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Nihon No Kindaika To Minshū Shisō
489 pages, Paperback Bunko
First published January 1, 1999
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December 10, 2010
I read this with a seminar at Waseda, and my Japanese colleagues all mentioned that they felt like they wouldn't be allowed to write like this, and it's a pity. It's scope is expansive, the episodes are engaging, and his argument is ambitious. Yasumaru sets about arguing that the kind of "common sense" of the people that developed as Japan transitioned to modernity (e.g. "economy, thrift, diligence") functioned (in a nice dialectical twist) both as a mode of liberation (from "feudal" passivity to a role in which they could feel like agents of their own fortune) and as a limitation (focusing on personal traits for fortunate / unfortunate outcomes obscures structural dynamics). In particular, it was this ambitiousness that made it both compelling and a book to envy. There are too many shy books out there.
Displaying 1 of 1 review