ABSTRACT
The twentieth century has given the Japanese a unique taste of greatness. Nothing in that Asian society’s thirteen hundred years of recorded history matches what it has accomplished in recent times. This achievement has universal reach. It qualifies Japan for a place of honour in the world’s pantheon of political systems or polities. With proper recognition, post-war Japan will remain an object of mature thought long after the present golden age has passed. We will remember it, as we remember Athens, the Roman Republic and Renaissance Florence.
