Recently I have read the following book. A book summary is attached:
Book
title: Tsurumi, Shunsuke.
1987. A Cultural History of Postwar Japan
1945-1980. Kegan Paul International.
Main
points:
Chapter 1:
talks about the occupation of Japan by the US since August 1945. The early
phase of the occupation perpetuated the original spirit of the New Deal as it
had existed in the US. (p.2)
- the Japanese government
had constructed an elaborate message to the Japanese people that they had acted
wisely in bringing the long war to an honorable close (in avoiding using the
word surrender) (p.5).
- the occupation authority allowed the Japanese to use
the term ‘termination of war’ and ‘stationing of forces’ in lieu of ‘defeat’
and ‘occupation’ (6).
- for the people at large, the most durable influence
of the Occupation was on the Japanese life style, especially with respect to
relationships between women and man.
Chapter 2:
was on the sense of justice as seen from the War Tribunal. The view of Japanese
on the tribunal during the period of existence was different from that of 30
years later (p.13). On 9th August 1945, Ministry of Foreign Office
stated that the term ‘war criminal’ would refer only to those who had violated international
laws by action such as ill-treating prisoner of war. The war leaders did not
consider the possibility of being prosecuted by the international court in
front of the Japanese people (p.13).
- according to Keenan the main purpose of the trial was
to defend peace and international law, and the punishment of the accused was
only a subsidiary purpose. The Japanese felt that those seven had died as
scapegoats; some though that they had died for the emperor. Seeing the trial as
a modern legal cover of a primitive form of retaliation, the Japanese accepted
the justice imposed by the conquerors as a physical necessity (pp.14-15).
- the absence of the Emperor at the trial was a relief
to most Japanese, it was universally understood throughout the War that all
orders were given in the name of the Emperor (p.16).
- in 1952 the Occupation was over, in response to the
Korean war, the US began to support the return of wartime leaders, the Japanese
economy was able to achieve a recovery (p.21).
- in the wake of the prosperity since 1960 there had
been a surge of compassion for the victims of the War Crime Trials, expressed
in a play by Takeda Taijuin published in 1954, with an English version
performed in 1967 (p.23).
- the last testament of General Tojo was a 31-sylable
poem. Tojo fought courageously in the trial for his belief that the war was
inevitable and just, he could meet his death unburdened by regrets. (p.24).
- 30 years after
the War,
the Emperor in a press
interview on TV said that he was not aware of any such thing as responsibility
for war, showing disregard to the sentiment of people and the victims of War. Since
the surrender, Japanese had retained affection and respect
for the Emperor as was shown in polls and surveys (p.26).
Chapter 3
– talks about comics in post war Japan. In addition to picture-card shows and
the lending library, a third factor contributed to the unique character of
modern Japanese comics was the emergence of women cartoonists (p.41). Therefore
its path of development was different from that of the US.
Chapter 4
– it was about vaudeville acts. The continuing stream of common culture was a
basic reason why more than 90 per cent of Japanese today label themselves as
middle class. Standard of living, measured in terms of automobiles, washing
machines and color TV could not alone account of the middle-class
consciousness. It had its roots in the mid-Tokugawa city culture (p.49).
- according a folklorist, linguistic arts in Japan had
their origin in banquet amusement. It was the manzai performance. The heart of the performance was a simple
dialogue between the serious character and the nitwit.
- manzai
differed from the rakugo, the art of
telling droll stories, another vaudeville art fostered in the Edo period (p.53).
Chapter 5
talks about legends of common culture, mainly focuses on TV.
- national feeling had to be expressed in postwar
Japan with means other than the national flag, the national anthem, and the
imperial edicts. After Japan entered its period of economic growth, the TV
broadcasting of a song congest by NHK TV at the close of the year seemed to
have been a major national symbol (p.64). Other popular programmes were the NHK
serialized drama broadcast each morning, and the Great River Drama seen on
Sunday evenings.
- in a highly developed capitalist society, the art
form most accessible to the general populace was advertising. (74)
- another literary pole was journalism. This form of
literature had a prehistory in Japanese detective novel, which became highly
popular after 1960s (p.77). After his early success as a mystery writer,
Matsumoto went on to write a social history series: mysteries of the occupation
period, mysteries of the prewar Japanese government etc. (p.78). His Black Fog Series had contributed an
invaluable service in reporting social activities (p.78).
Chapter 6.
It was about trends in popular songs since the 1960s. Three groups of songs
could be identified. The first group was song in the pre-Meiji tradition of
Japanese music. The second group was the early Western-style melodies composed
in Japan. The third group were from the postwar period after the close contact
with American culture during the Occupation that formed a new stream (pp.94-98).
Chapter 7:
the magazine World Culture and the
weekly paper Saturday were not bound
by ideology; they were issue-oriented and were the forerunners of the citizen’s
movement after 1960s.
- After the bloody May Day of 1952, factional fighting
within the Communist party caused them to loosen their grip on the “circles”.
By 1960, the word ‘circle’ had come to mean any small group of amateurs pursing
some cultural activity (p.106).
- when the industrialization of Japan introduced new
disease and created more victims of pollution, a citizens’ movement emerged (p.107).
- as a theorist of the citizen’s movement, and former
member of the ‘World culture’ circle during the War, Taketani Mitsuo talked
about public issues (p.107).
- the most famous incident in the anti-pollution
movement was the protest against Minamata disease (p.108).
- of all the postwar Japanese cartoons, ‘Sazaesan’ by
Hasegawa Machiko had enjoyed the longest life, from 1946 up to the present (p.111).
This ‘Sazaesan’ reflected the social outlook of some 15 to 20 million ordinary
Japanese (p.113).
Chapter 8:
It was about patterns of life. A society for the study of contemporary customs
beginning in 1976 asked its 500 members about their breakfast habits. Only 6
percent ate the traditional Japanese breakfast of boiled rice, bean-paste soup,
and fermented soy beans etc. (p.117).
- the government policy of high industrialization at
the cost of agriculture had so far made Japan a prosperous country. It had
urbanized Japan and turned the majority of Japanese into city dwellers. (p.120).
- since the 1960s, the majority of Japanese men and
women had worn western clothes, even when they were at home (p.122).
- according to an estimate by a population institute
in 1979, the Japanese population had stabilized, and would reach zero growth
after 50 years (p.123).
Chapter 9:
the misconception of British schoolchildren regarding Japan was often duplicated
in western guidebooks (p.129). Among the many issues, the author pointed out 3
areas that the guidebooks had overlooked.
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