American Political and Cultural Perspectives on Japan

Miller provides an accessible yet sophisticated historical survey that focuses on American views and interpretations of Japan from the mid-19th century to the present.  In the first half of his study, entitled ‘Acquaintances,’ he analyzes the initial 100 years of the bilateral-relationship, from the ‘opening’ of Japan by Admiral Perry's Black Ships in the mid-1850s through the Gilded Age of the 1890s and onward through the tumultuous years of WWI and WWII.  US views of Japan and the Japanese at this point alternated between a romanticized fascination to a war-induced repulsion and demonization.  In the second section of his work, entitled ‘Partners,’ Miller addresses the postwar partnership from the American-led occupation through Japan's high growth years of the 1950s and 1960s, the bitter bilateral trade disputes of the 1970s and 1980s, and ultimately Japan's significant economic challenges in the post-Cold War era up to the Obama administration.  Despite a nuanced and realistic assessment of the US's Asian ally, Miller predicts that popular American views will continue to be influenced and occasionally inflamed by culturally laden mythology rather than political realism. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *
A well-written, reliable account of the history of U.S. relations with Japan with a focus on changing American perceptions of the country and its people. -- Akira Iriye, Charles Warren Research Professor of American History, Harvard University