About this season
The Pacific Century was a 1992 PBS Emmy Award winning ten part documentary series narrated by Peter Coyote about the rise of the Pacific Rim economies. Alex Gibney was the writer for the series, and Frank Gibney, his father, wrote the companion trade book, The Pacific Century: America and Asia in a Changing World. The companion college telecourse, Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia, was written and edited by Mark Borthwick. The series was a co-production of the Pacific Basin Institute and KCTS-TV in Seattle. Principle funding was provided by the Annenberg Foundation.
Episodes (10)
1. The Two Coasts of China
Aired 1 October 1992
Introduces the concept of a "balancing act" in China's elite's perceptions of external threats and opportunities that in one form or another have presented themselves ever since the creation of a unified Chinese state. Most of this episode, however, takes place in the 19th century when the threat was overwhelmingly from the seacoast with the arrival of aggressive Western traders and, ultimately, their countries' warships.
2. The Meiji Revolution
Aired 8 October 1992
Japan became the first industrially and technically underdeveloped nation to modernize itself and become a great power. Its transformation took place under the authority of the young, newly installed Meiji Emperor whose profound symbolic importance to the Japanese people was skillfully used by a talented, elite group of government leaders. Such a rapid ascent led Japan to entertain imperial ambitions, resulting in a territorial clash with Russia and stressful changes in the society.
3. From the Barrel of a Gun
Aired 15 October 1992
4. Writers & Revolutionaries
Aired 22 October 1992
5. Reinventing Japan
Aired 29 October 1992
6. Inside Japan, Inc.
Aired 5 November 1992
7. Big Business and the Ghost of Confucius
Aired 12 November 1992
8. The Fight for Democracy
Aired 19 November 1992
9. Sentimental Imperialists
Aired 26 November 1992
10. The Pacific Century
Aired 3 December 1992