Cultural History of Late Meiji Japan

Scholarship on Japan's development from the late nineteenth century to the earlytwentieth century has, perhaps quite understandably, been dominated by attention givento Japan's emergence as a world power through a succession of military conflicts, and theburgeoning of a modern literary canon. This book argues that the emergence of empire and high cultureneeds to be more thoroughly integrated with an awareness of popular culture in urbanlife, a culture that at times exhibited a less than whole-hearted enthusiasm for thetrappings of 'civilization', - a culture that was, in a sense, 'decadent'.It integrates coverage of popular culture across diverse media and platforms, accentuating the emergence of new modern forms that evolved from the inter-relation between textual, visual and performative traditions such ask?danandgiday?. The commentary is seasoned with reference to contemporary narratives, aiming to capture more 'on the street' perceptions of momentous events such as war and natural disasters, as well as the more arcane or curious media sensations of the moment. These included exposés of scandalous conduct in high places, new fads in popular entertainments and riveting stories of human interest whether it be crime or tragedies of modern urban living.