My knowledge of Japanese history is cobbled together from bits of other history books, chambara and other Japanese movies, and some Japanese fantastika fiction. So, I decided it was time to read a survey book to put it all in context. Specifically, I wanted one fairly new to accommodate new findings in Japanese archaeology and that covered all of Japanese history, not just from the Tokugawa Shogunate on.

This is a text book. Despite some attempts to liven things up, it’s fairly dry going – especially when covering post-WWII Japanese politics. It is fairly thorough and concise for 297 pages of actual text. It’s well supplied with maps and pictures of Japanese art and architecture. 119 of those pages cover the history of Japan before 1573.

I particularly appreciated covering the various permutations of Buddhism in the country and their rivalries, the translations of Japanese poetry from various times (there is much more to Japanese poetry than haiku), and the frequent appearances by members of the Fujiwara house – a family that has been involved in Japanese politics since the seventh century AD. I also thought its coverage of all the different ways that rival factions in Japan have used the idea of the emperor valuable.

I was a bit surprised by some omissions. No mention is made of Lafcaido Hearn though other Westerners important to the Japanese are mentioned. While Kurosawa, Ozu, and Kobayashi are certainly significant and worthy exports of Japanese cinema, I’m not sure that the “horror and monster films” can be categorized as mere “ephemeral entertainments”.

Obviously, for the very reasons I read this book, I can’t compare it to similar works or pronounce any significant opinion on its coverage of Japanese civilization. However, it certainly seems not at all a bad place to start in your readings about Japan ( )