The Human Tradition in Modern Japan

by Anne Walthall

Book Overview

The Human Tradition in Modern Japan is a collection of short biographies of ordinary Japanese men and women, most of them unknown outside their family and locality, whose lives collectively span the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their stories present a counterweight to the prevailing stereotypes, providing students with depictions of real people through the records they have left-records that detail experiences and aspirations.

The...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0842029125
• ISBN13: 9780842029124
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing Group Inc/Bloomsbury
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Look at the Japanese People

I read this book for a Japanese History class. The book covers from 1600 to about 1990 the lives of famous and ordinary Japanese men and women. It was refreshing to read about how the political side of history has impacted people and society. Highly recommended!

Revealing and recommended study of Japanese social history.

Ably edited by Anne Walthall (Professor of Japanese history at the University of California, Irvine), The Human Tradition In Modern Japan by is an assemblage of short biographies of ordinary Japanese men and women, most of whom were not well-known outside their home area, spanning the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. Highly recommended for readers with an interest in Japanese history and culture, The Human Tradition In Modern Japan approaches Japanese history and society in a different light, as it debunks commonly myths in the United States about Japan being an entirely "homogenous" society, and successfully presents life in Japan as people really lived it from the 17th to the 20th centuries.