Imperial Japan at Its Zenith: The Wartime Celebration of the Empire's 2,600th Anniversary (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asia Institute)
"Kenneth J. Ruoff has done yeoman's work in unearthing a vast array of sources and interesting anecdotes that enliven the narrative, serving up a fascinating social history that helps readers today understand what it must have been like to live in wartime Japan, an account that challenges narratives of unrelenting tribulation. His captivating book explains how tens of millions of Japanese reveled in the orchestrated jingoism of the celebrations, cheered on by the media, intellectuals and all the businesses cashing in on patriotic consumption. In doing so, he reveals the extensive web of complicity and mobilization that belies assertions Japan was hijacked into war by a small coterie of military hotheads."—Jeff Kingston,The Japan Times"Kenneth J. Ruoff has sifted through documents long buried in Asian libraries and postcards procured at Kyoto flea markets to produce a meticulous study of Japanese life in the 1930s and '40s.Imperial Japan at its Zenithis, like the few available accounts of present-day North Korea, alternately chilling and amusing in chronicling efforts of the state to indoctrinate and manipulate citizens. . . . Ruoff shows how Japan went to extremes in its colonial heyday, inventing elaborate stories glorifying its divine imperial lineage to boost patriotism and justify colonial conquest. . . . [This book] provides rare insights . . . into the way a cult of militarism can pervade a nation and propel world events. Among the book's nuggets is the fact that the Zero fighter plane, of Pearl Harbor infamy, was named for the zeros in 2,600."—Richard Read,The Oregonian"In terms of charismatic cult, architecture and mass mobilization, Ruoff highlights important similarities between Japanese and European fascism. In so doing, he helpfully moves the debate beyond mere definitions of fascism to think instead of comparative fascist practice—an approach that complements recent attempts to find a 'new perspective' on the histories of modern Germany, Italy and Japan."—Martin Dusinberre,Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History"Kenneth J. Ruoff is the most distinguished historian of his generation writing about the modern Japanese monarchy. His latest book, looking at the extraordinary celebrations of the 2,600th anniversary of the Japanese royal dynasty and the Japanese empire, is his most powerful and original yet. It is a tour de force of research, scholarship, and exposition, and anyone, anywhere, who is interested in the complex and controversial history of modern Japan or, indeed, the history of the modern world should read it."—Sir David Cannadine, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Professor of History at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London"In describing the mass mobilizations that accompanied the celebration in 1940 of the putative 2,600th anniversary of Japan's founding by the mythical emperor Jimmu, Kenneth J. Ruoff brilliantly illuminates issues related to war, nation formation, modernization, and the relationships among them.Imperial Japan at Its Zenithcontributes a great deal to our understanding of the interplay of history and memory and the role of historical commemoration in the formation of national identity."—Julien Victor Koschmann, Cornell University"A brilliant conception, deeply and deftly executed,Imperial Japan at its Zenithis a fascinating and colorful panorama of the Japanese empire in 1940 in its own terms and on multiple levels of description and argument. A must- and marvelous read for anyone interested in modern Japan, as well as Korea, China, and Asia more generally."—Carter J. Eckert, Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History, Harvard University"Kenneth J. Ruoff has identified a fascinating moment to serve as a focus for his reassessment of modernity in the Japanese Empire. The 2,600th anniversary celebration, as he so vividly shows, was an enormous and richly choreographed event, but it has been largely neglected by historians.Imperial Japan at Its Zenithis full of compelling information based on a prodigious amount of archival research."—Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Australian National University"In this deeply researched book Kenneth J. Ruoff offers an intriguing new perspective on wartime Japan. Hissweeping survey of the cultural landscape in 1940demonstrates the many ways, from song contests to colonial tourism, that cultural consumption sustained popular morale and support for the war effort on the Asian continent."—Peter Duus, Stanford University