The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan 1825-1995

This new history of modern Japan covers its remarkable transformation from a small country on the fringe of international politics to the major world power it is today. Professor Tsuzuki traces Japan's pursuit of power, first by military and then by economic means, in a fascinating and original history of the fastest-growing economic power of the twentieth century.
This history of modern Japan covers its remarkable transformation from a small country on the fringe of international politics to the major world power it is today. The author traces Japan's pursuit of power, first by military and then by economic means, from her attempts to replace China at the centre of the Confucian Middle Kingdom; through the Meiji nationalist response to the in-roads of 19th-century western imperialism; and on to the post-war US-Japanese alliance powering the economic miracle of the last half of the 20th century Tsuzuki examines Japan's political, intellectual, and industrial development since 1825 with special attention to the wars that were fought, and argues that the history of Japan's modernization was closely linked to the growth of Japan's own imperialism. The author reveals how some of the factors which contributed to remaking Japan as an economic giant have also been responsible for her recent economic and political difficulties.