giving up of the past. – A. Hernandi, Japan’s Socio-Economic Evolution A Century of Change

This volume brings together reXections and research on the link between history and the future of Japan in a time of growing volatility and change. The contributors all share a belief that the dawn of a new millennium offers an opportunity to consider contemporary Japan from a longer point of view. This book is integrated by a major theme – that complex changes currently unfolding in Japan can be understood in part by reference to past events and underlying consistencies in economic, political, and social life. The author of each chapter has approached his or her particular theme in this light, and recognizes that the year 2001 (when most of these essays were completed) represented an intriguing axis on which to assess various past trends as well as future trajectories. Waswo (1996, 163), writ-ing about modern Japanese society since the Meiji period (1868-1912), notes that it is always tempting to see “the present as a historical turning point, and to assign to unfolding events or trends a signiWcance that in the end they do not deserve. ” Still, as this chapter argues, the events of the las