22. A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun by Jonathan Clements
reader: Julian Elfer
OPD: 2017
format: 8:41 audible audiobook (304 pages in paperback)
acquired: audible loan listened: Apr 7-16
rating: 3½
genre/style: History theme: random audio
locations: Japan
about the author: A British author and scriptwriter, born in Leigh on Sea, Essex in 1971

Clements tells the reader up front that he really likes relaying quirky historical oddities, and the reader should take note. He's not an ideal fit for a brief history. Making history brief means making effective accurate clear summations of various things you want to cover. (This is actually very difficult.) The flip side is to remove the excess words, but still pile details on details in a compressed rapid form, uncooked, if you like. Clements trends a little too much to the latter form for my tastes, and it made listening challenging.

I really had trouble following the medieval and semi-feudal Japan because it's very complicated and I lost Clements's points in a confusion of names and factions and unfamiliar sounds. What I got was the power was always obscured, the Japanese emperor was traditionally a figurehead, often very young, and often the emperor would retire in an effort to establish real power, with mixed success. Shoguns were important, until they weren't. Samari had a long history of no practical military value because no one ever attacked Japan. It was largely unified enough and after the Mongol rulers of China failed in their rather poor marine invasion efforts, China never gave it another go. But I guess Japan was always ready.

I was entertained by getting a history of Edo/Tokyo, sushi, and kabuki theatre, and learning that the west and the US regret the constitutional disarming of Japan (although the constitution allows for finagling with "defense" forces). And I knew how fast Japan modernized, much faster than the other eastern countries (although China clearly tried). It took roughly 60 years from Japan's opening to its defeat of Russia. But I didn't realize how important the Korean War was to Japan's revitalization, funding the foundations of its post-war economic boom.

Anyway, while I hope there is a better brief history out there, I'm sure any readers will find something they like here.

2024
https://www.librarything.com/topic/358760#8515101 ( )

Six-word review: Japan sure has lots of history.

It seems to me that being Japanese must be complicated in a way that I can only dimly imagine.

Even though I never set out to study Japan, I find that my reading over the years has included a disproportionate number of Japan-related titles, from the novels of Haruki Murakami to Donald Richie's analyses of the films of Kurosawa, most of which I've seen; from Tanizaki's quiet meditation on shadows to a hefty tome on Japan's recovery from World War II; from Mr. Nakano's thrift shop to the imperial palace. I've given a thoughtful viewing to the films of Ozu and examined photos of samurai artifacts and traditional Japanese hairstyles. On a separate track, I've studied Zen Buddhism.

The more I read, the less I feel that I comprehend.

I thought that reading a broad-scoped history of Japan, packing fifteen or more centuries into a compact 300 pages, would give me a sense of context and place some events of lore and legend in relation to events of record. And perhaps it would have, if I had read it straight through and sustained the connections from one era to another. Unfortunately, this was the Kindle book I chose to read in waiting rooms and during down time on volunteer shifts, and so for me it was seven months from beginning to end.

I didn't manage to sustain much at all, apart from the experience of having it go on and on and on, which is pretty much what Japanese history has done. But I did gain a sense of vast complexity: of recorded deeds interwoven with myth, of tradition, of numerous strands of culture and ethnicity braided into one, of geographic smallness and military might, of privilege and poverty, humility and insuperable pride. Politics and poetry blend with cherished archetypes and deep symbolism; much is not as it seems. A reverence for delicate beauty abides with bloodthirsty ferocity. Zen and samurai, samurai and zen. I am only guessing. I know nothing.

Between the time before World War II and the emperor's surrender on August 15, 1945, the world changed.

If this book has not greatly enlarged my understanding, the book is not at fault. There is too much to know. I progress by mere inches. ( )