Who is to blame? The amount of research and work that has gone into the book is regardless very impressive, and a staggering achievement, but I just cannot read it, which is a shame as it is a subject I dearly wish to learn more about. Yet even in the aftermath of the ANPO protests, the stifling of democracy and individual subjectivity still required a subtle combination of economics and culture through the promotion of consumerism in the popular media, ultimately achieved only after the media spectacle of violent student protest in the mid-to-late 1960s. The author describes the Japanese response to finding themselves a defeated nation, occupied by the the U.S. from 1946-1952. Dower’s book dwells long on the cultures of defeat and the people’s embrace of democracy during the early part of the occupation. (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, Ltd, 1999. By subscribing to this mailing list you will be subject to the School of Advanced Study privacy policy. The defeat was Japan's in WWII. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. ), A compelling and thorough examination of the Occupation of Japan after World War II. Simply among the most spell-binding books ever. The book looks at many different topics from this period, but conveys the massive paradigm shift that took place in Japan following its defeat in war. For a time Japan showed that it was possible for the colored peoples of the world to sit on equal footing with Europe and America. John F. Embree, ‘Military occupation of Japan’. I couldn't help finding myself comparing the Japanese occupation with that of Iraq's. Despite stereotypes of the Japanese as conformist, Dower traces a range of interpretations to questions like: Why did the war happen? (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, Ltd, 1999. And 7 years later, Japan had quickly transcended this identity. Découvrez des commentaires utiles de client et des classements de commentaires pour Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Aftermath of World War II sur Amazon.fr. Even with almost 600 dense pages of academic but well-written erudition, it's not easy to tackle how Japan was transformed from a brutal imperialistic aggressor into a docile, cooperative, contrite and eager anti-Communist ally of the US, and how the decision to preserve the Japanese Emperor as a symbol of both Japan's rich cultural heritage and its new peaceful role in the post-war world was a crucial decision by MacArthur and the GHQ. I would say it's evenhanded. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II is a history book written by John W. Dower and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1999. Those with the least suffered the most as their homes easily fed the huge fires from incendiary bombings. On one level, the book is an outstanding account of US-Japan relations in the aftermath of the war and a useful guide to understanding the trans-national nature of Japan’s rise to economic superpower. Having weathered the storm of Western imperialism in the late 19th century and trounced the Russian Empire in 1905, the country took on the task of creating ‘Asia for the Asians’ in the 1930s. Lisez des commentaires honnêtes et non … They endured the occupation by McArthur and the U.S. occupational forces--initially with relieve and optimism when democracy was introduced, then with synicism when there was an about face and democracy was curtailed as the Cold War began. It tells the story of how the people of Japan managed to assimilate defeat and what it meant to them, how the occupation changed the nation, if it did, and the effect it had on both defeated and conqueror. I am not quite sure that I could’ve gotten through it otherwise. He shows how the post-war constitution was not simply a top down imposition of the ideals of United States constitutionalism onto Japan, but rather a process that allowed for suggestions and proposals from various groups of Japanese. In the largest city, Tokyo, 65% of homes had been destroyed, in the second largest, Osaka, 57% and the third largest, Nagoya, 89%. Their story wen. Except, that is, as a bankrupt and racist universalism brought to its knees by a truly global conflict. 170 votes. This was democracy imposed from above - a bit of an ironic twist. Yet, for all the pompous imperiousness of MacArthur and the idealistic condescension of the younger generation within SCAP, as Dower points out, the ideals of peace and democracy took root in Japan ‘not as a borrowed ideology or imposed vision, but as a lived experience and a seized opportunity. Dower provides a review of multiple facets of Japanese life: hunger, poverty, uncertainty about many of the soldiers who were still somewhere else at the time of the surrender, culture, and their relationship with Hirohito. It is a detailed examination of Japan in the aftermath of the war. of Technology; Japan in War and Peace, 1994; War Without Mercy, 1986) absorbingly explains how American forces imposed a revolution from above in six years of occupation that transformed imperial Japan into a democracy. The Japanese were an inspiration for reformers from Turkey to China. Pp 676. It did not satisfy MacArthur. Book Review: Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. I can only describe my experience of reading this particular book. The idea that policy makers today still find so appealing. Lisez des commentaires honnêtes et non biaisés sur les produits de la part nos utilisateurs. Yet there was always more at stake in what John Dower describes as this final ‘immodest exercise in the colonial conceit known as “the white man’s burden”’ (p. 23). Millions had died; millions were disabled, sick and starving; millions were stranded overseas facing reprisals; millions were missing including countless children; and millions were homeless, without family, without jobs, without anything. Does this book patronize the Americans much? Dower places the motley array of Japanese contradictious responses – guilt and liberation, selective forgetting, old disillusions and ne. This project came to a horrifying end in the atomic explosions that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ushering in a new Japan in their wake. When the occupation ended in 1952, women’s rights were rapidly overwhelmed by a return to a patriarchal view of marriage and gender relationships. Just fill in your details. Since its publication, Embracing Defeat has revived interest in this relatively short period of post-war history, even if, as Laura Hein has noted, much of that interest is related to the concerns of policy makers in Washington looking for an example of ‘the good occupation’ in light of US overreach in Iraq and Afghanistan. General MacArthur and SCAP began repealing many of the freedoms bestowed in the early years of occupation. Whereas making Japan a more egalitarian country, strengthening labour, breaking up concentrations of wealth and power, restoring the rule of law, and supporting those who had opposed or at least had not actively supported militarism and oppression (which mostly meant leftists) were priorities at the beginning, by the last years of the Occupation, the Americans were actively shutting down dissent and encouraging the return to public life of conservatives and militarists who promised to be more enthusiastic about the Americans' side in the Cold War. Drawing on a vast range of Japanese sources and illustrated with dozens of astonishing documentary photographs, Embracing Defeat is the fullest and most important history of the more than six years of American occupation, which affected every level of Japanese society, often in ways neither side could anticipate. This book review on Postwar Japan in “Embracing Defeat” by John Dower was written and submitted by your fellow student. Lea reseñas de … Adam Bronson’s recent book gives a useful outline of the dilemma these intellectuals faced at the end of the war. The discussion of how the GHQ's reconstruction policy was then warped by the effort to contain Communism in Asian is also something you won't find in many other works. It's not patronising. The book examines the hopes, visions, and dreams, as well as the despair and exhaustion, of the defeated country and its people as they sought to remake their identity and and values in the aftermath of the war. Pp 676. But the enormity of the task of returning 5.1 million Japanese living overseas, the fear of famine and the threat of starvation hanging over the defeated nation are made vivid by Dower’s skilful use of the sources to expose the ‘cultures of defeat’ that thrived amidst the ruins. Dower's book is an in-depth study of postwar Japan and how it responded to its crushing defeat at the hands of the allied forces. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W Dower has an overall rating of Rave based on 4 book reviews. American occupation authorities (GHQ/SCAP) were skeptical whether society would change, and the rhetoric of the time, a mixture of the 3 C's (Christianity, Civilization, Commerce) and New Deal era thinking determined their policy. John W. Dower adroitly leads the reader through the arc of this history as Japan literally rises from ashes at … 56% of the way through and I give up - the book is so dry, I can't bear to finish it. By the end of the Occupation, those goals had largely been abandoned in favour of making Japan a stable ally and client state in the fight against communism. With the rise of post-colonial studies, it also helps to shore up the victim mentality that drives much of the recent rise in nationalist rhetoric. There is a full exploration of how the constitution was drawn up, for example, which illuminates the thought processes of the Japanese side and the American side. ISBN 0-393-04686-9) Embracing Defeat begins where the Pacific War ends. The Communists were winning in China and the Soviet Union was close to obtaining the nuclear bomb. Dower meticulously combed through myriad sources; political, social and artistic, to get a sense of the people's mindset during this most trying time in the country's history. Although it was a long read, 564 pages, I found it well worth sticking with it. Something that was more of a militaristic, nationalist dream, not to mention an invention of the critics of mass culture that held sway in the late 1950s, than a concerted effort by US and Japanese power-brokers. ISBN 0-393-04686-9) Embracing Defeat begins where the Pacific War ends. I would expect such a book to have garnered as many awards for exemplary historical scholarship and writing as there are organizations to present present them. Dower's book is an in-depth study of postwar Japan and how it responded to its crushing defeat at the hands of the allied forces. A summary is balanced with details on the book's writing style and themes. Journal DOI: 10.14296/RiH/issn.1749.8155 | Cookies | Privacy | Contact Us. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. In the years of our stay there, 1949-52, though aware of general Japanese culture, I was busy being a kid and wasn't paying attention to the social upheavals going on around me. A compelling and thorough examination of the Occupation of Japan after World War II. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II at Amazon.com. In it John Dower brings together various strands of occupation history to offer an overview of the period that foregrounds the experience of the Japanese at the level of everyday life. It reads as a collection of essays placed end-to-end, which in my opinion is the worst way to write about history. That this was effected by reinterpretation rather than amendment, that it was not supported by a majority of Japanese citizens, and that the US was cheering the "clarification" from the sidelines will not come as a surprise to anyone who has read Dower's exceptional, and exceptionally readable, history of the US postwar occupation of Japan. Those who had lost their families, including children, were shunned, as were the many women who no longer had a man. Those with the least suffered the mo. This is a fantastic book, creating a fully realized sense of life as lived in post-war Japan, ranging from the individual experience to its collective representation in culture, the economy, and rapidly evolving post-war politics. Read the Review. Highly nuanced and neutral in tone, it’s an entirely persuasive account of how Japan transitioned from fifteen years of war and defeat to its new and not-so-new nationhood and the American, especially MacArthur’s, role and goals in bringing it about. Even African Americans looked to the Japanese with hope. SHATTERED LIVES It was August 15, 1945, shortly before noon. Adam Bronson. (6) As soon as the occupation ended, debate and discussion began in earnest over the legacy of this ‘colonial exercise’. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. The idea that, from then on, the democratic ideals of the people became overwhelmed by the interests of these elites often appears to point to a lack of individual agency on the part of the mass of the Japanese population. But, beyond the framework of the nation-state, and the more overtly critical diplomatic history of the Wisconsin school, the rise of global history and the influence of post-colonial studies – the turn to culture as a site of historical interaction and meaning – has also allowed a more nuanced and complicated picture to emerge of the way in which both sides of this embrace affected and were affected by each other. Why did we lose? Amazon.in - Buy Embracing Defeat – Japan in the Wake of World War II book online at best prices in India on Amazon.in. That this was effected by reinterpretation rather than amendment, that it was not supported by a majority of Japanese citizens, and that the US was cheering the "clarification" from the sidelines will not come as a surprise to anyone who has read Dower's exceptional, and exceptionally readable, history. Estimated Read Time : 14 minutes . Cynicism, decadence, and disease marked defeated Japan. Indeed, later in the book we learn that ‘over-playing starvation’ was among the many items to be deleted and supressed under SCAP’s censorship operation (p. 411). Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Aftermath of World War II (Allen Lane History S.) at Amazon.com. Industry had been obliterated leaving few places to live or work. Embracing Defeat is an important book for all students of post-war Japanese history. Dower perhaps over-stress the newness of the ideas ‘gifted’ to Japan by the US. The first couple of chapters had wonderful historical pictures quite often, but then there suddenly weren't any pictures anymore. It's a very information-intense book but surprisingly readable. In his brilliantly researched work, John Dower narrates Japan's experience of defeat and occupation at the end of WWII from the Japanese point of view. Embracing Defeat captures the complex nuances of the lived experiences of a people in the midst of a fundamental social and political transformation. As WWII ended, Japan had lost three million dead, with many more wounded, … This darkly fantastical... To see what your friends thought of this book, It's not patronising. His sources included books, movies, cartoons, articles and letters to newspapers and public officials from the Emperor's surrender announcement through the end of the occupation. In addition to the shock and disgrace of defeat, many were left without home or livelihood, living life in the margins and struggling for survival. Welcome back. This was exacerbated by runaway inflation and a ubiquitous black market, which in some of the larger cities was run by Mafia-like gangs. L. Hein, ‘Revisiting America’s occupation of Japan’, J.C.S 1380/15, BASIC DIRECTIVE FOR POST-SURRENDER MILITARY. Embracing Defeat by John W. Dower, 9780393320275, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. 90) Japan's experience of defeat and occupation at the end of the Second World War has most commonly been examined from the point of view of the conquerors. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. From Hirohito to MacArthur, democracy and emperor worship, writing a new constitution, war crimes and guilt; this book explained prevailing sentiments and consequences of decisions made high and low. The history of Japan during the US occupation, told by one of the leading historians of Japan and the United States. Many believed there was a certain inauthenticity in shifting so quickly between militarism and cooperation with the United States, and both Americans and Japanese chalked that up to a collectivist tendency in the society. WWII left Japan decimated. In it John Dower brings together various strands of occupation history to offer an overview of the period that foregrounds the experience of the Japanese at the level of everyday life. Embracing Defeat is a judicious and probing summation of the voluminous documentation and scholarship on the postwar decade in Japan and the United States. They are actually somewhat alike, including the writing of the consitituion by Americans, although I'n not sure if the Iraqs accepted the one written for them by.. Bremmer, I believe. The author dealt with such subjects as the Japanese having to digest their defeat after they had been told they were winning the war, the Emperor's admission he was not a god (a muddled confession! Changes in the way historians view both US history and the history of Japan mean that it is now possible to place the period within broader studies of imperial history from both national perspectives. This happened even as a record number of women held positions in parliament. Yet here the structure of the book may be a problem. Reviews in History is part of the School of Advanced Study. Japan in the Wake of World War Two, (review no. He died just before the surrender (p. 33–4). The effort to transform Hirohito from the symbol of Japanese militarism into a symbol of peace and acceptance is truly an amazing feat, and how GHQ worked with the post-war Japanese politicians and bureaucrats is equally impressive. His account of the cultures of defeat and the Japanese people’s embrace of the expressed aims of the occupation, such as democracy, equality and liberal thought, takes in the first two years. We have to wonder whether most Japanese people really did so readily welcome democracy in 1945. The preeminent society among these — the one people that had seemingly "made it" in the 20th century — was of course Japan. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. And Japanese culture exacerbated the plight of the already disadvantaged. This is a long book that extends beyond politics to look at culture, film, literature, gender, and Japanese society. That's why it loses a star for me. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The recollections of 28-year-old farmer’s wife Aihara Yu, her repeated incantation of the line from the Imperial Rescript: ‘should any emergency arise offer yourselves courageously to the State’, the crackling, high-pitched, stilting Imperial voice on the radio, completely incomprehensible to most listeners, stirred hope that her husband, drafted into the army in Manchuria, would at last return home. Embracing Defeat is an important book for all students of post-war Japanese history. Dower places the motley array of Japanese contradictious responses – guilt and liberation, selective forgetting, old disillusions and new hopes – against the background of an American occupation, which according to him, was at once high-minded and visionary, arrogant and imperalist. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Embracing Defeat is a richly researched, beautifully illustrated and elegantly written account of the period of the US-led occupation of Japan from 1945–52, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the US National Book Award, among others. Industry had been obliterated leaving few places to live or work. June 17th 2000 Read Embracing Defeat – Japan in the Wake of World War II book reviews & author details and more at Amazon.in. 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