Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcastes

Mikiso Hane (1922–2003) was professor emeritus of history at Knox College. Samuel H. Yamashita is Henry E. Sheffield Professor of History at Pomona College.

• ContentsJapanese Weights and Measures Preface to the Second EditionPreface to the First Edition MapsIntroductionMODERNIZATION AND THE PEASANTS FARMING AND FARM LIFE MORALS AND MORES RURAL WOMEN THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL THE OUTCASTE IN JAPAN THE TEXTILE FACTORY WORKERS POVERTY AND PROSTITUTION THE COAL MINERS WOMEN REBELS EPILOGUE: THE POSTWAR YEARS NotesIndex

This intense study is a moderate upgrade of a classic work. When Hane revised his original book in 2003, he added an important chapter that focused particularly on three female rebels. Thus, republication makes available to a new audience a pathbreaking study of earlier Japan. The modern Japan readers think they know can be traced back a mere generation to the years after WW II. The introductory pages provide a useful assistance for neophyte readers who might otherwise become overwhelmed by new materials and topics that require a whole new way of looking at Japanese history before 1945. In addition to the multiple authors since Hane’s death in 2003, this version retains the sense that readers are receiving and coping with a complex presentation of life in pre–WW II Japan. What makes the book a classic is the careful interweaving of massive research materials and Hane’s original insights mingled with source materials supporting his arguments. These apparent deviations from the narrative invite 2017 readers to participate in both the discovery and the discussion.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.