"A first-rate scholarly work that is an important contribution to understanding Japan's legal and wartime history, especially the nature of tenko (ideological conversion during wartime Japan). Not only is this book the first serious study of Suehiro Izutaro in English, but it is also a profound analysis of the the development of law (labor law espcially) in Imperial Japan, and more broadly the impact of Suehiro’s case-study approach on Japanese law today. Built on primary sources in Japanese and other languages, the bibliography is exhaustive and will be valuable in itself as a guide to the field. There is much to learn from this book, including important lessons about the nature of wartime Japanese society and politics." — Kevin M. Doak, Professor and Nippon Foundation Endowed Chair; and Chair, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Georgetown University
"With a writing style nothing short of exquisite, Professor Morgan traces the intellectual odyssey of the man credited with bringing law and society scholarship to Japan ... This is a marvelous book. Professor Morgan elegantly and thoughtfully sets debates over law and society within the broader currents of the Japanese intellectual world, and those currents within the broader ambit of Japanese political and social history." —Japan Forward
