Neighborhood and nation in Tokyo, 1905-1937

by Sally A. Hastings

This book addresses an important issue concerning a relatively little-known era in Japanese history: the shaping of Japan's modern political community prior to World War II. Contesting the view that prewar Japan pushed a conservative statist agenda, Sally Hastings argues that the state bureaucracy, particularly the Home Ministry, encouraged a more participatory political and cultural environment before 1937 than is generally believed. In this analysis of working-class areas of Tokyo, especially its Honjo ward, Hastings shows that bureaucrats were concerned with the needs of their citizens and took significant steps to protect the city's working families and the poor.