These two chapters concern the militaristic era in Japan, while the last two chapters concerns the postwar era. So I decided to split things up accordingly.

The history of the Pacific War, and to a lesser extent the China War, is well known enough that there is little need for me to go over the campaigns and battles. Shanghai, Nanking, Singapore, Midway, and so on. These names means things to those who know of this era of history, though I will confess that it is always annoying seeing the bookshelves on this theater so bare compared to the Western or Eastern European fronts.

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What do people, even those who have a basic knowledge of Japan, really know about the Taisho era?

A basic history of Japan will discuss the Meiji era in great detail, noting how Japan centralized, removed the daimyo, and industrialized and began the first parts of their empire. And then there is of course great discussion around the period of militarization, ending with the Pacific War.

But there is not that much discussion about the period between Meiji’s death in 1912 and the Manchurian Incident in 1931. It is called the Taisho era, and basic students of Japanese history understand that it was a period of relative democratization, but not much more. But in reading over these three chapters, which cover the changes in Meiji culture over time as well as the Taisho era, you get a sense of the contradictions and struggles which define Japan even today.

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As I discussed earlier, I think I’m going to make these after every three chapters instead of every five. This book has so much to cover that it feels inadequate.

But while there’s no denying that it covers a great deal, the fact remains that Mr. Jansen does skip over a great deal as well. That is to be expected. The three chapters cover the time from the rise of the Meiji state up to the annexation of Korea. The First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War are not covered in that much detail (the latter is summarized in about a page), but this is not a military history after all.

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