Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Japan at the Millennium -- 1 Joining the Past and Present in Japan -- Part 1 Economic and Political Systems -- 2 Japanese Economics: An Interpretative Essay -- 3 The Japanese Labour Movement's Road to the Millennium -- 4 Japan's High Seas Fisheries in the North Paci W c Ocean: Food Security and Foreign Policy -- Part 2 Japan's Identity and Youth -- 5 Postwar Japan and Manchuria -- 6 May the Saru River Flow: The Nibutani Dam and the Resurging Tide of the Ainu Identity Movement -- 7 Pop Idols and Gender Contestation -- 8 A Century of Juvenile Law in Japan -- Part 3 Urban Living and Beauty -- 9 Japan Ponders the Good Life: Improving the Quality of Japanese Cities -- 10 Museum as Hometown: What Is "Japanese Beauty"? -- 11 Continuity and Change in Japan -- Contributors -- Index.