A Brief History of Japan. Jonathan Clements

      

      A BRIEF HISTORY OF

      JAPAN

      A BRIEF HISTORY OF

      JAPAN

      SAMURAI, SHŌGUN AND ZEN:

       THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN

      JONATHAN CLEMENTS

      TUTTLE Publishing

       Tokyo | Rutland, Vermont | Singapore

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      Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

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      Copyright © 2017 by Jonathan Clements

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      Names: Clements, Jonathan, 1971- author.

      Title: A brief history of Japan : samurai, shogun and zen : the extraordinary story of the land of the rising sun / Jonathan Clements.

      Description: First edition. | Tokyo ; North Clarendon, VT : Tuttle Publishing, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2016055712 | ISBN 9784805313893 (pbk.)

      Subjects: LCSH: Japan--History.

      Classification: LCC DS835 .C55 2017 | DDC 952--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016055712

      ISBN 978-4-8053-1389-3

       ISBN 978-1-4629-1934-5 (ebook)

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      CONTENTS

       Preface

       Point of Departure: Cipangu

       CHAPTER 1 The Way of the Gods: Prehistoric and Mythical Japan

       CHAPTER 2 Through the Keyhole: The People of Wa

       CHAPTER 3 The Shining Prince: Medieval Japan

       CHAPTER 4 A Game of Thrones: Minamoto vs. Taira

       CHAPTER 5 Ashes of Victory: The Warring States

       CHAPTER 6 Time Warp: 200 Years of Isolation

       CHAPTER 7 The Stench of Butter: Restoration and Modernization

       CHAPTER 8 The Empire Strikes Back: The Road to Pearl Harbor

       CHAPTER 9 Broken Jewel: Occupation and Recovery

       CHAPTER 10 The New Breed: The Japanese Miracle

       CHAPTER 11 Cool Japan: The Lost Decades

       Notes on Names

       Further Reading

       Bibliography

       Index

      Preface

      The first time I arrived in Japan, I was more prepared than most newcomers. I had been studying in Taiwan, and could already understand all the signs on the street, even if I could not necessarily pronounce them. Quite by accident, I was arriving not in the Tōkyō region, but in Japan’s ancient heartland of Kyōto, which would soon bewitch me with its history and culture. I was there to study premodern Japanese foreign relations and Japanese literature. I shopped like it was going out of fashion, shipping home box after box of books and CDs, VHS cassettes and shōgi boards. I had been studying Japanese for several months, and was sure that one day it would all fall into place.