http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1366439772

Bending adversity : Japan and the art of survival

Pilling's exploration begins with Japan's 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. His reporting reveals both Japan's vulnerabilities and its resilience, pushing him to understand the country's past through cycles of crisis and reconstruction. Japan's survivalist mentality has carried it through tremendous hardship, but is also the source of great destruction: It was the nineteenth-century struggle to ward off colonial intent that resulted in Japan's own imperial endeavor, culminating in the devastation of World War II. Even the postwar economic miracle -- the manufacturing and commerce explosion that brought unprecedented economic growth and earned Japan international clout -- might have been a less pure victory than it seemed. In Bending Adversity, Pilling questions what was lost in the country's blind, aborted climb to #1. He revisits 1990 -- the year the economic bubble burst, and the beginning of Japan's "lost decades" -- to ask if the turning point might be viewed differently. While financial struggle and national debt are a reality, post-growth Japan has also successfully maintained a stable standard of living and social cohesion. And while life has become less certain, opportunities -- in particular for the young and for women -- have diversified.

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