Great first pass into J History. Very approachable. ( )

This is a wonderful book on Japanese history. It is definitely an overview of Japanese history, but it is thorough nonetheless. I use the handy timeline and list of emperors in the back for when I read books like the tale of Genji, when you need to be reminded of the era and who was in power. I definately would recommend this for any Asian history buffs as a quick reference on Japanese history!

Miso ( )

http://pixxiefishbooks.blogspot.com/2...

This book is a great overview to anyone who has an interest in Japanese history, but doesn't want to get stuck in thousands of pages detailing the lives, hopes and dreams of the various emperors and shogun. It's concise and informative, always interesting, and really helps one get insight into why Japanese culture has turned out quite the way it has. I found the last few chapters, about contemporary Japanese political and economic developments (since about 1970), a little weaker than the rest of the book; however, I understand that the immediate nature of contemporary events sometimes can make it difficult to figure out what is noteworthy and what is not.

Shortly after finishing this book, I headed down to Kyushu, the southernmost island of 'mainland' Japan (ie., other than the Okinawan islands), and found myself recalling the history I had just recently learned. Certain events in Kyushu were at the centre of the Meiji Restoration in the 1860s, which, in turn, had a profound effect in shaping the Japan that was to eventually attempt to steamroll over the rest of East Asia in the first half of the 20th century. All in all, a very, very interesting book.