Japanese Society at War
Death, Memory and the Russo-Japanese War

A social and cultural history of the impact of the Russo-Japanese War and its implications for modern Japan.

Naoko Shimazu (Author)

9780521294775, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 June 2011

354 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'Shimazu … has produced an excellent book, full of fascinating insights, well-illustrated, and above all, one that makes the reader think about the many issues covered.'' Asian Affairs

As the first international conflict of the twentieth century, the Russo-Japanese War attracted much contemporary global interest. This text was the first full-length study to examine the war from the perspective of its impact on Japanese society, and sheds light on its implications for modern Japan. What did the war mean to the Japanese people and how did they respond to it? Naoko Shimazu presents a fascinating and highly innovative account of the attitudes of ordinary Japanese people towards the war through a wide range of sources including personal diaries, letters, and contemporary images. She deals with themes such as conscripts and battlefield death, war commemoration, heroic myths, and war in popular culture. Challenging the orthodox view of Meiji Japan as monolithic, she shows that there existed a complex and ambivalent relationship between the Japanese state and society.

Introduction
1. Society in conflict
2. Journey of farewell
3. Honourable war death
4. Local patriots
5. Love thy enemy
6. God of war
7. War in popular cultural memory
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], Social & cultural history [HBTB], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Asian history [HBJF], General & world history [HBG]