Reviews for In the Realm of a Dying Emperor

The average rating for In the Realm of a Dying Emperor based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-12-14 00:00:00 Craig Garcia As I often do, I picked this book at my local International Center. A refuge for lost books. This book, written in 1993, investigates three very particular stories of resistance to the emperor system in Japan right around the time of the emperor's death. This is an odd book in so many regards. How shall I count the oddities? First, it is odd that I should be reading this book at the close of 2019. The book is twenty-six years old and thus is like a time capsule into Japan at the cusp of the bursting of its economic bubble. The book comments on the opulence of modern Japan without recognizing the elephant in the room. The high-growth bubble must burst eventually. Second, the book is odd in that it is difficult to categorize. The book is labeled non-fiction and Asian studies. The author, from what I can gather, is an academic. The book itself is self-assuredly non-academic. The book is often autobiographical. The author does interviews and field research on the three acts of resistance, but she is always there in the narrative -- almost as if the research is part of an act of self-discovery. That brings us to our third realm of oddity. The book never tells us what it is, what it is supposed to be, or what we are supposed to take from it. Certainly, we see that the author feels a great deal of empathy and respect for those who have taken personal risks to stand up to the emperor system in its many forms and have risked receiving violent retribution by right-wing thugs. Truly, their bodies and souls were fully engaged in the act of resistance. But the author never out-right lionizes these people or their actions. While there is no counterbalance to the three cases -- we do not see three examples of activists standing up for the emperor system -- there nevertheless remain lingering questions over each person's act of resistance. The people who offer resistance -- whether through flag burnings, suing of the state, or public statements against the emperor -- often put their communities at risk through their actions. The book more than anything seems an act of personal reflection. That is to be admired. I often reflected on my own actions reading this book. I was forced to ask uncomfortable questions. When I had I ever done anything so brave? What other subtle and not so subtle forms of oppression do I just tolerate in order to get through my day and what would be the long-term consequences of my daily capitulations? Finally, something that must be mentioned. The prose of this book is often beautiful. Much of the actual narrative is long, winding, undisciplined by thesis or overtly stated intent. It's so close to a long journal entry that it might be called memoir. But this style, though highly flawed and often frustrating, leads to some truly wonderful moments. There are also moments when the author steps back and lets the individuals she is researching to speak for themselves. Again, it's difficult to parse what exactly the overarching point is. Many of the activists don't seem to understand fully why they take the positions they do, almost as if their moments of bravery were historical accidents or the outcomes of forces they themselves don't understand. If the book doesn't offer any historical explanations, any clear lines between causes and effects, any clear theory about the relationships between structures and agency in our actions, then at the very least we can enjoy wallowing in the puzzle. A lingering question mark is often the most honest answer to the mystery of our past and present.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-16 00:00:00 Ross Powers This book shook some parts of me, and I could not help but wondering what so far has changed in Japan in the last 20 years since the book was written in the late 1980s. 20 years of economic stagnation, yet also 20 years of further distance with the past, and 20 years into the overwhelming modernity. In the Realm of a Dying Emperor is a beautifully written piece of work that discusses country's social, political, and cultural atmosphere surrounding the death of Emperor Hirohito whose reign lasted more than half of the 20th century (1926-1989)which includes many critical periods. It is hard to put into concise words exactly the number of issues were brought up, thoroughly discussed and challenged. The first section opens to the story of an Okinawan activist, Shoichi Chibana and his burning of Rising Sun flag in 1987 at a national athlete meeting, then progresses to talk about the prefecture's heartbreaking history at the end of WWII and the later US occupation. The second part revolves around Nakaya Yasuko, a widow of a government's official, who protested against the enshrinement of her husband at a Shinto shrine but was defeated by the Supreme Court in 1988. The last story takes on the mayor of Nagasaki, Motoshima Hitoshi, who publicly expressed his opinion about Emperor Hirohito's responsibility for the WWII, capturing the whole nation's attention. Norma Field's book is a must read for any Japan lovers. It shatters the ideal picture of a peaceful, ordered, "perfect" country. It digs into things that matter, that are deeply rooted, but are not so visibly available to foreigners and young people, both in Japan or in somewhere else. My heart breaks to find historical facts again not fully heard and acknowledged, and this time the story is so vivid, featuring one of my favorite nations. The fight for truth is indeed a brutal one. Japan after WWII transformed itself economically, and that was a proud & miraculous achievement, yet all those fruits should not be used as reasons to excuse for its horrific past, to decline to discuss history and the nation's dark sides. Yes, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it; the war and immediate post-war generations will recede soon, and we the young, well into the 21st century, cannot afford to face the future with so much ignorance.