Appearing for the first time in English, the writings in this collection reflect some of the most innovative and influential work by Japanese intellectuals in recent years. The volume offers a rare and much-needed window into the crucial ideas and positions currently shaping Japanese thought ( shiso). In addressing the political, historical, and cultural issues that have dominated Japanese society, these essays cross a range of disciplines, including literary theory, philosophy, history, gender studies, and cultural studies. Contributors examine Japan's imperialist and nationalist past as well as representations and remembrances of this history. They also critique recent efforts in Japanese right-wing circles to erase or obscure the more troubling aspects of Japan's colonial enterprise in East Asia. Other essays explore how Japan has viewed itself in regard to the West and the complex influence of Western thought on Japanese intellectual and political life. The volume's groundbreaking essays on issues of gender and the contested place of feminist thought in Japan discuss the similarities between the emotional bullying of women who do not accept traditional gender roles and teasing in schools; how the Japanese have adopted elements of Western orientalism to discredit feminism; and historical constructions of Japanese motherhood.

丸山真男（1914-1996）日本著名的政治思想史學者。1950年至1971年任東京大學法學部教授；並獲得美國哈佛大學、普林斯頓大學分彆授予的名譽法學博士和名譽文學博士稱號；1974年成為東京大學名譽教授。

其重要著作有：《日本政治思想史研究》（1952年）、《現代政治的思想與行動》（1956年-1957年）、《日本的思想》（1961年）。《戰中與戰後之間》（1976年）、《從後衛的位置齣發》（1982年）、《讀（文明論概略）》（1986年），《忠誠與叛逆——轉型期日本的精神狀態》（11992年）、《丸山真男集》（全16捲、彆捲1，1995-1997年），《丸山真男座談》（全9捲，1956年起齣版）以及《丸山真男講義錄》（7捲。1998年）。