Well it is about time we get our next chapter!!
secretarytocapt3 can wait for so long..........
(^_^)
oh no I think there are hundreds of decent books out there we have not
yet covered.
Thank you for telling us about this work by Auslin.
My library does have the book (^_^)
However, if I do not email you off-list tonight then it means for some
reason I was unable to get it (due to my research I get very rare
texts from other schools---when I reach a limit the library does not
let me check out *more books until I *return those rare texts).
I'm curious to read his analysis as well.
I think unequal trade treaties have been explored by many many
scholars over the past century however what they are missing is this:
***the treaties themselves were not the motivating factors for many
men who actually did the fighting in 1868. For example samurai "A"
many not say "I am totally going to fight and die because of the
ridiculous treaty with the USA! Ha!" and so forth
Samurai "A" generally fought for his domain and what he felt was
happening to it (for example Aizu and other allied northern
domains)---or if he felt his domain would now rise to national power
(for example Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, Hizen etc)
***some of their leaders did not explain the details to them just that
the bakufu was incompetent in handling the foreigners
***so many normal citizens at the time had no access to what was
going, much of the info they heard was incorrect, while there were
newspapers and so forth they were not at the level of media we have
today ofcourse
so while in looking back, the trade treaties played a key role in the
collapse of the shogunate they did not matter much to the common
people who were not aware of the situation their country was facing
for me personally economics destroyed the bakufu
I think many of us here wandered in the Meiji era and are very
familiar with zaibatsu (monopolized family based industries---e.g.
many banks, mines etc) which played a role in the rise of fascist
Japan and WW2
but did you know that major families such as the MITSUI, by witholding
money they were to give to the bakufu...literally bankrupted the
shogunate? Zaibatsu have been incorrectly studied as a Meiji
phenomena when it began way back in the edo era---and they were the
real heavy weights of the Bakumatsu
no money = no guns
so many of us have read that the bakufu was backwards and unwilling to
change militarily (this was a reason proposed by the Ishin Shishi for
instance)---however few of those writers can explain the economics of
...WHY...
--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, Mio Yamada wrote:
>
> [Maybe I'm just way, way behind on my resources and
> this book has already been discussed. Please forgive
> me if that's the case.]
>
> On Friday, my correspondent and I are going to
> interview a Mr. Michael Auslin, Associate Professor of
> History at Yale and Director of the Project for
> Japan-US Relations. He wrote a book which was
> published in 2004 called "Negotiating with Imperialism
> - The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese
> Diplomacy". I have only been able to get a reading
> sample online and the book I ordered will not arrive
> in time for the shoot.
> I was wondering whether anyone here has it handy and
> what their thoughts were on the book and his analysis.
> All comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks in
> advance!
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Mio.
>
> [PS. Shameless plugging alert: in case anyone is
> interested, at last I have the next chapter finished -
> and it's been one of the worst writing experiences
> I've had so far. I intend to post it on Friday night.]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________
> All new Yahoo! Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity
and ease of use." - PC Magazine
> http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
>