Japan’’s Future and a New Meiji Transformation: International Reflections

Bringing together the work of sixteen international Japan specialists and scholars, this book analyzes Japan’s culture and history to reflect on the critical policy decisions and national commitments required for the country to continue to succeed.

Comparing the current situation with the uncertainties of the late nineteenth century, this book investigates the possibility and desirability of a ＂New Meiji Transformation＂ in Japan. Set in the context of perceived demographic, ecological, fiscal and political decline in Japan, it explores what a New Meiji initiative would look like in the twenty-first century and whether a new era of renewal is needed to maintain and improve quality of life.

An interdisciplinary volume, this book covers contemporary issues in Japanese foreign, defense and nuclear strategies, as well as its aging population, higher education structure and environmental policies. As such Japan’s Future and a New Meiji Transformation will be of great interest to students and scholars of Japanese politics, economics and history, as well as Asian Studies more generally.

Ken Coates is Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Kimie Hara is a Professor and the Renison Research Professor in East Asian Studies, University of Waterloo.

Carin Holroyd is Associate Professor, Department of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Marie Söderberg is a Professor and Director of the European Institute of Japanese Studies at the Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden.