Ending the Postwar in Japan

The 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2005 was a fundamental watershed in modern Japanese history. Inspired by this, much discourse has been produced on the ‘end’ of the postwar period itself. Yet, the question of ‘endings’ is perennial, and has occurred on numerous occasions in postwar Japanese history. The topic of the ending of the postwar is much more than a question of ‘anniversaries,’ and goes to the very heart of understanding contemporary Japan.

Ending the Postwar in Japan asks if the ‘postwar’ can ever end, given the continual re-emergence of the debate on the postwar and also considers the reasons behind the popularity of the endology discourse. The book has three core sections divided according to three different analytical levels of the social sciences, namely, structure, agency and norms, with each contributor investigating a specific topic in the political, economic and social arenas. The fourth section pays attention to the momentum that has challenged the extant system of postwar Japan looking at the impact made on the ‘postwar’ by education, foreign residents and gender.

The cross-boundary and cross-disciplinary nature of the book is designed to elucidate heterogeneous Japan, in contrast to the more conventional understanding of Japan as a homogeneous and ‘unified’ whole. This collection offers a new approach to the understanding of contemporary Japan and will be of interest to upper undergraduate students, postgraduate student and academics in Japanese studies and Asian studies.