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Title: The Clash: U.S.-Japanese Relations Throughout History by Walter Lafeber ISBN: 0-393-31837-0 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Economic history of U.S-Japanese relations
Comment: In THE CLASH by Walter LaFeber, U.S. Japanese relations collide over different visions of Asia. For Americans, Japan represented an opportunity to enter China and satisfy a western global reach built on the extension of Manifest Destiny. Asia stood as a far western American frontier. American commerce and power promised an enlightened deliverance of manufactured goods and a benign pacific paternalism, grounded within the western concepts of unrestricted capitalism and individual rights. For the Japanese, Asia never represented an idea, but a reality. Japan viewed China and other Asian countries through a historical lens encompassing thousands of years. Wishing to protect a harmonious culture and placing itself as a leading actor within Asian affairs, Japan clashed with the United States over a period of 150 years. LaFeber views economics and geo political factors as being the most important factors which shaped U.S. Japanese relations.
Beginning with Commodore Perry and the Five Ports treaty, America and Japan each resolved to satisfy their Asian objectives. America solved the the dilemna of overproduction, while Japan built a military and industrial complex that would place it on equal footing with Western imperial powers. After 1873, American and Japanese interests coalesced around the objectives of an Open China, a British alliance, a prevention of Russian and German colonialism, and acquiescence to American control over the Phillipines and Hawaii. In addition, america recognized Japanese control of Korea through the Taft-Katsura agreement. However, the relationship changed.
With the beginning of the 20th century, a U.S. Japanese clash emerged as Japan took control of Manchuria, asserted itself militarily through the Russo-Japanese War, and lost a British alliance through american post World War I credit. In addition, a world wide depression forced the United States and Japan to advocate total mobilization and a reevaluation of foreign policy objectives. Wishing to achieve a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Japanese realized that U.S. Asiatic interests prevented Japanese control over Pacific resources. Therefore, Japan opted for a quick military strike against U.S. military forces. For Franklin Roosevelt, a world war provided domestic economic relief and the opportunity to integrate Asia within a US created global capitalist system. The dropping of two atomic bombs achieved American objectives.
Following a devastating defeat, Japan rebounded economically through American economic aid, Prime minister Kishi's move toward a more bureaucratic and central government, and american military conflicts within Korea and Vietnam, which provided substantial trading opportunities for Japanese industry. A reinvigorated and economically prosperous Japan produced another clash due to rising American trade deficits and the failure of Japan to stay politically in step with U.S. policy towards Asia and the Middle East.
After reading THE CLASH, I would agree that economic considerations played arole within the different competing visions of U.S.-Japanese relations. However, I would have liked to have seen more of an emphasis on American and Japanese cultural differences and the role they played in shaping relations. LaFeber hints at these differences with references to a nineteenth century Japanese delegation's observations of American female rights, the 1924 Excluson Acts, the rise of the zaibatsu, the Japanese internment, Truman's bestial comments, and the postwar interaction of American military personnel with Japanese citizens. However, LaFeber never gathers these divisive cultural factors into a cogent thesis.
This is strange , since Lafeber leaves no source unturned. Drawing on a large selection of Japanese and American sources, it would seem that LaFeber had an opportunity to focus on these cultural differences. Writing this book in 1997, LaFeber seems to have taken a modern U.S. Japanese foreign policy perspective which revolves around trade deficits and Asian markets. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the historical economic relationship between Japan and the United States and its impact on US Japanese relations. However, THE CLASH cannot be the sole source for explaining the different visions of Asia which contributed to a 150 year US Japanese relationship mired in misunderstanding.
Rating: 3
Summary: well researched, but you better have some time on your hands
Comment: LaFeber certainly makes logical conclusions from factual evidence which lends credibility to his work. His thesis, that you have to examine the deep historical roots of the US-Japanese relationship to understand the causes of their many clashes in the 150 year relationship, is proven time and time again in the book. Not good bedtime reading unless you need help sleeping.
Rating: 5
Summary: The rivalry between America and Japan
Comment: In this very readable book LaFeber recounts the relations between the United States and Japan since Commodore Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay .
LaFeber shows that both Japan and America were very interested in the resources and the potential market of China. This rivalry was more serious for Japan, since Japan had almost no resources of her own. As America and Japan became stronger they jockeyed for access to the markets of China and the resources of Manchuria while Russia and China declined. This eventually led to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific.
After the war America tried and failed to change Japans views of capitalism and democracy or persuade Japan to ignore the China markets and develop her military strength against the now rising Russia and China.
LaFeber describes the different political and economy backgrounds of America and Japan to explain the actions, and different views of capitalism and democracy of Japan and America. LaFeber also points out the racism of America and Japan that damaged the relations between them.
This book has an excellent bibliography and footnotes so the reader can go beyond the excellent research of LaFeber. There are also a series of maps that make the text easier to understand.
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Title: Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower ISBN: 0393320278 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present by Andrew Gordon ISBN: 0195110609 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War by John W. Dower ISBN: 0394751728 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 12 February, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Inventing Japan, 1853-1964 (Modern Library Chronicles) by Ian Buruma ISBN: 0679640851 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Japan Examined: Perspectives on Modern Japanese History by Harry and Conroy, Hilary Wray, Hilary Conroy ISBN: 0824808398 Publisher: University of Hawaii Press Pub. Date: February, 1983 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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