New Publication: National Police Reserve: The Origin of Japan's Self Defense Force

Based upon years of research undertaken in the US Occupation archives, this book provides a history of Japan’s National Police Reserve (NPR), the precursor of today’s Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF). It is the first ever comprehensive and exclusively focused history of the force in any language. The book examines the domestic and international origins of the force, the American constabulary model upon which it was based, the NPR's character and operation, and its evolution into the GSDF. This volume provides numerous insights and fresh perspectives on the character of the NPR, the origins of the SDF, the US Occupation of Japan and Cold War era US-Japan relations.

Link.

Marginalia: Free Routledge Articles

        With this post I want to excuse myself from failing to update the blog. Work projects kept me busy. I'm preparing a seminar which involves a lot of writing material that doesn't quite fit with the format of this website. Plus, writing for deadlines has made me feel a bit uninspired and so I've been avoiding it during my leisure time. However, this didn't prevent me from reading: in the past two weeks I managed to finish two books by John Dower among other Japan-related articles. As soon as I'm able to take a break from my work I'll write my thoughts on them.

        And here's the gist of this post: Routledge has made available free of charge 30 articles related to Japan from various fields of study, including pop culture, religion and economics. Here's the link. As you can see, Routledge is celebrating Japan's Culture Day or 'Bunka no hi' (文化の日) held on November 3rd. Enjoy!