Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan

During the interwar years in Japan, discourse on culture turned sharply inward after generations of openness to Western ideas. The characterizations that arose--that Japanese culture is unique, essential, and enduring--came to be accepted both inside and outside Japan. Leslie Pincus focuses on the work of Kuki Shuzo, a philosopher and the author of the classic "Iki" no Kozo , to explore culture and theory in Japan during the interwar years.