Undermining the Japanese Miracle

Work and Conflict in a Japanese Coal-mining Community

Matthew Allen author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:25th Jun '09

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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Undermining the Japanese Miracle cover

This book, first published in 1995, is about the underside of Japan's economic miracle. It is an account of people who have been forgotten in Japan's push to industrialise in the post-war era: the coal-miners of Chikuho on Japan's southernmost island. The dirty and neglected character of Chikuho is in stark contrast with Japan's prevailing image as an international leader in technology and an affluent, socially cohesive country. As coal industries in industrialised nations around the world are closed down, regions like Chikuho embody the concept of underdevelopment within highly developed societies. Matthew Allen challenges the concepts of industrial harmony, economic foresight, cultural homogeneity and caring political management that dominate much of the literature on Japan. He describes how the people of the coalfields see themselves, providing insights into an aspect of Japanese society that is rarely encountered.

ISBN: 9780521114943

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 18mm

Weight: 470g

320 pages