Staff writer
Spanning four eras (Meiji, Taisho, Showa and Heisei), the 20th century has brought historic change to Japan. The approach of 2000, its final year, offers an ideal platform from which to reflect on the dramatic developments that have shaped the nation over the past 100 years.
Each entry in this series will focus on a specific component of Japanese society and its shifts in values, from the adoption of the idea of a nation-state with the 1868 Meiji Restoration, to the devastation of war, the achievement of economic might on the global stage and the struggle to rebuild after the bubble economy collapsed. Installments in the series are scheduled to appear every day until Jan. 8 and intermittently thereafter.