Nathan, Japan Unbound (2004)

John Nathan.
Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.

Book Information : Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Information :

• John Nathan (b. 1940), Wikipedia.
• John Nathan, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
• John Nathan, GoodReads.com.
• Nathan translated into English literary works by :
  • Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916)
  • Kōbō Abe (1924–1993)
  • Yukio Mishima (1925–1970)
  • Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023)
  • Notably, Nathan was personally acquainted with Abe, Mishima, and Ōe.
• John Nathan. Mishima: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974; New York: Hachette Book Group, 2000.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Sony: The Private Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999; New York: Mariner Books / HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Sōseki: Modern Japan's Greatest Novelist. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• Full Moon Lunch, 1973, Produced and Directed by John Nathan, YouTube.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wikipedia Articles :

• Postwar Japan.
• 連合国軍占領期後の日本 [Japan after the Allied Occupation], Wikipedia Japan.
• History of Japan: Heisei period (1989–2019).
• Heisei era.
• 平成 [Heisei], Wikipedia Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~
• Economic history of Japan: Post-World War II.
• Japanese economic miracle, 1950s-1970s.
• Plaza Accord, 1985.
• Japanese asset price bubble, 1986-1991.
• バブル崩壊 [The bubble burst], (article on the "Lost Decades"), Wikipedia Japan.
• 就職氷河期 [Employment Ice Age], following the bubble collapse in 1991, Wikipedia Japan.
• Lost Decades, 1990s-2010s, an extended period of low economic growth (below 2% per year) after the much higher growth rates during the 1950s-1980s period.
• 1997 Asian financial crisis, directly involved Japan's East and SouthEast Asian trading partners, and thus indirectly affected Japan and caused a significant decline in Japan's GDP growth rate in 1997 and 1998.
• William Tsutsui, Japan's Economic Bubble and the Lost Decade, The University of Chicago, 24 June 2009, YouTube.
  (This 1.5 hour talk is a very good survey of Japan's macroeconomic problems.)
  Some other helpful videos:
  • How America Crushed Japan’s Economic Rise
  • The Economy of Japan: How a Superpower Fell from Grace in Four Decades
~~~~~~~~~~
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards).
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comments :

Japan Unbound is a collection of essays on various public, social, and cultural issues prominent in Japan during the early 2000s; the manuscript was completed in 2003. It is based on interviews the author conducted from May 2001 through December 2002 (not to mention the author's experience with Japan beginning in the autumn of 1961).

At the conclusion of the book Nathan describes his experience of encountering Kenzaburō Ōe and Shintaro Ishihara separately within a couple hours on the same evening : "I felt that I had traveled between the poles of the ambivalence that continues to be a troubling condition of contemporary Japanese life" (page 253). This is the general theme of the book: various manifestations of a people in transition from the past to the future (like everybody else in every other society, but this seems heightened in Japan with its distinctive and ancient cultural traditions, its vigorous but then traumatic modernization, followed by its spectacular post-war economic recovery and prosperity). A little more vaguely, Nathan ponders the Japanese cultural identity (however that may be defined) and how that cultural identity informs and vitalizes the Japanese people as individuals and more broadly socially.

Contents of Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose :

1. "Monsters in the House: Japan's Bewildered Children"
   • A deliberate policy during the 1990s of reducing discipline in schools was followed by an explosion of disruptive behavior by students, especially at the lower secondary level. Various seemingly new forms of abnormal behavior in adolescents are also discussed.
   • Education in Japan.
   • Secondary education in Japan.
2. "The Family Crisis"
   • Japanese family.
   • Family policy in Japan.
   • Aging of Japan.
   • Demographics of Japan.
3. "The Culture of Arithmetic"
   • In the wake of low economic growth after the collapse of the 1980s bubble economy, large corporations struggle with maintaining profitability and their other social imperatives (the stability promoted by lifetime employment and the seniority system).
   • Carlos Ghosn (b. 1954).
   • Nissan: Alliance with Renault.
   • William Tsutsui, Japan's Economic Bubble and the Lost Decade, The University of Chicago, 24 June 2009, YouTube.
     (This 1.5 hour talk is a very good survey of Japan's macroeconomic problems.)
     Some other helpful videos:
     • How America Crushed Japan’s Economic Rise
     • The Economy of Japan: How a Superpower Fell from Grace in Four Decades
4. "The Entrepreneurs"
   • 板倉雄一郎, Yuichiro Itakura (b. 1963), wrote books about an entrepreneur's experience with bankruptcy.
   • Masayoshi Son (b. 1958), Softbank Group.
   • 南場智子, Tomoko Namba (b. 1962), founder of the Internet-related company DeNA, ディー・エヌ・エー [DeNA Co.,Ltd.].
   • Oki Matsumoto, 松本大 (実業家) (b. 1963), founder of the online securities brokerage company Monex.
5. "In Search of a Phantom"
   • Japanese nationalism.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi (b. 1953).
   • 小林よしのり (1953–), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi, Neo Gōmanism Manifesto Special – On War, 1995–2003.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi, 新・ゴーマニズム宣言SPECIAL_戦争論 [New Gomanism Declaration SPECIAL War Theory], Wikipedia Japan.
6. "The New Nationalism II: Institutionalizing Trandition"
   • Japanese history textbook controversies.
   • 歴史教科書問題 [History textbook issue], Wikipedia Japan.
7. "Shintaro Ishihara: The Sun King"
   • Shintaro Ishihara (1932–2022); novelist; politician; Governor of Tokyo 1999-2012.
   • 石原慎太郎 (1932–2022), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Shintaro Ishihara, Season of the Sun, 1955, Akutagawa Prize 1956.
   • Shintaro Ishihara and Akio Morita, The Japan That Can Say No, 1989.
8. "Yasuo Tanaka: The Trickster"
   • Yasuo Tanaka (b. 1956); novelist; politician; Governor of Nagano Prefecture 2000-2006; member of the National Diet 2007-2012.
   • 田中康夫 (1956-), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Yasuo Tanaka, Nantonaku, Kurisutaru, 1981 [English translation published as Somehow, Crystal in 2019].
   • Yasuo Tanaka, Pero-Guri Diaries, 1993-.
   • Environmental issues in Japan.
   • Corruption in Japan.
   • Kisha club (記者クラブ, kisha kurabu, "reporters' club").
9. "Epilogue: Outgrowing Adolescence"
   • Japan emerging from its post-war domination by the United States.
   • Japan–United States relations: Post-World War II period.
   • Japan–United States relations: 21st century.

RT, "What's missing?," 9 August 2004 : an interesting review of the book on Amazon.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~