Inventing Japan
1853-1964
by Ian Buruma · first published 2004
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2HN commenters
2015–2017first – last mentioned
50% recommend50% neutral
LA Times Book Award winner and expert on the past and present Japan, Ian Buruma examines the transformation of a country. Following Japan's history from its opening to the West in 1853 to its hosting of the 1964 Olympics, Buruma focuses on how figures such as Commodore Matthew Perry, Douglas MacArthur, and Emperor Mitsushito helped shape this complex country.
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Let's not forget the black ships forcing Japan to open up. Many right wing Japanese still link the entire war period back to that and they do have somewhat of a point. I strongly recommend Ian Buruma's "Inventing Japan"
on “Why Japanese leaders attacked Pearl Harbor” ↗> I don't know what lens you are looking at this through... Mostly from reading Buruma's Inventing Japan, and Dower's War Without Mercy and Embracing Defeat. The fact that the pre-Perry regime was nasty has no bearing on the causal factors of Japan's later imperialism