While they were modeled on Scottish operations and often produced high-quality spirits, they did little to change the overall character of Japanese whisky, which, especially following World War II, was aimed at everyday salarymen looking for a quick drink after work. The first modern Japanese whisky distilleries, including Yamazaki, didn’t open until the 1920s. The bragging rights that came with having a homegrown whiskey industry, and whatever tax revenue it generated, were more important than the precision of the end product. No one gave much thought to defining it, he said, since it was entirely for domestic consumption. “From the get-go, Japanese whisky was not whiskey as the rest of the world understands it,” said Liam McNulty, a Tokyo-based whiskey writer. Japanese distillers often used sweet potatoes, which were abundant, but they produced a much different spirit than the barley, corn and rye used in Scotland and America. It was a hit among the imperial court, and the gift became a defining memory of a landmark cross-cultural encounter.Īs part of its subsequent push to emulate the West, Meiji-era Japan encouraged the production of domestic versions of that same whiskey. Its first recorded encounter with whiskey came in 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry, during his inaugural visit to Japan, gave his hosts 70 gallons of Scotch and American whiskey. Japan’s laissez-faire regulatory approach is rooted, at least in part, in its complicated history with the West. While the industry and consumers wait to see what happens next, a new debate is underway: What is Japanese whisky, anyway? JSTOR 132336.But because of the coronavirus pandemic, the competition and Mr. Seidensticker, Edward Hellmann, Donald C.The Postwar Development of Japanese Studies in the United States. "Japan as Number One: Lessons for America (Review)". Japan as Number One: Lessons for America. Much of the information that forms the basis of his enthusiastic approach is now outdated, but his discussion is not as one-sided as later critics have suggested, and the book remains readable." Editions and sequels Another overview of the field commented that "Vogel's once popular book was the most influential of the huge number of books that sought to draw lessons for the West from Japan's economic achievements. Japan as Number One, Dower continued, although criticized by specialists, "essentially overturned the tables of popular discourse by suggesting what had previously been heresy: that 'the West' might learn from 'the East' - and not merely about values, but about practical ways of organizing a modern society". Dower's overview of American post-war scholarship on Japan saw Vogel's work as part of a larger move beyond either seeing Japan as a modernizing nation that would come to more and more resemble the American industrial model or seeing the country from a new point of view skeptical of "Western hegemonism and cultural imperialism" that rejected modernization theory as hubris. Part One, "The Japanese Challenge," outlines the argument developed in the nine chapters of Part Two: "Japanese Successes," that explains "Knowledge: Pursuit and Consensus," "The State: Meritocratic Guidance and Private Initiative," "Politics: Higher Interests and Fair Shares," "The Large Company: Identification and Performance," "Basic Education: Quality and Equality," "Welfare: Security without Entitlement," and "Crime Control: Enforcement and Public Support." Vogel introduces the volume saying, "convinced that Japan had lessons for other countries, I was no longer content to look at Japan only as a fascinating intellectual mystery, I wanted to understand the success of the Japanese in dealing with practical questions.
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