japansociety
Japan-UK Review
Volume 2 No. 3 June 2007

Japan Book Review - Japan Stage, Movie, Arts and Event Review

Editor: Sean Curtin

Contents

Managing Editor: Clare Barclay
une was an exciting month for us with the publication of two muchanticipated Japan Society supported books, "Japanese Envoys in Britain,
1862-1964: A Century of Diplomatic Exchange" and "Britain and Japan:
Biographical Portraits, Volume VI." Both were launched at an enjoyable joint
event held on Tuesday 19th June at the Daiwa Foundation's Japan House in
London. In this issue we are reviewing the Envoys book and our next issue willfeature Biographical Portraits (for a preview see back-page). The main themeof this issue is new publications on recent Japanese history. You will find somestimulating reviews on this topic and a few others on more contemporary
subjects. With the Upper House elections scheduled for the end of July, ournext issue will focus on Japanese politics.
Have a good summer!

J

Sean Curtin
New reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews.html
Archive reviews: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews_archive.html(1) Japanese Envoys in Britain, 18621964: A Century of Diplomatic
Exchange(2) Culture and Power in Germany andJapan: The Spirit of Renewal(3) Kita Ikki and the Making ofModern Japan: A Vision of Empire(4) A Reader in Edo Period Travel(5) Innovation and Business Partneringin Japan, Europe and the United States(6) Britain and Japan in the TwentiethCentury: One Hundred Years of Tradeand Prejudice(7) Japan's Foreign Policy Maturation(8) Britain and Japan: BiographicalPortraits, Volume VI (Preview)

Japan Book Review
Japanese Envoys in Britain, 1862-1964: A
Century of Diplomatic Exchange,
Compiled and edited by Ian Nish,
Global Oriental/Japan Society, 2007, 255 pages, ISBN 978-1905246-32-8, £55.00
Review by Sean CurtinThis is a highly readable and excellently researched bookwhich skilfully charts the lives of Japan's envoys to the United
Kingdom during the first century of Anglo-Japanese relations(1862-1964). Just as now, a hundred years ago London was avibrant global capital but its political importance was far
greater than today. This meant that Japan's representatives in
London were often prominent political figures or rising starsof the diplomatic world. Thus, two former ambassadors,
Takaaki Kato (1908-12) and Shigeru Yoshida (1936-38) went on
to become Prime Minister. Yoshida is considered to be one ofJapan's greatest postwar leaders and his time in London offerssome enlightening insights about his character and style.
While only a very select few can capture the premiership,
many of the ambassadors and ministers covered in the bookattained the key post of Foreign Minister. Also a host of juniorofficials went on to become prominent figures after serving in
London during the early stages of their careers, these included

japansociety

Japan-UK Review: June 2007

postwar Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara and the Meiji
renaissance man himself Yukichi Fukuzawa. The fact that somany significant historical figures served in the London
mission during the initial century of bilateral relations makes
the book a valuable reference resource. It is also worth notingthat most of them, including Yoshida himself, were membersof the Japan Society.

This volume completes the history of bilateral diplomatic
relations up to the mid-1960s, and it represents a substantial
contribution to our knowledge and understanding of howbilateral ties evolved. It is also an enjoyable book which
provides some fascinating insights into a bygone age whenambassadors, as the Chinese proverb/curse goes, lived ininteresting times.

Many of the early envoys were extraordinary individuals
with fascinating life-histories, a few could almost be described
as adventurers. The career of Japan's first fully accredited
ambassador, Tadasu Hayashi (1900-06), illustrates theincredible life-courses of Japan's early envoys. Hayashi had
spent two years in prison for fighting on the losing side during
the Boshin Civil War. Captured after the battle of Hakodate, he
had expected execution, but instead after a few years
detention was released thanks to his skill at English. He wasallowed to join the nascent diplomatic service, rising to thepost of ambassador and then foreign minister. Besides his
diplomatic and political achievements, he was also anaccomplished scholar, translator, writer and thinker.
Contemporary British writers described him as "A sort ofJapanese Arthur Balfour [British PM 1902-05] with a detachedphilosophic mind and delightful manners (page 100)."

Culture and Powerin Germany andJapan: The Spirit ofRenewal,With such a rich cast of fascinating characters and gripping
life stories, this book is not only a superb reference work, butalso an extremely good read. In total, twelve authors, over halfof whom are Japanese scholars, have contributed to thisvolume, but a huge amount of credit must go to the compiler
and editor Ian Nish. Nish, an Emeritus Professor ofInternational History at the London School of Economics,
writes ten of the book's twenty-four chapters as well as the
preface. He has meticulously researched the topic andproduces some great biographies packed with a plethora ofdifficult to discover facts such has the cordial relationshipbetween the wives of Shigeru Yoshida and NevilleChamberlain (page 169). Andrew Cobbing, lecturer at
Nottingham University, contributes three illuminating
chapters, Dr. Ayako Hotta-Lister pens another two, with otherauthors each writing a single chapter.
At the core of the book are the nineteen biographies of theenvoys from 1862-1964, and these are supplemented by essays
on the history of the Japanese embassy buildings in London
and various aspects of embassy life during the period. The
appendixes contain a useful list of envoys and ambassadors
up to the present as well as a helpful brief history of theJapanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The publication was launched at a well attended gathering
held on the 19th June 2007 at the Daiwa Foundation's Japan
House in London. Professor Nish gave an outline of the workand thanked all those who had made the project possible. The
event was chaired by the current Japanese ambassador, Yoshiji
Nogami, himself and a man with a distinguished career andan interesting background. Ambassador Nogami admitted
that for him the book holds a special appeal because, as he told
the audience, "The portraits of these early ambassadors stare
down daily at me while I work." The ambassador also
remarked that the lives of Japanese diplomats today are mucheasier than those of the early pioneers who lived in a much
more "turbulent world."
The work was commissioned by the Japan Society to serveas the companion volume to an earlier Society publication"British Envoys in Japan, 1859-1972" (Global Oriental 2004).

2

by Nils-Johan Jorgensen,
Global Oriental, November 2006,
318 pages, £58, ISBN 1-90524607-6
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

The author of this interesting and thought-provoking study
was a Norwegian diplomat who served in both Germany andJapan. He acquired a good knowledge of both countries andtheir languages. His analysis is based on careful study and not
blurred by prejudice.
His theme is outlined in the introduction: "Two states, twopowers, were defeated in the Second World War. Yet thoughcrushed they arose from the ashes…and gradually regained
respect, status and leadership. Germany and Japan havestriking similarities in recent history through war and theneconomic and gradual political renewal, but at the same time
display a very different cultural and historical experience."
Inevitably the author deals at some length with thedifferences between the two countries in their attitudes
towards the Second World War and the horrific acts which
took place in the years leading up to 1945. This means in thecase of Germany focussing on the nature of Nazism and theholocaust and German feelings of guilt and remorse. But healso draws attention to the horrors which resulted from thesaturation bombings of such German cities as Hamburg,
Berlin and Dresden which left many Germans feeling thatthey had been made victims. He notes that in Japan the senseof guilt is absent despite the fact that thirty million people
died in the Pacific War. Shame at Japan's defeat and regret forthe suffering caused by the war is balanced by the belief thatJapan was more a victim than an aggressor. The atomic bombs
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the burning ofTokyo made many Japanese feel that any "war crimes" which
may have been carried out by Japanese were outweighed by
the crimes perpetrated by the Americans in their attacks on
Japan. While only neo-Nazis attempt to justify Hitler's policies
some Japanese still argue that the East Asian War was
justified. The only Japanese mistake was that they were
defeated. The above is, of course, an oversimplification of a
key element in a book which makes many interesting
comparisons.
One of the author's main concerns is the nature of German
and Japanese culture. He asserts (page 214) that "The story ofjapansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

Germany and Japan tells us that culture is destiny - without orwith democracy." This is not an easy sentence to understand.
But one important element (page 131) was "the alliance
between culture and power, art and politics in Germany andJapan as both countries moved towards nationalism andimperialism in the 1930s." He points out (page 131) that
"German and Japanese fascism hijacked symbols, myths,
rituals and ceremonies and resettled them in the newcommunication of militarist ideology in a deliberate strategy
of aesthetics." He notes (page 128) that "the art of thetotalitarian mind is to capture essential symbols totally and to
wage a total war." He adds provocatively: "in that sense
German and Japanese fascism is related to Al Qaeda andinternational terrorist ideology."

Kita Ikki and theMaking ofModern Japan: A
Vision of Empire,

An important element in Japanese culture to which hedraws attention is "Japan's ability (page 43) to borrow, adapt
and improve ideas…[which] is a characteristic feature ofJapan's rebuilding after the war." In both countries greatemphasis was placed on "renewal." In Germany the terms
used most frequently both by Hitler and in the reconstructionof Germany incorporated the word wieder (again).

Review by Ben-Ami Shillony

In a thought provoking chapter headed "The Troublesome
Faustian identity" he draws attention to the continuing
German angst (anxiety) and the difficulty for modern
Germans to express pride in being German. (page 175) "Thelingering German problem is the absence of national identityand patriotism…" Most Japanese with the belief inculcated inthem via the Nihonjinron (the theory of Japanese uniqueness)do not have such difficulty.
The author underlines the different international stances of
the two countries in the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Both countries are possibly the most significant economic andpolitical powers in Europe and Asia respectively. Both seek tobecome permanent members of the Security Council and bothhave an important relationship with the United States, but if
only for geographical reasons their external policies differ.
Germany after reunification is the most important power incentral Europe. The European Union is key to Germany's
future but the concept is of a European Germany, not a
German Europe. The entente with France is fundamental,
while relations with Russia are vital. Germany opposed theAmerican and British intervention in Iraq not least because
German opinion was almost unanimously opposed to theintervention but it also represented an assertion of German
independence after reunification. For Japan the American
alliance remains paramount and despite the opposition ofJapanese public opinion the Japanese government supported
the American intervention in Iraq. Yet for Japan relations with
China and Korea remain crucial. Japan will become a morenormal country and will develop a more independent foreign
policy. Both countries have difficult balancing acts to perform.
I must take issue with the author on one important point.
He implies that Britain like the Soviet Union wanted Emperor
Hirohito indicted as a war criminal. I have seen no
documentary evidence to suggest that this was ever theofficial policy of the British government.
No review can do justice to a book which covers so many
facets of the history, culture and policies of two suchimportant countries. It deserves to be read widely but it is notlight reading.

japansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

by Brij Tankha,
UniversityofHawaiiPress/University of Delhi
Press, 2006, 272/352 pages.
ISBN 1901903990/ ISBN 1901903-99-0

Kita Ikki (1883-1937) is difficult to pin down ideologically.
He blended socialist and nationalist ideas, advocated a coupd'état at home and expansion abroad, and inspired the Young
Officers to carry out their bloody rebellion of 26 February
1936. Yet, he also preached democracy, was attached to China,
and had warm feelings toward the United States. He did notadmire the European fascists and wrote his important works
before Mussolini and Hitler. Whatever one may say about Kita
Ikki, he was one of Japan's most original political thinkers in
the twentieth century. In 1947, Maruyama Masao branded him"the ideological father of Japanese fascism," calling his
writings the Mein Kampf of the right-wing terrorists (Thought
and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics, ed. Ivan Morris,
Oxford University Press, 1963, p. 28). In 1969, George Wilson,
in his book Radical Nationalist in Japan: Kita Ikki, 1883-1937(Harvard University Press, 1969), described Kita as a radical
nationalist influenced by Confucian thinkers of the Tokugawa
era as well as by Western ideologies of his own time.
According to Wilson, Kita rebelled against the conservative
and authoritarian Meiji regime, preaching radical political andsocial changes.
In this book, Brij Tankha, reader in modern Japanese
history at the University of Delhi, presents a somewhat
different picture of Kita. He does not characterize Kita as anationalist, for the simple reason that most other thinkers of
his time, including Christians and Socialists, were also
nationalists. Instead, Tankha depicts him as a reformist. Kita
regarded the Meiji Restoration, Tankha shows, as a positive,
democratic revolution that destroyed the power of theprivileged classes and put an end to the old class system. But
the Restoration was incomplete. It had to be continued bydestroying the undemocratic powers of the financial magnates(zaibatsu) and the bureaucrats (kanbatsu). The people should befreed, Kita believed, from the yoke of these modern
oligarchies and given back control over their welfare anddestiny.
Kita's vision was not limited to the Japanese islands. He
was personally involved in the Republican Revolution in
China, urged Japan to liberate India, and called for an end toWestern domination of Australia and Eastern Siberia. He did
not, however, advocate the liberation of Korea, which hethought should be integrated into Japan as the Seikaido(Western Maritime District). He argued that in the First WorldWar Japan should have sided with Germany and Turkey inorder to combat Russian and British imperialism (pp. 136,
289). He wished to set up a "revolutionary empire" underJapanese leadership to establish freedom and democracy inAsia. Despite his imperialist vision, Kita was not a racist. He

3

rejected the notion of a pure Yamato race, claiming that theJapanese were a mixture of Korean, Chinese, Southeast Asian,and aboriginal elements (p. 264). He did not regard Japaneseculture as being superior to other cultures. His heroes were
Napoleon and Lenin (p. 181), and the international language
he envisaged for the liberated Asia was Esperanto (p. 193).
Although most nationalists of his day preached loyalty to
the throne, Kita was more interested in the Japanese people
than in their monarch. For Kita, the emperor was a symbol,
similar to his present status. Kita ridiculed the idea of bansei
ikkei (the eternal unbroken line of emperors), dismissed theclaim that the imperial family was in any way unique (p. 23),
and rejected the concept that Japan was a family state with theemperor as its father (pp. 39-40). In his view, the significanceof the monarch was not his divine descent but his position as"the people's emperor" and "the representative of the people"(p. 214). He scorned the old-style monarchy and called for theabolition of the nobility and for the nationalization of theemperor's property, something that the Allied Occupation dida few decades later. No wonder some of his writings werebanned and others were censored by the authorities.
Tankha's book is not intended to be a biography. It provides
basic biographical data, but does not mention such details as
Kita's fortune-telling wife or his adopted Chinese son. It does
not try to solve the mysteries that still surround Kita, like his
connections with Prince Chichibu and with the Mitsuiconcern. The book is about the thought rather than the life ofKita, and the arrangement of the chapters centers on his
works. Tankha compares Kita's writings with those of his
contemporaries. He examines what the intellectuals,
visionaries, reformers, and political activists of the early
decades of the twentieth century wrote in such magazines as
Chuo koron, Taioô, Toyo keizai, Nihon oyobi Nihonjin, and Heimin
shinbun. This enables him to place Kita in the context of theintellectual discourse of his time.
Despite the fact that Kita was a self-taught man and did not
graduate from university, he was versed in the writings ofConfucian thinkers as well as in the political literature of theWest of his time. Like others, he was attracted to socialism,
because it combined moral ideals, like justice and freedom,with a scientific analysis of history. He befriended the socialist
leaders Kotoku Shusui and Sakai Toshihiko, and for a time
worked for the socialist newspaper Heimin shinbun. But Kita
was not a blind follower of Western theories, and headvocated a Japanese brand of socialism that would fit
traditional values. In 1906, at the age of twenty-three, he wrote
his book Kokutairon oyobi junsui shakaishugi (The National
Polity and Pure Socialism), in which he pointed out thecommon ground between Japan's "national essence" andsocialism.
Kita justified Japanese imperialism on socialist grounds:"Britain, astride the whole world, is like a very rich man, andRussia is landlord of half the northern world. Doesn't Japan,
which is like a propertyless person in international society,confined to these small islands, have the right to go to war to
overthrow their domination in the name of justice?" (p. 282).
As the first modern nation in Asia, Japan carried the
responsibility to liberate other Asian nations as well as toensure the livelihood of its own people. Kita called on Japanto seize Manchuria in order to protect China from Russian
machinations, but also as a place to settle poor peasants fromthe home islands. For Kita, Japanese imperialism was both adestiny and a necessity.

4

The reforms Kita advocated were neither fully democratic
nor pacifistic. He demanded universal suffrage, but only formen. Women, he argued, should concentrate on their natural
calling to bear children and should not be dragged into
politics. Workers should be protected and given a fair share of
the profits, but strikes would not be permitted. The
revolutionary empire would maintain a large army and navy
and would engage in wars to fulfill its destiny. Thisnationalistic brand of socialism appealed to the radical rebelsof the 1930s and dragged Kita into an involvement in theabortive coup of 1936, for which he was sentenced to deathand executed.
Tankha does not deal with Kita's attachment to Nichiren
Buddhism, probably because he regards it as part of Kita's
biography rather than his philosophy. It is indeed difficult to
explain how a rationalist thinker like Kita, scornful ofreligious myths, embraced the creed of Nichiren. Perhaps hesaw himself, like Nichiren, as a persecuted prophet, warning
his countrymen of an impending disaster and prescribing theway for salvation. In his writings, Kita alludes equally to
Confucian, Buddhist, Christian, and Moslem concepts. Thus
he writes: "The Japanese rising sun flag, after defeating
England, reviving Turkey, making India independent, andChina self-reliant, will shed the light of Heaven on all thepeople of the world. The coming again of Christ, prophesied
all over the world, is actually the Japanese people's scriptureand sword in the shape of Mohammed" (p. 293).
Brij Tankha's book draws attention to the research on Japanthat is being done in India. It is attractively presented, but it isa pity that the publisher has allowed typographical errors andmisprints to mar the text, but they do not detract from the
book's importance. The author should be congratulated forpresenting us, in the second part of the book, with a fulltranslation of Kita's programmatic treatise of 1919, Nihon kaizôhôan taikô (Fundamental Principles for the Reorganization ofJapan). This work, which was heavily censored andclandestinely circulated, had a great impact on many Japanesein the 1930s. Its translation sheds more light on that turbulent
period.
A different version of this review first appeared in Monumenta
Nipponica, winter 2004.

A Reader in Edo
Period Travel
by Herbert Plutschow, ,Global Oriental, 2006, 347 pages
including bibliography, glossary
and index, , ISBN 1-901903-23-0
and 978-1-901903-23-2.
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

During the Edo or Tokugawa period, from the beginning of
the seventeenth century to the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japanlargely avoided internal conflicts. The road system wasdeveloped not least to meet the requirements of the sankinkotai system under which the daimyo were required to travelfrom their domains to spend time in residence in Edo. Tradejapansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

prospered and merchants and artisans generally thrived. The
farmers, in theory second only to the samurai in the classhierarchy of Edo Japan, were squeezed to enable the samurai
to maintain their artificially martial existence. Along the main
roads posting stations and inns were established, but there
was no wheeled traffic on the highways and movement waseither on foot, on horseback or by palanquin. So journeys wereslow and uncomfortable as good inns often could not befound. However the number of travellers grew and thosewith a literary bent and leisure kept diaries or records of theirjourneys.
As Plutschow points out in his informative introduction
western studies of Tokugawa travel literature have tended toconcentrate on the journeys made by poets where poems form
the central feature. The most important examples of this genre
in the Edo period were the travelogues of Matsuo Basho, thefamous haiku poet of the seventeenth century whose Oku no
Hosomichi has been the subject of a number of English
translation. Plutscow notes that, with the exception of Donald
Keene whose Travellers of One Hundred Generations, New York,
1989, which introduced a selection of Edo travellers, the bulkof Edo travel literature has been neglected by scholars partly
because it was "not considered orthodox literature, especially'the realistic accounts '" which Plutschow has selected for thisvolume.
Plutschow found that many of the more interesting andrealistic writers of the period were either physicians or
botanists. He suggests that the new "realism" stemmed from
"Chinese honzogaku pharmacology and medicine." It isinteresting in this context to note that Kaempfer, Thunberg,
and von Siebold who provided the main sources for
information about Japan to the West in the Edo period were all
doctors to the Dutch merchant colony on Dejima at Nagasaki
and also experts in botany.

country, Japan, do not study physics. Calling it elegance, they
do not write the truth but express the feelings of an unstablewoman using ornate language." We learn a good deal about
the difficulties of travel with the need for passports and thechecks made at the various barriers (sekisho). Takizawa Bakinleft various revealing pieces of advice to travellers including"Think of the road as enemy territory and always be on thelook-out" and "Eat only one or two bowls of rice for lunch andeach time you get hungry, eat little. With a full stomach thegoing is painful."
Many of the accounts remind the reader that althoughpeace had led to increased prosperity the Japanese peasantpopulation had a very hard life and when the harvests failed
were left to starve. There are also many interesting commentson the Dutch who were the only Europeans in Japan during
this period and whose life style clearly intrigued the Japanese.
The book contains an interesting black and white plate
section, but the single Road Map of Edo Japan is insufficiently
detailed for any reader who wants to follow the itineraries ofthe various travellers. Ideally each of the travels recorded
should have been accompanied by a fairly detailed sketch
map. This would no doubt have involved much additional
work, but it would have been invaluable for the serious
student.

Innovation andBusiness Partnering inJapan, Europe and theUnited States,edited by Ruth Taplin,
Routledge, 2006, ISBN 0-415-40287-5

Plutschow has selected sixteen travellers. He introduceseach with a note giving necessary background and thentranslates selected extracts from their writings. Some of these
are well known for other reasons. Kaibara Ekken was afamous Confucianist; Nagakubo Sekisui was an outstanding
geographer; Motoori Norinaga was the leading kokugakusha
who emphasised the study of early Japanese texts; Ueda
Akinari was a novelist famous for his Ugetsu monogatari, acollection of nine tales of the supernatural; Shiba Kokan was apainter who adopted western techniques of perspective;
Takizawa Bakin wrote one of the most famous long novels of
the period, the Nanso Satomi Hakkenden; Watanabe Kazan wasa famous portrait painter about whom Donald Keene recently
published a biography under the title Frog in the Well.
Plutschow pays particular attention to the travel writings of
Furukawa Koshoken (1726-1807) and Sugae Masumi (17541829) whose travels took him in 1785 to Ezo (Hokkaido). He
considers Sugae "a superb observer" and quotes some of his
interesting observations on Ainu whom he had encountered.
Plutschow comments: "we find in his diaries the same kind of
fascination for the extraordinary, the exotic and a respect for
cultural diversity we find in our other travellers (page 180)."
These writings are, of course, revealing about thepersonalities of the narrators, but they also tell us a good deal
about conditions of life in the Edo period. Japan in those days
was much more diverse than it became as a result of thecentralising policies of the Meiji government. Much of thecountry was underdeveloped and poor. Shiba Kokan was
critical of his country's backwardness: "the people of myjapansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

Review by Christopher Williams
Innovation
andBusiness
Partnering in Japan, Europe and the United States is an edited
volume that shows how innovation and economic growth arebecoming less determined by silos of research funded andmanaged by governments or large corporations, and more
influenced by multiple actors of different types, interlinking
to create "breeding ground[s] for cross-fertilisation and [the]generation of new business opportunities" (Taplin, Chapter 2:
p. 20). Some of this interlinking, or partnering, can be seen in
the form of localised clusters generating new knowledge that
ultimately adds to the prosperity of geographic localities inwhich the clusters are situated. However, it is also seen ininternational networks of linked actors that are not necessarilya part of a recognised cluster. In the latter case, globalised
innovation involves "proactively building an external networkof innovation partners" (Davies, Chapter 3: p. 43) facilitated bybusiness intermediaries that provide both capital andintegration.
The book makes many interesting and insightful points, ofwhich, for reasons of space, I focus on three. Firstly, company
growth and economic success is directly attributed toenvironments where partnering is actively encouraged.
Evidence from the US shows how SME growth is linked to"vibrant government / business / academic partnership[s]"(Young, Chapter 5: p. 71). Likewise in Japan, partnering has
been central to the restructuring of industries and companies

5since the 1990s, although here, division-to-division partnering
has played a key role (Kiso, Chapter 6). Secondly, institutionsat territory and country level explicitly facilitate and stimulate
business cultures in which profitable partnerships form anddevelop. Countries themselves deliberately develop
technology strategies and competitive positions that, forexample in the case of Poland, act as "mechanisms forcollaboration, coupled with a culture of market sensitivity"(Nowak and Arogyaswamy, Chapter 4: p. 67). Meanwhile,
universities are often central points in local innovative clusters.
Thirdly, in addition to this partnering (or clustering) by design,
there is also an evolutionary aspect because of theadvancement of simultaneous globalising and localising forces
emanating from the quest by nation states and multinational
corporations to exploit new knowledge. Ultimately though,the enactment and manifestation of these forces can be seen interms of dynamic knowledge creation at a local level:"Urban and regional collectives are a popular approach todemonstrating such a capability, both to bring existing talent
together as well as to attract competent individuals andorganizations from outside the area…social capital, deemed
critical to the successful operation of clusters, is conditioned
upon cultures at various levels" (Arogyaswamy and Nowak,
Chapter 8: p. 146).
These points have implications for entrepreneurship in the
21st Century. Firstly, encouraging partnering requires anemphasis on openness and a willingness to build business
relationships amongst actors who historically did not engage
in business. The embedment in global networks byuniversities, by divisions of companies that hitherto only acted
internally, and by small firms that only used to operate locally,mean openness and motivation have become key ingredientsfor entrepreneurship in the new world order. Secondly,
because countries develop technology strategies andcompetitive positions, the nation state will still continue toplay a crucial role in determining the hubs of innovation
within globalised innovation networks. Nation states are able
to directly influence the adoption and diffusion oftechnologies that support distributed innovation (Trumbull,2004). Thus the comparative pulling power of countries may
determine the speed with which hubs develop, and may
prevent some hubs forming in the first place. The advanced
state of cluster development and partnering capability in the
US, Europe and Japan, will act as an entry barrier to otherzones of the world attempting to compete on the basis ofpartnership facilitation. Thirdly, partnering ventures generate
what Nishizawa calls a "'creative class' of highly talented
people" (Chapter 7: p. 111); research universities are central tothis generation process (which also includes mobility enabling
via a job transfer network).
Taplin's book emphasises the importance to regional
development of business partnering involving SMEs, andshows how economic regeneration in the current world
economy requires various forms of Human Entrepreneurial
Capital that co-evolve in both local (clustered) and global(dispersed) contexts through business partnering. Thus
networked entrepreneurship should be central to the agenda
of local and central policy makers as it provides a basis arguably the most credible basis - for identifying, evaluatingand exploiting global opportunities that will support wealthcreation for localities. The creative class experiments andlearns in both local and global contexts during networked
entrepreneurship, and acts as a conduit for knowledge transfer
between a multitude of team members all centred on

6entrepreneurial initiative as a focal point. Importantly,
entrepreneurial universities (Etzkowitz et al., 2000) are central
players in the propagation of initiatives, and have become
increasingly influential in how the focal point of an initiative
can form and develop over time. Thus the antecedents,
developmental trajectories and consequences of this creativeclass of human beings, must be important to practitioners,
planners and academics.
A considerably lengthier and more in-depth version of this article
originally appeared in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics Vol
18 No 2 (2007).
References
Etzkowitz, H., Webster, A., Gebhardt, C. and Terra, B.R.C.
(2000) 'The future of the university and the university of the future:
evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm', Research
Policy, 29: 313-330.
Trumbull, G. (2004) Silicon and the State: French Innovation
Policy in the Internet Age, Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution Press.

Britain and Japan in
the TwentiethCentury: One
Hundred Years ofTrade and Prejudice,edited by Philip Towle andNobuko Margaret Kosuge,
I.B. Tauris, London and New York,2007, 236 pages including index,
bibliography and end notes, ISBN:
978 1 85411 415 2, £47.50.
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
This book consists of a collection of 13 essays by a variety of
British and Japanese scholars and is based on a conference inCambridge during the Japan 2001 celebrations. It is not anddoes not claim to be a survey of the many facets of AngloJapanese relations in the twentieth century, but students andresearchers will find much of interest in the wide-ranging
contributions which cover political as well as economic aspectsof our relations with Japan.
After a brief introduction by Sir John Boyd, who was Masterof Churchill College, the two editors survey the field and draw
attention to some of the main themes in the book. In a shortreview it is not possible to comment on all thirteen chapters
individually, but it may be helpful to highlight a few particularissues which the contributors discuss.
Professor Janet Hunter in Chapter 2 on "Britain and theJapanese Economy during the First World War" points out that"the war caused a range of problems for the Japanese economy
and exposed structural weaknesses." She suggests that theeconomic rivalries between Britain and Japan can be dated
back to the war.
In the following chapter on the interwar period Fumitaka
Kurosawa concludes that "Japan increased its orientation
towards autarky and the imperialistic world view as the 1930s

japansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

progressed…For a time in the 1930s, a possibility still existed
for Anglo-Japanese cooperation on the basis of imperialistic
bilateralism, but this too had disappeared by the decade's
end."John Weste's essay on "Shipping and Shipbuilding" does not
mention a British mission in the late 1960s which included
British managers and union officials who went to Japan to
study Japanese methods and were duly impressed by Japaneseability to build ships quickly and efficiently, but wereapparently incapable of applying the lessons which theylearnt. Japanese yards were soon surpassed by South Korean.
Hideya Taida's essay on Anglo-Japanese economic relations
since the 1970s concentrates on his personal experiences with
Marubeni and the British Market Council in Japan. The"Opportunity Japan Campaign" of 1988 about which he writes
had the aim of doubling British exports to Japan. This was justone in a series of export campaigns which began in the second
half of the 1960s. At that time it was led by the British National
Export Council's Asia Committee. In the Embassy in Tokyo we
did all we could to promote exports through trade missions
and exhibitions including in 1969 a major "British Week inTokyo." This campaign was further stepped up following thevisit to Japan in 1973 of Mr Heath, the first British Prime
Minister to visit Japan while in office. Among other measures
adopted a British marketing centre was established in Tokyo.
Our difficulties included Japanese mercantilist attitudes, hightariffs on important British exports such as Scotch whisky andsignificant non-tariff barriers. Mr Taida rightly emphasises theimportance of Japanese investment in the Britain, the efforts
put into promoting it and its results in increased employment
and improvements in quality and competitiveness.
Hugo Dobson's essay on "Japan and the UK at the G8summits" is a useful analysis. So is Reinhard Drifte's on
military and security cooperation between Britain and Japan in"Military and economic power: complementing each other's
national strength."
The final essay by Nobuko Margaret Kosuge entitled "Thepressure of the past on the Anglo-Japanese relationship" takes
up the sad issue of the Japanese maltreatment of British
prisoners of war in the Pacific War. The Japanese government
through lack of political imagination and generosity missed anumber of opportunities for defusing this issue. Now thatmost of those, who suffered have passed on, the danger is thatmemories of the past will be revived by insensitive comments
by Japanese nationalists who try to justify the unjustifiable.

Japan's Foreign
Policy Maturation: A
Quest for Normalcy,
by Kevin J. Cooney,
Routledge, 2002, 230 pages
including appendixes, bibliography
and index, ISBN: 0415935164
Review by J. Sean Curtin

Author Kevin J. Cooneyjapansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007

This book comprehensively charts the dynamics of Japanese
foreign policy during the nineties as Tokyo struggled to copewith the end of the Cold War and the limitations of its warrenouncing constitution in the newly emerging global order.
Exactly the same issues continue to fuel the current debate,making this work a highly relevant piece of analysis about the
on-going phase in foreign policy evolution. The nineties willsoon be a decade behind us, but Japan is still battling to find a
new place on the shifting global stage while it agonizes overamending its now almost sacred pacifist Constitution. The
Koizumi administration's dispatch of troops to aid in thereconstruction of Iraq has advanced the debate somewhat, yet
the fundamental insights of the analysis presented in this bookremain largely unchanged.
The study demonstrates that it is far easier for Japanesepolitical leaders to declare their intention to change thenation's foreign policy than it is for them to actually achieve
anything concrete. This has been most recently demonstrated
by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who has clearly stated hisstrong desire to amend Article Nine, but just creating therequired referendum legislation to even begin this task is aprocess which will take several years. It is unclear whether
Abe or the necessary political momentum to implement the
proposed amendments will survive over the period of timeneeded to complete the preliminary stage.
Cooney believes the final outcome of this historic debate
will be crucial for Japan which "must now choose whether to
let its role in the world dwindle or perish by its self imposed
pacifism or take up the sword and risk the casualties andenemies it has avoided since the end of World War II (page 4)."
The author's research objective is to submit the changes inJapanese foreign policy during the nineties to empiricalinquiry in order to see what the elites and general publicactually believe their country's global security role should be.
The research core of the book is a series of fifty-six fieldinterviews amongst the foreign policy making elite conductedby the author. The subjects consist of lawmakers from all the
major political parties in both the Lower and Upper Houses,
foreign ministry bureaucrats, cabinet officials, defence officials
and members of the press. The focus is on those individuals
with particular foreign policy expertise. The author utilized
his network of contacts to gain access to prominent figures. In
chapter one he sets out his research objectives andmethodology. The work examines Japanese foreign policy
from three different levels of analysis: international system,
individual and state level.
In the second chapter, "The story of Japan's 'abnormal'
foreign policy under Article Nine," he gives an analysis of
postwar foreign policy and its objectives. Cooney states,"Article Nine was written shortly before the onset of the Cold
War and is fundamental to the understanding of Japanesepost-war foreign policy (page 5)." The 1992 Law Concerning
Cooperation in UN Peacekeeping (commonly known as the
PKO Law) is seen as "the most significant change in Japan's
postwar foreign and security policies since the creation of the
Self Defense Forces (SDF) in the 1950s (page 23)." This chapter
is excellent and contains some superb reference material.
In chapter three, "Realism and Foreign Policy Restructuring
in Japan," the conceptual framework for the analysis isprovided. This chapter looks at a host of theoretical
approaches and is a valuable reference source for non-experts
wanting to gain better insights in the field. The author

7believes, "The purpose of the original Yoshida Doctrine was tosupport Japan's economic rebuilding by permitting it to deemphasize its defense by relying on the US-Japan Security
Treaty. At the same time it permitted Japan to deal with theconstitutional limitations imposed by Article Nine. Japan
found this policy unworkable in the 'New World Order' thatcame about after the demise of the Iron Curtain."

Britain and Japan: BiographicalPortraits, Volume VI, (Preview)

The fourth chapter, "Japan's Security Options," looks at
Tokyo's regional and international relations together with anassessment of possible strategic security alignments. The next
chapter, "How Japan Views its place in the World and the'myth' of Gaiatsu," examines the country's position in thecurrent global order. In these two chapters the author's
empirical research along with other surveys are used toenhance the analysis.
The final chapter, "Where is Japan Going?" neatly brings all
the elements of the analysis together to try to predict the likely
future direction of Japanese foreign policy. The author
concludes, "Contrary to conventional wisdom among theruling elites, Japan will never gain its full stature as a nation
until it deals with its historical responsibilities in a forthrightand honest way....Japan's quest for normalcy in East Asia will
be obstructed until it adequately addresses this issue (page177)."
While not everyone will agree with the conclusions,
everything is clearly presented and backed up with a solid
spectrum of supporting evidence. His empirical work is
fascinating in itself and any follow-up research would also be
extremely valuable. Some may be critical of the description of
Karel van Wolferen's "The Enigma of Japanese Power" as "themost important recent work on the role of Japanese domestic
political power." However, overall there are few areas where it
is really possible to fault this well-researched book. It makes awelcome contribution to our understanding of the forces
currently shaping Japanese foreign policy and the painful
metamorphosis it is presently undergoing.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A REVIEWER?
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would like to join the review team. If you areinterested in becoming a reviewer please send
your name and subject are to:
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Email: culture@japansociety.org.uk
We would particularly like to hear from thosemembers with the following areas of specialization:
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8

Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits,
Volume VI,
Edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi,
Global Oriental in association with the Japan Society, 2007, 368
pages, ISBN 978-1-905246-33-5
This is the sixth volume in the much acclaimed biographicalportraits series and will be reviewed in our next issue. The
book looks at a host of distinguished British and Japanesepersonalities who have contributed to Anglo-Japaneserelations over the past century. A broad selection of people
from business (Sir Peter Parker, Morita Akio of Sony and
Honda Soichiro), politics (Edward Heath, Winston Churchill
and Yoshida Shigeru), the arts (Somerset Maugham and Ian
Fleming) and several other fields are included in over thirtyhighly readable biographical portraits.

japansociety Japan-UK Review: June 2007