Showa Japan: The Post-War Golden Age and its Troubled Legacy

By Hans Brinckmann

Published by Tuttle Publishing

Japan’s Showa era began in 1926 when Emperor Hirohito took the throne and ended on his death in 1989. It was undoubtedly the most momentous, calamitous, successful and glamorous period in Japan’s recent history. The post-war part of Showa is now a beacon of nostalgia for its social cohesion and great economic achievements. But the Showa era ended in a bubble – a time of wild spending and excesses in every field. With the collapse of the boom in the early 1990s, the people came face to face with new economic and social realities they were not prepared for.

 

In “Showa Japan” author Hans Brinckmann, who first came to live in Japan in 1950, examines the impact of the Showa era and its aftermath on every aspect of Japanese society. Instead of idealizing the past and yielding to intermittent reactionary efforts to restore pre-war values, he argues that the country needs to stimulate independent thinking in education, encourage active citizenship, facilitate immigration and repair relations with its Asian neighbours by squarely facing up to history. Most crucially, the nation’s sclerotic political system needs rejuvenation and the stimulus of hard debate to reduce the power of vested interests and tackle the many challenges facing the country.

 

Author:

Hans Brinckmann lived in Japan for 24 years working for a Dutch bank since he was 18 years old. During this time he travelled widely throughout Japan, published articles in Japanese newspapers and magazines and with his friend Ysbrand Rogge made documentaries for Dutch TV and museums. For the next 14 years he continued his banking career in various countries until turning to writing in 1988. He was made an Officer in the Royal Order of Orange-Nassau for cultural and business accomplishments in Japan and USA (1986). In 2003 he returned to Japan and has since been living in Tokyo. He has since published the following books: The Magatama Doodle, One Man’s Affair with Japan, 1950-2004 (Global Oriental, 2005); and Noon Elusive and other Stories (H2H Publishers, 2006). In September 2008 Brinckmann and Rogge held a joint exhibition of their Showa-era photographs at Fuji Film Gallery in Tokyo which attracted nearly 50,000 visitors.