Rating: 8.0/10.
Book about the history of Japan from the earliest known history up until the modern day, written in a style that’s not too academic while still having quite detailed information. Japan was settled in multiple waves of migrants from Korea and Siberia. The first group was the Jomon people, who were hunter-gatherers known for their rope-patterned pottery, and some of their origin stories persist in religious traditions and Shinto beliefs.
Then, during the Yayoi period of several hundred years, especially around the 2nd century AD, the Yayoi people, who were Iron Age rice farmers, arrived from Korea and drove the Jomon people towards the north. Written accounts of this period are fragmentary since the Japanese sources, the Kojiki and the Nihongi, were written many centuries later and provide mythological origin stories of their early rulers. The Chinese sources are more reliable and mention a female ruler called Himiko, who was briefly powerful. Buddhism arrived in the 6th century, and around this time the nation of Nippon began to crystallize over the earlier name of Wa.
The Heian period (~8th century) was modeled after Tang China, preserving many cultural elements towards later periods; Japan was relatively protected while the Tang dynasty had wars with Baekje and Silla in the Korean peninsula. The capital was established at Kyoto, and modern writing with hiragana and katakana was developed at this time. Many written records appeared, including the Tale of Genji by Murasaki. However, luxury was still limited mostly to the capital’s elite class, which gradually expanded northward, subduing the Emishi barbarians either politically or violently.
By the late 9th century, the Honshu Emishi barbarians were mostly subdued. In the late Heian period, since there was no more frontier fighting to be done, there were more civil wars and infighting, mostly between the Taira and the Minamoto clans. This period also saw the development of Zen Buddhism, a warrior class of samurai, and the practice of seppuku, and much of the court intrigue was documented in the Tale of the Heike.
The Ashikaga period, roughly the 15th century, was known for Japanese pirates looting China, elaborate tea ceremonies, Zen gardens, flower arrangement, and other impractical but elegant things like that. It ended with the fall of Kyoto during a civil war, ushering in a century of warring states (Sengoku period) where almost continuous civil war occurred. Shogi was invented during this period. Eventually, Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged victorious from the civil war in 1603.
The Edo period was relatively peaceful and was defined by strict isolation, where foreigners, including the Dutch and the Chinese, were confined to a few ports on Kyushu, and Japanese were prevented from leaving. Christians were persecuted. Ieyasu also required lords to periodically travel to Edo (modern-day Tokyo), leading to a merchant economy. Kabuki theater, sushi, and woodblock printing were popularized at this time. Eventually, more foreign ships appeared demanding trade and put an end to the isolationism.
When Perry landed in 1854 with a large number of ships, the Japanese realized they were overpowered and gave concessions. Initially, there were some local efforts to expel foreign barbarians, but the ruling samurai realized that war was futile and launched a full modernization effort – the Meiji Restoration. Groups of scholars visited Europe and returned with ideas for modern nation and government. The last effort of resistance was the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, but this didn’t get very far.
After modernizing, Japan sought to expand similar to European powers, beginning with Hokkaido and then taking Korea and Manchuria and large parts of China, even defeating the Russians in battle. They attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 despite warnings from Yamamoto about the strategic hopelessness, but did so anyway and were slowly driven back after America retaliated. After the atomic bombs, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender to the public via radio despite the lack of consensus among military leaders. American occupation followed, aided by Japanese bureaucrats. Resources were initially scarce but recovered in the next decade, and manga comics and ramen appeared during this time.
The economy boomed during the 60s and 70s. After the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and construction of the Shinkansen, there was new interest in tourism, and Japan became a leading manufacturer of cars, electronics, and other goods. The culture of the salaryman emerged, who worked late while their wives were expected to care for the children and spend money on leisure and culture; there was a culture of lifelong employment at a company.
However, Japan’s economic bubble burst in 1991 and never fully recovered. The subsequent stagnant economy led to the NEET and hikikomori phenomena, where disillusioned youth rejected corporate life. Then the 2011 earthquake killed thousands and caused the nation to distrust nuclear energy. Currently, the nation is facing rising age demographics, cultural resistance to women’s equality in the workforce and immigration, and Abenomics is seen as a band-aid solution that failed to address fundamental economic difficulties.
Overall, this book is a good first overview of Japan’s history for a casual reader, without too much scholarly references. Each chapter covers a period and begins with a dramatic anecdote before going through the period in more or less chronological order.
