Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival

The Japan Society of Boston &  the Center for the Study of Asia at Boston University present

David Pilling

(Asia Editor and former Tokyo Bureau Chief of The Financial Times)

Speaking on his new book,

BENDING ADVERSITY: Japan and the Art of Survival   

Friday,  March 21, 2014

6:00 pm 

Free and Open to the Public - Book Signing and Reception to Follow

Boston University Castle

(225 Bay State Road, Boston)

In Bending Adversity, Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan.

“Authoritative and entertaining... [Pilling] deftly manages the trick of illustrating grand sweep with small anecdote."                                                                         -- The Observer (UK)

"David Pilling’s Bending Adversity is a major accomplishment. In lucid and engaging prose he takes the reader inside Japan, providing a needed antidote to the popular view that recent Japanese history is mostly one of adversity and failure. He offers a remarkably thoughtful and balanced appraisal of an extraordinary country.” 

    -- Gerald Curtis,    Columbia University

“… One of the most important books on contemporary Japan.  Written in the aftermath of the triple disasters of March 2011, Pilling offers a penetrating up-to-the minute portrayal of Japanese society and politics during the country’s most severe crisis since World War II.  This is “must reading” for anyone interested in where Japan has come from and where it is going today.”                                                                                                    -- Peter Grilli,          Japan Society of Boston

“…From many years of reporting, Pilling has crafted an absorbing and perceptive portrait of contemporary Japan and its people. I am impressed by the insights he draws from interviews with a cross section of Japanese leaders and citizens.  If you could read only one book on today’s Japan, this should be it.”                                      -- Kenneth Pyle, University of                  Washington

“David Pilling’s vivid and humane account of Japan is the book we needed. … He blends precise analysis and unobtrusive firsthand reporting, allowing his cast of writers, farmers, and pols to struggle, on the page, with Japan’s era of fragile power and its search for renewal.”                                                                                   -- Evan Osnos,     The New Yorker