The Call of Japan

A Continuing Story-1950 to the Present Day

Autor: Brinckmann, Hans
Editor: Amsterdam University Press
eISBN Pdf: 9781912961153
Lloc de publicació: Amsterdam , Netherlands
Any de publicació digital: 2020
Mes: Juny
Pàgines: 320
Idioma: Anglés

Descripció

Part personal memoir, part professional flashback, part socio-cultural commentary, The Call of Japan chronicles the author’s experiences during his 40 years of living in Japan, from 1950 to 1974 as a ‘reluctant banker’, and from 2003 to the present as a writer. The Call of Japan comments extensively on the country’s economic, political and cultural realities during the crucial early years of post-war reconstruction as well as during more recent times.

Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I
The Wooing (1950–1958)
- 1950
  - 1. Now You Love It
  - 2. Should We Trust Our First Impressions?
  - 3. The Emperor and the General
  - 4. The old Tokaido Line to Osaka
  - 5. Of Hot Baths and Fragrant Tea
  - 6. The Halfway-up Bank
  - 7. A Rhythmic Neighbourhood and the Broken White Soldiers
  - 8. The Midnight Whistle
- 1951
  - 9. Work, Leisure, Home Life
  - 10.The Floating World
  - 11. Through a Paper Screen Darkly
- 1952
  - 12. Punishment for Going Missing
- 1953
  - 13. A Well-Oiled Little Cogwheel
  - 14. Those Restless Bones
- 1954
  - 15. Joining the Kanto-mon
  - 16. Upstairs/Downstairs in the Japanese Economy
  - 17. A Tale of Two Cultures
- 1955
  - 18. How to Fish and How to Say Goodbye
- 1956
  - 19. Back in Holland
  - 20. A Fresh Start: Osaka
- 1957
  - 21. The Teachings of IJsbrand
  - 22. Kyoto and the Magatama Attitude
  - 23. Another Way of Seeing
  - 24. More Kyoto Adventures
- 1958
  - 25. Osaka Realities
  - 26. Escapes and Escapades
  - 27. Casting the Die
Part II
The Winning (1959–1966)
- 1959
  - 1. Dark Rumblings Beneath a Pristine New Year
  - 2. An Orderly Wedding – and a Honeymoon of Sorts
  - 3. A Witch in the House
  - 4. Shifting Sands
- 1960
  - 5. A Narrow Escape
  - 6. Political Turmoil in Tokyo – and an ‘Economic’Response
- 1961
  - 7. ‘Getting to Know You…’ or What Went on in the Hot-springs
- 1962
  - 8. Crisis Management (by the Seat of the Pants)
  - 9. The Foul Smell of Success, and the Need for Faith
  - 10. Capital Living
- 1963
  - 11. The Looming Olympics …and the Overflowing Cup
  - 12. The Seamy Side: Defeating the Yakuza
- 1964
  - 13. Nothing Changes, Except Everything Else
  - 14. ‘See No Evil
- 1965
  - 15. A Superior Society?
  - 16. Chameleon Man
- 1966
  - 17. A Thoroughly Ordinary Year
Part III
The Waning (1967–1974)
- 1967
  - 1. Beyond the Social Whirl
  - 2. Pornographic Chic
  - 3. The Seven Generations Curse: A Case History
  - 4. Falling Scales
- 1968
  - 5. A Great and Alien Land
  - 6. Kafka’s Ape and a Tower in the Air
- 1969
  - 7. Amae or How to Have it Both Ways
- 1970
  - 8. The Growing Conflict
  - 9. Business as Usual
  - 10. A Beautiful Death?
- 1971
  - 11. ‘Go Placidly Among the Noise and Haste
- 1972
  - 12. Nixon in China and the Tanaka Phenomenon
- 1973
  - 13. The Art of Evasion
  - 14. Decision Time
  - 15. The Good and the Bad: An Assessment (1973)
  - 16. An Unlikely Story
- 1974
  - 17. Creeping Doubts
  - 18. Trailing Roots
Part IV
The View from Abroad (1974–2002)
- 1. Preamble
- 1974
  - 2. Ageing Albion
- 1975
  - 3. Pessimistic Nippon
- 1976
  - 4. Back to Banking – in Curaçao
- 1977
  - 5. A Business Trip to Japan – and Tōfukuji Revisited
- 1978
  - 6. Japan Again – and Remembering the Departed
- 1979
  - 7. The Final Months in Curaçao – and The Move to Holland
- 1981
  - 8. Japan’s Lengthening Reach – and a New Start for Me
- 1982
  - 9. AMRO ’s New York Branch Opened – but Japan Still a Factor
- 1983
  - 10. Walking the Bride Down the Aisle
- 1984
  - 11. Pulled Between Two Cities
- 1985
  - 12. U.S. Banks Upset by Japan’s Market Aggression
  - 13. Last rites for a Lady
- 1986
  - 14. An AMRO Tokyo Conference – and Special “Service” at a Restaurant
  - 15. A Memorial Service in Nagoya
- 1988
  - 16. Goodbye to Banking – and Japan’s Bubble Economy
- 1989
  - 17. T he End of the Showa Era – and The Fall of the Wall
- 1990–1998
  - 18. The Restless Years
- 1999–2003
  - 19. In London – but Focusing on Japan
Part V
Back on Familiar Soil (2003 to the Present)
- Preamble
- 1. The Difference 70 years make
- 2. Japan’s Fundamental Problems and Vulnerabilities
  - (a) Scarcity of Natural Resources
  - (b) Frequency of Earthquakes and other Calamities
  - (c) Declining Population
  - (d) Troubled Relations with its Neighbours
  - (e) Lack of Decisiveness in Addressing Fundamental Problems
- 3. My late Wife’s Unique Personality
- 4. An Overview of my Writings and other Activities
  - (a) My Writings
  - (b) Photography
- 5. What We Can Learn from Japan
  - Afterword
Glossary
Index
Back Cover