Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan Edited by Jeff Kingston has been selected as an 'Outstanding Academic Titles' of 2014 by Choice.
Every year in the January issue, Choice publishes a list of Outstanding Academic Titles that were reviewed during the previous calendar year. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.
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Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan
Edited by Jeff Kingston
This book provides undergraduate and graduate students with an interdisciplinary compendium written by a number of leading specialists on contemporary Japan. Chapters reflect the standards of rigorous scholarly work, but also exceed them in their accessibility of language and engagement with concerns relevant to non-specialists. The probing analysis of key debates and issues confronting Japan make this ideal for college courses and an essential reference work on Japan/Asia for libraries.
'This very useful book is a timely collection of 22 accessible essays on a wide range of issues in contemporary Japan. Aimed at a "broad audience of readers," the essays by knowledgeable scholars of Japanese life and society include useful discussions of the "political environment"; social questions as varied as the crisis of population decline, school bullying, and minority issues; essays on the international dynamics of Japan's economic and political life; and energy questions in the wake of the nuclear crisis brought on by the 2011 earthquake and its aftermath. The essays are extremely readable, and go a long way to illuminate a society that has changed dramatically from the halcyon days of Japan's Pacific preeminence just a very few years ago. Many of the authors have lived and taught in Japan for years, and have been close observers of the changes that have occurred and are occurring still. General readers and specialists alike will learn much from these essays and their thoughtful engagement with contemporary Japan. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.' – W. D. Kinzley, University of South Carolina, CHOICE Magazine, July 2014 Vol. 51 No. 11
