Inventing Japan: The Making of a Postwar Civilization

368 Pages·1991·9.375 MB·English

by  William Chapman

INVENTING
JAPAN
------------------• --------------------
TheMakingof a
Postwar Civilization
William Chapman
PRIM Id
H A I L
PR L SS
New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore

PRENTICE HALL PRESS
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Copyright © 1991 by William Chapman
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including the right of reproduction
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PRENTICE HALL PRESS and colophons are
registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chapman, William, 1930-
Inventing Japan : the making of a postwar civilization
/ by William Chapman,
p., cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-13-942921-2
1. Japan—Civilization—1945- 2. Japan—Civilization
—American influences. J. Title.
DS822.5.C453 1991
952.04—dc20 91-2990
CIP
Designed by Richard Oriolo
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition

For Christine

Contents
Preface ix
1 Surviving 1
2 Starting Over 20
3 Trials of the Spirit 46
4 The Price of Independence 64
5 The Miracle Machine 90
6 The Business Culture 119
7 Politics: The Game Across the Street 143
8 "Rich Nation, Poor People" 168
9 Old Values, New Money 188
10 Touches of Rebellion 207
11 The Myths of Nationalism 231
12 The Odd Man Out 254
13 The Odd Couple 272
14 Japan Adrift 295
Notes 308
Index 321

Preface
This book is an attempt to portray the Japanese as they have lived
tire period since the end of World War II. I have described some
of the changes that came upon Japan in the crucial first years after the
defeat, and have tried to show how those events determined what was to
follow as Japan recovered and became rich. The theme, roughly put, is
that the Occupation period was a great divide for the Japanese people.
1 heir country was fundamentally remolded in those early years, and
what Japan is today is largely the result of what flowed from that exciting
and remarkably creative period.
T his would seem an obvious conclusion except for the fact that so
many observers—Japanese and foreigners, scholars and ordinary
people—enjoy depicting today’s Japan as an extension of her more
distant past. During my fourteen years in Tokyo I have sometimes
suspected that some conspiracy exists to interpret almost anything that
IX