Japan: An Illustrated History

by Shelton Woods

Overview

How did the inhabitants of several small islands in the Pacific become the world's first non-Western industrialised nation? The answer is found in the fascinating story of Japan's political and social history. This narrative chronicles Japanese history from earliest settlement to the present. It details the establishment of imperial rule under the Yamato clan, the transfer of power from emperor to shogun (supreme military leader), and the Edo period of Japanese isolationism. It also relates the industrial development of the Meiji Restoration, the devastating results of World War II, and Japan's remarkable recovery to become a democracy as well as an economic superpower. The book is the perfect introduction to this nation for students, travellers, businesspeople, and all curious readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780781809894
Publisher:	Hippocrene Books, Inc.
Publication date:	02/01/2004
Series:	Illustrated Histories (Hippocrene)
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Introduction	xiii
	The Shaping of Japan's World (4000 B.C.-A.D. 250)	1
	Geography	1
	Jimmu and Creation Myths of Japan	4
	Jomon Japan (2500-250 B.C.)	6
	Yayoi Japan (250 B.C.-A.D. 250)	10
	The Way of the Gods--Shinto Thought	14
	Transition from Yayoi to Yamato Japan (250-600)	21
	Buddhism and Japan	25
	The Seventeen-Article Constitution of 604	28
	Confucianism and Japan	28
	Buddhism and the Seventeen-Article Constitution	32
	Legalism and the Constitution	35
	The Soga Fall	36
	Heian Japan (794-1185)	39
	Emperor/Land/Taxes	39
	A Capital for an Emperor	41
	Japan on Its Own	43
	The Shoen (Estate) System	46
	The Rise of the Military Class	48
	Heian Culture	51
	Civil War and the Rise of the Shogunate	54
	Shogun Rule in Japan (1192-1868)	57
	The Kamakura Bakufu (1192-1333)	57
	Hojo Power	58
	Mongol Invasions	59
	Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339)	62
	Muromachi Japan (1338-1573)	64
	Medieval Culture in Japan	65
	The Warring States Period	70
	Japan's Three Unifiers	77
	Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)	78
	Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598)	79
	Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)	83
	Tokugawa Japan (1600-1868)	85
	Daimyo and Division of the Land (Sankin Kotai)	85
	The Role of the Peasants	91
	The Emergence of the Japanese City	93
	Foreign Relations	98
	Nineteenth-Century Crises	100
	Pressure from Outside	102
	America and Japan	104
	Perry and the Opening of Japan	106
	Japan's Response to the West	109
	Meiji Japan (1868-1912)	113
	Japan's Modernization	115
	Meiji Constitution	122
	Industrialization and Military Victories	124
	Japan at the End of the Meiji Era	126
	Taisho Japan (1912-1926)	127
	Taisho Democracy	129
	Tensions with the West	131
	Social Revolution	134
	Showa Japan (1926-1989)	139
	The Rise of Militarism (1927-1936)	139
	Japan at War (1937-1945)	146
	The MacArthur/Yoshida Years (1945-1951)	165
	Japan's Economic Marvel	173
	Japanese-U.S. Relations	175
	Japan and the Future	177
	Conclusion	183
	Glossary of Japanese Names and Terms	189
	Bibliography	203
	Index	207