The Japanese Question: Power And Purpose In A New Era

There is a shortage of analyses of Japanese foreign policy with historical perspective. This slim but valuable monograph helps fill that gap. The author is a professor of history and a Japan specialist at the University of Washington. By judiciously weaving into his work the writings of many distinguished Japanese scholars and politicians, Pyle provides a provocative guide to Japan's continuing search for a "national purpose." He concedes that the weight of Japanese history and culture is undoubtedly on the side of a deeply ingrained and persistent ethnocentrism. But he sees an effort on the part of the Japanese elite to foster a national consensus behind what he calls a "new internationalism."