Modern Japan: A Brief History.

our times a year (p. 384). It is somewhat unfortunate also that the authors did not make use of the official election statistics issued either by the Business Offices of the two Houses of the Diet or by the Local Autonomy Agency. There are occasionally significant differences between these and the earlier unofficial versions apparently used here. Finally, it might be suggested that the chapter on local government would be improved by some attention to the spate of amalgamations of villages and towns which has so drastically altered important organizational and fiscal aspects of the local scene in the course of these last two years. These are minor matters, however, which detract very little from the careful accuracy of the work as a whole. Scholars should be aware, of course, that the rate of obsolescence on certain parts of a book of this type is very high. Japan is now well embarked upon her "reverse course," the current euphemism for her attempt to undo or appreciably alter many of the Occupation-imposed changes. This affects in particular the structure, powers, legal relationships and administrative patterns and actions of government. Every month brings fresh and significant changes, and it now seems probable that these may culminate within the next few years in one or more series of amendments of the so-called "MacArthur Constitution." As these changes occur, numerous passages of legal and descriptive material in this study, of course, become outmoded. This is inevitable for a book of this kind. The Japanese situation is remarkable only in terms of the pace and complexity of the changes which are occurring.