{"product_id":"bending-adversity-japan-and-the-art-of-survival-9780143126959","title":"Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"[A]n excellent book...\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling's \u003ci\u003eBending Adversity\u003c\/i\u003e captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePilling's exploration begins with the 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. His deep reporting reveals both Japan's vulnerabilities and its resilience and pushes 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 \u003ci\u003eBending Adversity \u003c\/i\u003ePilling questions what was lost in the country's blind, aborted climb to #1. With the same rigor, 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStill, Japan is in many ways a country in recovery, working to find a way forward after the events of 2011 and decades of slow growth. \u003ci\u003eBending Adversity\u003c\/i\u003e closes with a reflection on what the 2012 reelection of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and his radical antideflation policy, might mean for Japan and its future. Informed throughout by the insights shared by Pilling's many interview subjects, \u003ci\u003eBending Adversity\u003c\/i\u003e rigorously engages with the social, spiritual, financial, and political life of Japan to create a more nuanced representation of the oft-misunderstood island nation and its people. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Financial Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"David Pilling quotes a visiting MP from northern England, dazzled by Tokyo's lights and awed by its bustling prosperity: 'If this is a recession, I want one.' Not the least of the merits of \u003cb\u003ePilling's hugely enjoyable and perceptive book\u003c\/b\u003e on Japan is that he places the denunciations of two allegedly \"lost decades\" in the context of what the country is really like and its actual achievements.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Telegraph (UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pilling, the Asia editor of the \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, is \u003cb\u003eperfectly placed to be our guide\u003c\/b\u003e, and \u003cb\u003ehis insights are a real rarity\u003c\/b\u003e when very few Western journalists communicate the essence of the world's third-largest economy in anything but the most superficial ways. Here, there is \u003cb\u003ea terrific selection of interview subjects mixed with great reportage and fact selectio\u003c\/b\u003en... \u003cb\u003ehe does get people to say wonderful things\u003c\/b\u003e. The novelist Haruki Murakami tells him: \"When we were rich, I hated this country\"... \u003cb\u003ewell-written\u003c\/b\u003e... \u003cb\u003evaluable\u003c\/b\u003e.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A \u003cb\u003eprobing and insightful \u003c\/b\u003eportrait of contemporary Japan.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/24\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780143126959\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 432\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/12\/2015 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"David Pilling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43124366377141,"sku":"9780143126959","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_6be52b54-c9b6-4959-9c48-7b14c93c483a.jpg?v=1694550617","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/bending-adversity-japan-and-the-art-of-survival-9780143126959","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}