This book, inspired bythe ordinary people who survived the catastrophic 3/11 disaster in the Tohokuregion, is an excellent interdisciplinary collection of essays by leadingscholars that offers an insightful and thought-provoking inquiry into theoutlook for Japan's near future. A major contribution to our understanding ofthe economic, political, social, international challenges that Japan facestoday. -Takashi Yoshida,author of The Making of the ... Read moreRape of Nanking : History and Memory in Japan, China, and the US By bringing together cutting edge interdisciplinaryscholarship produced by an international group of researchers, this book providesan illuminating window into how the world's third largest economy and nationwith an unresolved colonial past is trying to come to terms with its fluidpresent and searching for ways to deal with its uncertain future. -Sayuri Guthrie Shimzu,author of Transpacific Field of Dreams This collection of lucid essays by leading experts takes stock in Japan's many problems... -Foreign Affairs The overall message that emerges is both hopeful and unsettling: Japan's problems are far from insurmountable - but big changes are needed, and time is running out. -The Japan Times As an invariably thoughtful overview...of issues facing recent and contemporary Japan, Japan's Precarious Future is superb. Indeed, I plan to use it as the required text for my upcoming course on Japanese politics. My Student always seem more concerned with the future than the past, and I look forward to sharing this remarkable volume with them. -Journal of Japanese Studies A must-read for anyone interested in Japan'srecent past and possible future. The authors manage to be both balancedand hard hitting in their analyses. The overall tone is one of guardedpessimism-with a dash of guarded optimism. Such a stance toward Japan'sfuture both at home and in the region and world is well justified. -Andrew Gordon,author of Fabricating Consumers: The Sewing Machine in Modern Japan This volume has value in now providing food for thought to reassess Japan's lost decades as an alternative to a populist uprising. -Social Science Japan Journal Show Less