Japan in the Heisei Era (1989–2019)

Japan in the Heisei Era (1989–2019)

Author: Noriko Murai

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-02-21

Total Pages: 499

ISBN-13: 1000521818

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Japan in the Heisei Era (1989–2019) provides a retrospective and multidisciplinary account of a society in flux. Featuring analyses from leading scholars around the globe, this textbook examines the evolving contexts of Japan throughout the Heisei era and how longstanding verities and values have been called into question. Asking what this holds for Japan’s future relations with the world and within its own communities, chapters delve beneath the layers of a complex and increasingly diverse society, exploring topics including simmering ethnonationalism, economic torpor, political stagnation, and cultural dynamics. Features of this textbook include: Analysis of key social issues ranging from immigration, civil society, press freedom, politics, labour and the economy, to diversity, the marginalisation of women, Shinto, and Aum Shinrikyo Evaluation of the legacy of Emperor Akihito on war memory, the imperial institution, art, regional relations, and constitutional revision Multidisciplinary insights from both the social sciences and humanities Rich illustrations for visual analysis of developments in contemporary Japanese literature, film, art, and pop culture Providing students with dynamic analyses of how contemporary Japanese society continues to transform, this textbook is essential reading for students of Japanese Studies, including Japanese culture, society, history, and politics. The Introduction and Chapter 19 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.


Locating Heisei in Japanese Fiction and Film

Locating Heisei in Japanese Fiction and Film

Author: MARC. YAMADA

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-06-30

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9781032086842

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This book provides the first interdisciplinary examination of the popular fiction and film of the "lost decades" of Japan's Heisei period (1989-2019). Presenting original analysis of major Heisei writers, filmmakers, and manga artists, the chapters examine the work of Urasawa Naoki, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Murakami Haruki, and Shinkai Makoto, among others. Through the work of these cultural figures, the book also explores the struggle to define the history of Heisei--three decades of economic stagnation, social malaise, and natural disaster. In particular, it explores the dissonance between the dominant history of Japan's recent past and the representation of this past in the popular imagination of the period. In so doing, this book argues that traumatic events from the years leading up to Heisei complicate the narration of a cohesive sense of history for the period, requiring works of fiction and film to explore new connections to the past. Incorporating literary and film theory to assess the works of culture, Locating Heisei in Japanese Fiction and Film will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese culture, society, and history.


Japan's Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945-2019

Japan's Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945-2019

Author: Kenneth J. Ruoff

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-02-01

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 1684176166

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"With the ascension of a new emperor and the dawn of the Reiwa Era, Kenneth J. Ruoff has expanded upon and updated The People’s Emperor, his study of the monarchy’s role as a political, societal, and cultural institution in contemporary Japan. Many Japanese continue to define the nation’s identity through the imperial house, making it a window into Japan’s postwar history. Ruoff begins by examining the reform of the monarchy during the U.S. occupation and then turns to its evolution since the Japanese regained the power to shape it. To understand the monarchy’s function in contemporary Japan, the author analyzes issues such as the role of individual emperors in shaping the institution, the intersection of the monarchy with politics, the emperor’s and the nation’s responsibility for the war, nationalistic movements in support of the monarchy, and the remaking of the once-sacrosanct throne into a “people’s imperial house” embedded in the postwar culture of democracy. Finally, Ruoff examines recent developments, including the abdication of Emperor Akihito and the heir crisis, which have brought to the forefront the fragility of the imperial line under the current legal system, leading to calls for reform."


The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies

The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies

Author: John LeMay

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-06-15

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 9781548145255

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Nessie. Bride of Godzilla. Gamera vs. Wyvern. Mothra vs. Bagan. Batman Meets Godzilla. All fans have heard of these tantalizing lost films, but few know of their full histories...until now. With information straight from the Japanese sources learn how Gamera was made in 1965 to make use of miniature sets made for a disastrous movie about giant rats called Giant Horde Beast Nezura which was partially shot in 1963. Marvel at a blind Godzilla's battle with the invisible monster Chamelegon in Tokyo S.O.S.: Godzilla's Suicide Strategy! Watch in amazement as Godzilla and Kong battle in the flames of Mt. Aso in Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla! Explore the tortured history of the Toho/Hammer team-up Nessie about a kaiju-sized Loch Ness Monster. Recoil in horror at the sights of Great Prophecies of Nostradamus, a 1974 film so controversial that a self-imposed ban was placed on it by Toho. Baffle at Hanuman, the monkey monster of Thailand's Chaiyo Studios which teamed with Ultraman and his brethren in 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army. Puzzle over a psychedelic Italian colorized version of Godzilla, King of the Monsters! code-named "Cozzilla." Then uncover the $100,000 fan made epic Legendary Beast Wolfman vs. Godzilla! But that's not all-this book also contains essays by kaiju fan experts such as Dr. Ayame Chiba, Stan Hyde, Mark Jaramillo and Ted Johnson on subjects as diverse as unmade Kong films to heretofore unknown independent films like Atragon 2 and Wanigon vs. Gamaron!


Social Change in Japan, 1989-2019

Social Change in Japan, 1989-2019

Author: Carola Hommerich

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-10-15

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 100020359X

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Based on extensive survey data, this book examines how the population of Japan has experienced and processed three decades of rapid social change from the highly egalitarian high growth economy of the 1980s to the economically stagnating and demographically shrinking gap society of the 2010s. It discusses social attitudes and values towards, for example, work, gender roles, family, welfare and politics, highlighting certain subgroups which have been particularly affected by societal changes. It explores social consciousness and concludes that although many Japanese people identify as middle class, their reasons for doing so have changed over time, with the result that the optimistic view prevailing in the 1980s, confident of upward mobility, has been replaced by people having a much more realistic view of their social status.


The Bridegroom Was a Dog (New Directions Pearls)

The Bridegroom Was a Dog (New Directions Pearls)

Author: Yoko Tawada

Publisher: New Directions Publishing

Published: 2012-11-27

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 0811220370

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A schoolteacher tells her class a fable about a princess who promises her hand in marriage to a dog that has licked her bottom clean. Strangely, a doglike suitor then appears to court the teacher. Much to the chagrin of her friends, an odd romance ensues - simmering with secrets, chivalry, and sex.


The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies

The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies

Author: John Lemay

Publisher:

Published: 2020-06-02

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9781734781649

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1989 marked the start of the Heisei era in Japan. It also marked a new direction in tokusatsu films beginning with Godzilla vs. Biollante and Gunhed. This tome covers all the Japanese giant monster movies produced from 1989 up to 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters. This book covers a broad range of titles, from well known fare such as Gamera, Guardian of the Universe (1995), Rebirth of Mothra (1996), and Monster X Strikes Back (2008) to independent kaiju movies Reigo, King of the Sea Monsters (2008) and Attack of the Giant Teacher (2019). In addition to giant monsters, this book also covers all of Tsuburaya Productions Heisei era Ultraman films from from Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna (1998) all the way up to Ultraman R/B The Movie (2019).


Japan

Japan

Author: Jeff Kingston

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-01-18

Total Pages: 121

ISBN-13: 1509525483

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Japan, anchored by its traditions, transformed by American post-war Occupation, and globally recognized for its technological innovations, manufacturing prowess, and pop culture, faces powerful challenges from within and without. How Japan chooses to handle these problems and opportunities will determine its future for decades to come. In this book, Jeff Kingston – one of the most lucid analysts of Japan today – takes readers on a fascinating journey through this country's contemporary history, exploring the key developments and forces, both at home and abroad, that are shaping Japan in the twenty-first century. Whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s transformative agenda of “Abenomics” and “proactive pacifism” toward a rising China and a belligerent North Korea can set Japan on the path to greater prosperity and security remains to be seen. But having won a third term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party in 2018, Japan’s ongoing transformation is very much in Abe’s hands.


We Can Make Another Future

We Can Make Another Future

Author: Queensland Art Gallery

Publisher: Queensland Art Gallery

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13:

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An exhibition publication featuring curatorial essasy, individual artist texts, and artwork images


China's Economic Rise

China's Economic Rise

Author: Sangaralingam Ramesh

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-08-29

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 3030498115

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This book examines the economic and political rise of China from the perspective of Japan’s economic development. Beginning with Japan’s rise to statehood in the Kamakura Period (1185 to 1333) and detailing the evolution of its economy through to 2018, parallels are drawn with the economic development of China. Many of the challenges Japan faced in the first decades of the 20th century, including nationalism, militarism, income disparities, social deprivation, and economic crisis are applicable to modern day China. China’s Economic Rise: Lessons from Japan’s Political Economy aims to detail the possible economic and political upheavals that could accompany the slowing of the Chinese economy from the experience of Japan. The book will be of interest to researchers and students in Political Economy, Economic History, Economic Transition, and Development Economics. The book supplements the other publications of the author: China’s Lessons for India: Volume 1 – The Political Economy of Development, China’s Lessons for India: Volume 2 – The Political Economy of Change and The Rise of Empires: The Political Economy of Innovation.