Abstract:Since the book claims to be 'a study of the anniversary celebration and, more broadly, of Japan in 1940' (4), we must ask what this study really tells us about wartime Japan. I am not convinced that Japan was really at its 'zenith' in 1940. Ruoff describes that year as a 'heady time', when the Japanese contemplated ruling over a vast Asian empire, the publishing and entertainment industries flourished, and consumerism and tourism were on the rise. But how do we understand this brief 'interlude' of mass celebra… Show more
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