Warrior Research Library: Japan

The Meiji Restoration began largely in private within the grounds of Kyoto's Imperial Palace. Following meetings that commenced the previous day, on the morning of January 3, 1868, an alliance led by samurai from the Satsuma and Chōshū domains seized control of the palace complex, thereby assuring their influence over the young emperor, Mutsuhito. Later that day, alliance leaders proclaimed the restoration of imperial rule.1 In response to the proclamation, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who had abdicated his position as shogun a few months earlier, deployed his forces near Kyoto. In the ensuing Battle of Toba-Fushimi, the alliance achieved a surprisingly easy victory and continued to press its military advantage in central and northern Honshu throughout 1868 in what became known as the Boshin War (1868-1869). History Asia Japan Meiji 2020

As the Cold War wound down, Japan suddenly reversed years of steadfast opposition to security alliances with its neighbors. Long isolated and opposed to multilateral agreements, Japan emerged as a regional leader by the early 1990s. The nation, often misperceived as wholly dependent on the United States and unresponsive to its neighbors, proposed East Asia's first regional multilateral security forum. Overcoming Isolationism explores what led to this surprising about-face and reveals the legacy of Japan's leadership. SocSci Politics Midfo 2020

Uneven Moments begins with reflections on area studies as an academic field and how we go about studying a region. It then moves into discussions of key topics in modern Japanese history. Harootunian considers Japan's fateful encounter with capitalist modernity and the implications of uneven development, examining the combinations of older practices with new demands that characterized the twentieth century. The book examines the making of modern Japan, the transformations of everyday life, and the collision between the production of forms of cultural expression and new political possibilities. Finally, Harootunian analyzes Japanese political identity and its forms of reckoning with the past. History Asia Japan Haroo 2019

Okinawan civilians died in the tens of thousands: some were mistaken for soldiers by American troops; but as the US Marines spearheading the invasion drove further onto the island and Japanese defeat seemed inevitable, many more civilians took their own lives, some even murdering their own families. In just under three months, the world had changed irrevocably: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died; the war in Europe ended; America's appetite for an invasion of Japan had waned, spurring President Truman to use other means -- ultimately atomic bombs -- to end the war; and more than 250,000 servicemen and civilians on or near the island of Okinawa had lost their lives. Drawing on archival research in the US, Japan, and the UK, and the original accounts of those who survived, Crucible of Hell tells the vivid, heart-rending story of the battle that changed not just the course of WWII, but the course of war, forever. History War WWll David 2020