Preface by the Translator

Abstract

This book was written as a succinct introduction into the history of the modernization of Japan in the decades just before and just after the Meiji Restoration of 1868.Its main emphasis is on providing a clear framework for a chaotic period.Yoda Yoshiie stays clear of post-modernist jargon.True to traditional Asian historiography his presentation of history implies a personal interpretation of his subject which is not formulated abstractly or summarized in terms of a new theory.Important is the way in which he links cultural, economic and social developments with the creation of new institutions in the modernizing of Japan, and particular interesting the manner in which he establishes causal links between new socio-economic developments and political ideas .Although these developments have some parallels in the history of European and American industrialization, the modernization of Japan is not seen as a clash between civilizations in which the debate focuses on whether or not to emulate "the West".Impelled by contact and confrontation, modernization in Japan proceeds as a variant of a truly universal pattern; there is no need to interpret modernizing Japan as a derivative of Western civilization with its own particular claim to universality.Although Yoda refers to an "Asian" pattern of development in which calls for revolution in peasant uprisings play a particular role, his use of the term does not suggest cultural determinism.Many scholarly theories and discussions in the field of Humanities, be they sociology, economics, or other branches of cultural sciences, address themselves to a domestic audience, or to an imagined community of scholars and scientists whose common language is English .There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with such an approach.Questions arise only when unsubstantiated claims of universality are made.Yoda does not refer to the current debate on "civil society", a debate closely related to European concepts developed by Hegel and Gramsci.An attentive reader will notice, no doubt, that Yoda's description of Chinese and Japanese pre-modern society must raise serious doubts about the applicability of such concepts.Yoda's survey provides an uncomplicated, yet stimulating survey which may very well serve as a starting point for further