The Japanese Question:: Power and Purpose in a New Era

by Kenneth B. Pyle

In this update of the 1992 edition, the author describes the emergence of Japan's new Asian strategy since the Cold War and the dilemmas it poses for American policymakers.

207 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 1992

About the author

Kenneth B. Pyle is Henry M. Jackson Professor Emeritus of History and International Studies at the University of Washington and the author of Japan Rising and the classic textbook The Making of Modern Japan. He was for many years director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. The founding president of the National Bureau of Asian Research, Pyle received the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan’s most prestigious honor, and created the Journal of Japanese Studies, the most important journal in the field.

Reviews

[M S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Japan used to have a 1 in every 120 deaths a surrendered solider during WW2 compared to Japans peacekeeping operation in Cambodia where after 1 Japanese died, 1/3 of the Japanese policemen fled their assignments, four Japanese peacekeepers deserted the country and sought refuge in neighbouring Thailand. What happened to japans strong warrior spirit? This book explores Japans postwar question, wherein Japans whole approach to the international sphere is changed from dominator to submissive to America and purely economical. With the implementation of the article 9 in the GHQ constitution, japans military engagement with the outside world completely vanished. Japans identity needed a whole new reshaping, through the decades without realising, Japanese folks had become radically pacifists with no turning back and strong distaste in engaging in military services- even peacekeeping and/or humanitarian aid.
The first time Japan sent out SDF after WW2 was in 1992 during Cambodian PKO. As quoted in the book ‘a senior UN official remarked that “the only time the Japanese were tested by fire, they abandoned us.”