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Stephen Vlastos, editor
Mirror of Modernity
Invented Traditions of Modern Japan
$25.95, £18.95 paperback
978-0-520-20637-3
Available Now
300 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 12 b/w photographs
May 1998, Available worldwide
Categories: History; Japan; Asian History
May 1998, Available worldwide
Categories: History; Japan; Asian History
Free online edition (eScholarship)--available only to University of California faculty, staff, and students (List of public titles)
"This book forces a rethinking of the contentional dichotomy between tradition and modernity. The authors argue provocatively that much of Japanese 'tradition' is a modern invention."—Gail Lee Bernstein, author of Haruko's World
"Sure to stimulate debate in the field of Japanese studies, this important work deftly historicizes the origins of such 'traditional practices' as judo or Japanese-style management."—Peter Duus, author of The Abacus and the Sword
"Sure to stimulate debate in the field of Japanese studies, this important work deftly historicizes the origins of such 'traditional practices' as judo or Japanese-style management."—Peter Duus, author of The Abacus and the Sword
This collection of essays challenges the notion that Japan's present cultural identity is the simple legacy of Japan's premodern and insular past. Building on the pathbreaking historical analysis of British traditions, The Invention of Tradition, sixteen American and Japanese scholars examine "age-old" Japanese cultural practices, ranging from judo to labor management, and show these to be largely creations of the modern era.