Daring, relevant and an excellent an excellent commencement within the English language literature on the origins of the Japanese welfare state... Beyond contributing substantively to the literature by covering hitherto uncharted terrain, Yamagishi's claims about the mechanisms underlying war-period health policy change deserve closer scrutiny and will be of interest to a broad audience.
A.K.M. Skarpelis Social Science Japan ... Read moreJournal Historical investigation and international comparative analysis are two major approaches among the forces in the field, and Takakazu Yamagishi's War and Health Insurance Policy in Japan and the United States: World War II to Postwar Reconstruction has combined those two methodologies to produce a sharply focused, beautifully constructed, and clearly argued explanation of this historical making of the systems or medical insurance in Japan and the United States... Yamagishi has produced a wonderful book... The book will serve as one of the best introductions to the making of health care policies in the two countries and as a starting point to develop a more inclusive account of the paths to the different medical systems in two countries that face each other across the Pacific.
Akihito Suzuki Journal of Japanese Studies Show Less