Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in 21st Century Japan

by Kingston,Jeff

• ISBN13: 9780415274838
• ISBN10: 0415274834
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2004-10-28
• Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon

Summary

In the 1990s the phenomenal growth of the Japanese economy ground to a shuddering halt and the country was subsequently crippled by enormous and ongoing political, economic and social problems. This accessible and engaging textbook for all students of Japanese studies is beautifully illustrated with striking images of turmoil and change in contemporary Japan. Kingston examines the transformation of Japan, evaluating the social, economic and political challenges it has faced, as well as prospects for the future addressing what is often missed by media's relentless pessimistic coverage. Controversially, it argues that the Japan that emerges from these manifold problems may, in fact, be stronger than before. Areas covered include: * The power of bureaucracy * Information disclosure * Judicial Reform * Infrastructure * Health, BSE and the struggle for human rights * Nationalism and 'Japaneseness' * Social transformation: family, gender, ageing, and work

Table of Contents

List of figures	ix
Acknowledgements	xii
Preface	xiv
The Lost Decade of the 1990s	1	(41)
Information disclosure	42	(28)
Building civil society: NPOs and judicial reform	70	(25)
Rogues and riches: the bureaucrats' fall from grace	95	(27)
Downsizing the construction state	122	(35)
Bad blood: the betrayal and infection of Japan's hemophiliacs	157	(23)
Dignity denied	180	(18)
Mad cows and ocean cockroaches	198	(27)
One hand clapping: currents of nationalism in contemporary Japan	225	(32)
Social transformations: family, gender, aging, and work	257	(49)
Conclusion Under construction: Japan's nascent civil society	306	(7)
Glossary	313	(10)
Notes	323	(16)
Bibliography	339	(8)
Index	347