Perez, Louis G.

Dr. Louis G. Perez received his PhD in Modern Japanese History from the University of Michigan. He is currently Director of General Education, and Professor of Asian History at Illinois State University.

Mutsu Munemitso and Identity Formation of the Individual and the State in Modern Japan

2001 0-7734-7366-1
Assembles in one convenient volume seven chapter-length articles about Matsu Munemitsu, the foreign minister of Japan who led Japan into war in 1894, the same summer that he successfully negotiated the end of the Unequal Treaties with the West; and examinations of identity formation. It examines the formation of Mutsu’s identity, and then the reinvention of his character and persona in the face of ostracism and rapprochement with his feudal domain, the new Meiji government, and the political parties in Japan. Similarly, three Japanese identities are also examined: Kido Takayoshi; Furuno Inosuke, and the national press. The articles reconsider the importance of self-reference, national and regional ethos, homeland and furosato, ideology, and nationalism in the formation of identity.