Japan Since 1945: From Postwar to Post-Bubble. Edited by Christopher Gerteis and Timothy S. George. (London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury, 2013. Pp. xv, 318. $39.95.)

The question “does Japan matter?” is a tired cliche but one that has persisted over the two and a half decades since Japan's postwar economic bubble burst, taking with it the belief that Japan's al...