Soeda and the Making of Modern Japan

Soeda's story provides insights into the last 1000 years of Japanese history. It was the location of a strategically important castle, Ganjakujo, from the 12th century until its destruction by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587.

Ian Neary taught at the universities of Huddersfield, Newcastle and Essex before arriving at Oxford University in 2004. He retired in 2019 and is now an emeritus fellow at the Nissan Institute and St Antony's College. He has written about Buraku issues, human rights and industrial policy in Japan and published a textbook on Japanese politics (2002, 2nd edition 2018). He lives for part of each year in the town of Soeda, Fukuoka prefecture.

List of Illustrations, List of Tables, Preface and Acknowledgments, Chapter 1: Introduction and early history, Chapter 2: Mt Hiko, the evolution of a monastic community, Chapter 3: Soeda: Its early modern history, Chapter 4: The modernisation of Soeda, Chapter 5: Coal mining in Soeda, Chapter 6: Soeda in the war years, Chapter 7: Soeda under occupation and after, Chapter 8: Buraku in Soeda, Chapter 9: 'Post-industrial' Soeda 1970-2010,Epilogue Soeda's present and future,List of Mt Hiko's abbots (zasu), Kanji Glossary, Bibliography, Index.