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The story of a small Asian country with extraordinary aesthetic traditions that avoided colonization and overcame the devastation of World War II to become a highly prosperous modern force, while preserving its unique spirit and culture
Zen, haiku, martial arts, sushi, anime, manga, film, video games . . . Japanese culture has long enriched our Western way of life. Yet from a Western perspective, Japan remains a remote island country that has long had a complicated relationship with the outside world.
Even at the nearest point, Japan—an archipelago strung like a necklace around the Asian mainland—is considerably farther from Asia than Britain is from Europe. The sea provides an effective barrier against invasion and has enabled the culture to develop in unique and distinctive ways. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shoguns successfully closed the country to the West. After Japan opened, it swung in the opposite direction, adopting Western culture wholesale. Both these strategies enabled it to avoid colonization, one of the very few non-Western countries to do so, and to retain its traditions and way of life.
This delightfully readable history will be of interest to people who know nothing about Japan, but also full of insights for those who do, with an aha moment on every page. With a novelist’s eye for color and character, Lesley Downer takes the reader through the great sweep of Japanese history, focusing on the dramatic stories of larger-than-life individuals—from emperors descended from the Sun Goddess to warlords, samurai, merchants, court ladies, women warriors, geisha, and businessmen who shaped this extraordinary modern society.
The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.
“Brilliantly accessible and uplifting. Lesley Downer writes with flair and passion to bring to life the history and culture of this ‘small country at the very edge of the world.’ The Shortest History of Japan is an enlightening and pacy primer for anyone interested in Asia. In minutes, a reader can learn about the invention of pottery thousands of years before Europe, the origins of the Pearl Harbor attack, and the strands that weave together the fascination that is Japan today. A stunning piece of writing.”—Humphrey Hawksley, author of Asian Waters and former BBC Asia Correspondent
“Brilliant! This is much more than an expert, easy-to-read distillation of Japan’s history. Lesley Downer has a novelist’s flair for bringing the past to life in all its variety, evoking fashion, art, religions, vivid incidents, and astonishing personalities, with a welcome emphasis on the importance of women.”—John Man, author of Samurai and Ninja
