Spanning Japan's Modern Century

In 1942, Hugh Borton, then a 39-year-old assistant professor of Japanese history, was called to serve in the State Department. Here he rose rapidly to become one of the principal architects of United States policy toward post-war Japan. Drawn from Borton's personal papers, this work provides a fresh and intimate picture of the man who played a pivotal role in defining the meaning of unconditional surrender for Japan, retaining the Emperor, and designing Japan's post-war constitution. It sheds new light on the development of the United States' post-war Japanese policy and the often-fractious relationships between the various agencies tasked with its creation and implementation. The author of Japan's Modern Century, director of Columbia University's East Asian Institute, and later president of the Association for Asian Studies, Hugh Borton dedicated his life to strengthening the academic, cultural, and humanitarian ties between Japan and the United States.

This memoir is primarily concerned with Borton's engagement with Japan as a scholar and as a U.S. foreign policy planner. Bracketed by experiences teaching at Columbia U., as well as some discussion of his early youth, the heart of this book recounts Borton's experience as a U.S. State Department official helping to plan the policies of the occupation of the country following the conclusion of World War II. A Japanese language of this work was published in 1998 under the title Hugh Borton: Sengo Nihon no sekkeisha, Boton kaisoroku. Annotation c. Book News, Inc.,Portland, OR

Hugh Borton taught at Columbia University and later served as President of Haverford College. He authored a number of seminal works on Japan, including Japan's Modern Century (1955).