The Culture of the Meiji Period Book

This book offered a very different, almost counter cultural portrayal of the Meiji Restoration period of Japan. It did not focus on its aready well known 'heroes:' the former samurai, intellectuals, and other elite figures who led the country in its determined efforts to gain acceptance by the Western powers in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. Instead, Irokawa provides an analysis of the ways and extent to which this massive reorganization of Japanese society negatively affected the average Japanese citizen and his/her life. He did this via lengthy, descriptive narratives of people who had up until the time the book was written (1970) had remained largely unknown. Other chapters on things like Chinese poetry and other elements of Japanese culture were also done to make his point. He concluded with a chapter describing how the elite promoted and then used the people's faith in and loyalty to the Emperor to gain their compliance for policies and doctrines which ultimately led to the fascist militarism and the tragic, costly defeat that the country suffered in WW II.

The research that Irokawa and his students did on diaries, letters, and other obscure documents is admirable. His thesis is equally worthwhile considering: these 'great' leaders were as much ruthless and self serving as they were saviors of Japan from Western powers looking to colonize the country as was done to China.

Unfortunately, the reader may find that the extensive, at times rambling, detail with which Irokawa describes some of these points gets to be tedious at times. The reader may also find that his references to people and/or places are so unfamiliar as to be hard to follow at times.

It is for these latter reasons that I would give the book a 3.5 rating. IF the reader has a lot of interest in and some knowledge already of the Meiji Restoration, he will find that is is worth the effort needed to read this book. But be prepared for some 'slow going' at times.