Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists: The Violent Politics of Modern Japan, 1860–1960
()
About this ebook
Violence and democracy may seem fundamentally incompatible, but the two have often been intimately and inextricably linked. In Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists, Eiko Maruko Siniawer argues that violence has been embedded in the practice of modern Japanese politics from the very inception of the country's experiment with democracy. As soon as the parliament opened its doors in 1890, brawls, fistfights, vandalism, threats, and intimidation quickly became a fixture in Japanese politics, from campaigns and elections to legislative debates. Most of this physical force was wielded by what Siniawer calls "violence specialists": ruffians and yakuza. Their systemic and enduring political violence-in the streets, in the halls of parliament, during popular protests, and amid labor strife-ultimately compromised party politics in Japan and contributed to the rise of militarism in the 1930s.
For the post-World War II years, Siniawer illustrates how the Japanese developed a preference for money over violence as a political tool of choice. This change in tactics signaled a political shift, but not necessarily an evolution, as corruption and bribery were in some ways more insidious, exclusionary, and undemocratic than violence.
Siniawer demonstrates that the practice of politics in Japan has been dangerous, chaotic, and far more violent than previously thought. Additionally, crime has been more political. Throughout the book, Siniawer makes clear that certain yakuza groups were ideological in nature, contrary to the common understanding of organized crime as nonideological. Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists is essential reading for anyone wanting to comprehend the role of violence in the formation of modern nation-states and its place in both democratic and fascist movements.
Read more from Eiko Maruko Siniawer
Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists: The Violent Politics of Modern Japan, 1860–1960 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWaste: Consuming Postwar Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists
Related ebooks
Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tokugawa Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everyday Things in Premodern Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5China's Hegemony: Four Hundred Years of East Asian Domination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hirohito And The Making Of Modern Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Revolution Goes East: Imperial Japan and Soviet Communism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFanning the Flames: Propaganda in Modern Japan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Japanese History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSources of Japanese Tradition: Volume 2, 1600 to 2000 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Samurai and the Sacred: The Path of the Warrior Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Shogun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Imperial Concubine's Tale: Scandal, Shipwreck, and Salvation in Seventeenth-Century Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speed Tribes: Days and Night's with Japan's Next Generation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Crime Japan: Thieves, Rascals, Killers and Dope Heads: True Stories From a Japanese Courtroom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Samurai Swordsman: Master of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Samurai: Legendary Warriors of Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAbortion before Birth Control: The Politics of Reproduction in Postwar Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnderdogs of Japanese History: 11 tales of iconic characters who prevailed against odds... or didn't Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetween the Eagle and the Sun: Traces of Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pride of Edo: Tobi and the Fire Brigades Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWelcome to the Bangkok Slaughterhouse: The Battle for Human Dignity in Bangkok's Bleakest Slums Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDogs and Demons: Tales From the Dark Side of Modern Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Samurai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Godfathers of Chicago's Chinatown: Triads, Tongs & Street Gangs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSamurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth that Shatters the Bushido Mystique Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frog in the Well: Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan, 1793-1841 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Asian History For You
Wise Thoughts for Every Day: On God, Love, the Human Spirit, and Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Yakuza: life and death in the Japanese underworld Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArt of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnit 731: The Forgotten Asian Auschwitz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 3]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sūtra Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Caste (Oprah's Book Club): by Isabel Wilkerson - The Origins of Our Discontents - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of 'brainwashing' in China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voices from Chernobyl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962—1976 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists
0 ratings0 reviews