The present volume documents the postwar history of United States scholarship on Japan. A careful selection of North American scholars under the general editorship of Helen Hardacre (Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society at Harvard University) shows that a range of factors have directed Japanese studies in the United States since 1945. Among these factors are social and political change in Japan and the United States, shifts in dominant scholarly concerns about Japan, and changing evaluations of area studies.
The work consists of twelve essays in a wide variety of fields: history, art, religion, literature, anthropology, political science, and law. Each essay chronicles postwar scholarship in its particular discipline and provides a useful bibliography to serve further reference.
The general aim of the volume is to put current debates in historical perspective and to help assess the field's achievements. It identifies areas requiring more work and charts directions for the future.