"Showcasing moments of convergence between the German and Japanese cultures towards common points of interest over the last one hundred fifty years, the chapters in this book cover such topics as culture, diplomacy, geography, history, law, literature, philosophy, politics, and sports. From the creation of two similar modern nation-states, to the aggressive struggle for national supremacy and subsequent total defeat in 1945, the necessity of coping with their earlier militarism and parallel economic miracles in the postwar era, Germans and Japanese look back on a remarkably similar past"-- Provided by publisher and "This volume brings together an international group of scholars in German-Asian Studies in a survey of the history of German-Japanese relations from 1860 to 2000. By rejecting traditional dichotomies between East and West, it highlights the intimate ways in which Germans and Japanese have cooperated and negotiated the challenges of modernity"-- Provided by publisher