Author: Laura Hein File Type: pdf In late 1945 local Japanese turned their energies toward creating new behaviors and institutions that would give young people better skills to combat repression at home and coercion abroad. They rapidly transformed their political culture-policies, institutions, and public opinion-to create a more equitable, democratic and peaceful society. Post-Fascist Japan explores this phenomenon, focusing on a group of highly educated Japanese based in the city of Kamakura, where the new political culture was particularly visible. The book argues that these leftist elites, many of whom had been seen as the enemy during the war, saw the problem as one of fascism, an ideology that had succeeded because it had addressed real problems. They turned their efforts to overtly political-legal systems but also to ostensibly non-political and community institutions such as universities, art museums, local tourism, and environmental policies, aiming not only for reconciliation over the past but also to reduce the anxieties that had drawn so many towards fascism. By focusing on people who had an outsized influence on Japans political culture, Heins study is local, national, and transnational. She grounds her discussion using specific personalities, showing their ideas about post-fascism, how they implemented them and how they interacted with the American occupiers.**ReviewMeticulously researched and elegantly written, this fascinating study explores what it means to reconstruct an entirely new postwar civic culture out of the ruins of Japans imperial adventurism--this time, notably based in the storied seaside town of Kamakura, outside of the now-tainted political and cultural capital of Tokyo. Hein captures the heady emotions of an era where self-reflection and institution-building by formerly leftwing Japanese intellectuals supposedly led to increasing levels of humanistic freedom to atone and make amends for a wartime fascist political culture. Annika A. Culver, Associate Professor of East Asian History, Florida State University, USA In the wake of Japans defeat in the Pacific War, a wide ranging network of intellectuals based in and around the town of Kamakura shared hopes for new democratic society, and attempted to put those hopes into practice. In rediscovering the wartime experiences and postwar ideals and actions of this network, Post-Fascist Japan casts vital new light on the history of Japans postwar democratization. This fascinating book is not only essential reading for all those with an interest in Japans intellectual history, but also conveys a powerful message about dilemmas of war memory and democracy in Japan today. Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Professor of Japanese History, The Australian National University, Australia About the Author Laura Hein is Professor of History at Northwestern University, USA. She is the author of Reasonable Men, Powerful Words Political Culture and Expertise in 20th Century Japan (2004) and co-editor of Imagination Without Borders Visual Artist Tomiyama Taeko and Social Responsibility (2010).

Author: Rufus Lodge File Type: epub An amusing, informative, controversial and utterly irreverent history of the worlds favourite word.F, U, C and K four letters that can cause outrage, scandal, embarrassment or instant relief if you hit your thumb with a hammer.In this wide-ranging and frequently hilarious history of the F-word, Rufus Lodge searches out the origins of our languages most popular obscenity, and chronicles its dramatic arrival in our everyday lives. As he discovers, the F-word can be heard among aristocrats and astronauts, rock stars and royals, poets and politicians, even in the company of Father Ted and Basil Brush.No-one is safe from the F-words outrageous progress, as innocent animals, fragrant mothers and squeaky-clean TV hosts are dragged into the fray. The cast of characters includes Shakespeare, the Beatles, Andy Murray, T.S. Eliot, Elton, Camilla and everyone unfortunate enough to live in an Austrian town with a very embarrassing name.F** is a cavalcade of priceless anecdotes, historical research, filthy jokes and definitions too devious for any decent dictionary guaranteed to make you laugh, and broaden your vocabulary.ullThe publisher takes no responsibility for any embarrassment caused when readers drop the F-bomb after reading this book.lul**