Just finished Modern Japan: A Very Short Introduction and was utterly disappointed. The book starts out quite factual but ends with a 30-page digression into the historical blame game: criticizing Japan for not 'repenting' or doing 'penitence' (I'm not making this up) for its WWII sins, claims that modern Japan is 'schizophrenic' and living in a 'pathology of denial,' and even cites suspicions of 'a new kind of Japanese empire' based on the yen, Nissan cars and Sony Playstations. Most impressive was how seamlessly it transitioned from the factual to patronizing psycho-babble.
Get a copy of John Dower's Embracing Defeat if you want to understand something of modern Japan, but lack the time or resources to come and see for yourself.
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