JAPAN+IMPERIALISM

Key Issues in Asian Studies

by James L. Huffman

This lively narrative tells the story of Japan’s experience with imperialism and colonialism, looking first at Japan’s responses to Western threats in the nineteenth century, then at Japan’s activities as Asia’s only imperialist power. Using a series of human vignettes as lenses, Japan and Imperialism examines the motivations—strategic, nationalist, economic—that led to imperial expansion and the impact expansion had on both national policies and personal lives. The work demonstrates that Japanese imperial policies fit fully into the era’s worldwide imperialist framework, even as they displayed certain distinctive traits. Japanese expansive actions, the booklet argues, were inspired by concrete historical contingencies rather than by some national propensity or overarching design.

“James Huffman offers a lucid chronological account of Japan’s experience first as a target and then as an increasingly committed practitioner of imperialism. He provides an eminently accessible and richly illustrated narrative, with due attention to key interpretive issues, that is wonderfully suited for classroom use. An especially attractive feature of the work is the way each chapter opens with a personal vignette of a victim, a critic, or an agent of imperialism and its effects—giving a tangible, human form to one of the defining forces that shaped modern Japan and its international relations through World War II.”
Steven J. Ericson
Associate Professor of History, Dartmouth College
Author, The Sound of the Whistle: Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan
Co-Editor, The Treaty of Portsmouth and Its Legacies

“This concise and readable introduction to a complex subject—the rise and fall of Japan as an imperialist power—will be a splendid addition to the reading list of any course on modern Japanese history. Teachers will appreciate Huffman’s ability to raise key issues of analysis and interpretation, and students will appreciate his ability to discuss them with clear and lively prose.”
Peter Duus
William H. Bonsall Professor of Japanese History, Emeritus, Stanford University
President, Association for Asian Studies, 2000–2001
Author, Modern Japan and Co-Editor, The Japanese Wartime Empire, 1931–1945

From: Association for Asian Studies

Genres: History, Japan, Japanese History

98 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise overview of the turblent century in which Japan built an empire and lost it thereafter. Concerned mostly with the development of imperialism specifically, the book doesn't have much time to focus on colonialism or World War II. Very practical read.

[Joe Von · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, but a nice intro to the topic.

[Traben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book that, while well written, has as its major focus an era of Japanese history I'm not particularly interested in. Though, as I didn't know much about Japan during this period, it was quite informative. If your interested in imperialist Japan, the Meiji Era, or the lead up to WWII from the Japanese perspective, this book provides a concise overview that's easy to read and well organized.