Nationalisms of Japan: Managing and Mystifying Identity

In this fresh and original analysis, Brian J. McVeigh confronts both the demonizers and apologists of Japan. He argues persuasively that far from being unique, Japanese nationalism becomes demystified once ‘management’ and ‘mysticism’―the same processes and practices that operate in other national states―are taken into account. Stripping away Orientalist-inspired misconceptions, the author stresses the variety and relative intensity of nationalisms, ranging from economic, ethnic, and educational to cultural, gendered, and religious.He moves beyond state-centered ideologies to explore the linkages between official and  the complex interplay of ethnocultural, ethnopolitical, and ethnoracial forms of identity.