Jeffrey Kingston. Japan in Transformation, 1952 – 2000. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. 230 pp. Over the past fifty years Japan has seen significant changes in all aspects of its society and the way it interacts with the outside world. For example, despite its defeat in World War II, Japan soon became one of Asia's major economic powers. In Japan in Transformation, 1952 - 2000, Jeffrey Kingston focuses on various aspects of change in Japanese society and politics in the post-World War II period. These include the effect of the US occupation, analysis of post-war politics, the economic boom, demographic changes, treatment of women, foreign policy, and security issues. Throughout the book, the author tries, and often succeeds, to explain many of these changes as part of the legacy of the occupation. Overall, Jeffrey Kingston provides an in-depth economic, political, and social analysis of this crucial period in Japanese history. Kingston begins with a brief introduction of the American occupation of Japan after World War II from 1945 to 1952. He notes that the main objective of the US occupation forces was to demilitarize Japan and convert it into a democracy. Japanese troops were demobilized and “in the first two years of occupation the purges of thousands of officers, bureaucrats and industrialists accused of the war represented a further obstacle to the revanchist threat”. (9). A policy of democratization was also important. “By spreading power within the government and among all citizens, including voting rights for women, and by supporting a robust press and unions, the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers (SCAP) was attempting to immunize Japan from the scourge of militarism”, underlines outside Kingston (10). However, the author agrees that, despite half a century of changes that might seem positive, the Japanese themselves continue to have different opinions about the American occupation. For example, “conservative Japanese often trace many of Japan's current social problems to the occupation… they see legal equality for women, the end of the patriarchal system, educational reforms, the new imperial system, demilitarization, etc., and a vague process of Americanization as harmful to the Japanese social fabric.” (16)A section of...half of sheet...flag", (3) as symbols of Japan, incorporates many of these same photographs as an insert into the book. Also included are several maps, documents, and a timeline used to complement the author's arguments. It would appear that Jeffrey Kingston is addressing a more academic audience with Japan in transformation. While not necessarily difficult to read or understand, the material includes a large number of statistics and extensive analysis of the. author of very narrow topics in this period of Japanese history would probably be of of greater interest to historians and scholars than to the general public. Furthermore, the fact that the book is not organized in chronological order would make it an unhelpful resource for a novice scholar on postwar Japanese history. Japan in Transformation, 1952 – 2000 is a broad analysis of the social, political and economic situation in Japan. problems following the American occupation after World War II. Kingston's knowledge of the material, attention to detail, and in-depth analysis of the subject are an invaluable asset to this selection of topics from an important period of.