearer introduction to the subject for
the general reader, and even the well informed will find something
of interest." -Ronald Spector, professor of history and
international relations, George Washington University; author of
At War at Sea and Eagle Against the Sun
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