Japan's Cold War

Critics and cultural historians take Japan's postwar insularity forgranted, rarely acknowledging the role of Cold War concerns in the shaping ofJapanese society and culture. Nuclear anxiety, polarized ideologies, gendered tropesof nationhood, and new myths of progress, among other developments, profoundlytransformed Japanese literature, criticism, and art during this era and fueled thecountry's desire to recast itself as a democratic nation and culture.By rereading the pivotal events, iconic figures, and crucialtexts of Japan's literary and artistic life through the lens of the Cold War, AnnSherif places this supposedly insular nation at the center of a global battle. Eachof her chapters focuses on a major moment, spectacle, or critical debatehighlighting Japan's entanglement with cultural Cold War politics. Film directorKurosawa Akira, atomic bomb writer Hara Tamiki, singer and movie star IshiharaYujiro, and even Godzilla and the Japanese translation ofLady Chatterley's Lover all reveal the trends and controversiesthat helped Japan carve out a postwar literary canon, a definition of obscenity, anidea of the artist's function in society, and modern modes of expression andknowledge.Sherif's comparative approach not onlyrecontextualizes seemingly anomalous texts and ideas, but binds culture firmly tothe domestic and international events that defined the decades following World WarII. By integrating the art and criticism of Japan into larger social fabrics,Japan's Cold War offers a truly unique perspective on thecritical and creative acts of a country remaking itself in the aftermath ofwar.