History of Japan, 660 BC to 1872 AD

by William Elliot Griffis

From the beginning of the Japanese empire, until the century after the introduction of Buddhism, the mikados were the real rulers of their people, having no hedge of division between them and their subjects. The palace was not secluded from the outer world. No screen hid the face of the monarch from the gaze of his subjects. No bureaucracy rose, like a wall of division, between ruler and ruled. No hedge or net of officialdom hindered free passage of remonstrance or petition. The mikado, active in word and deed, was a real ruler, leading his armies, directing his Government. Those early days of comparative national poverty when the mikado was the warrior-chief of a conquering tribe; and, later, when he ruled a little kingdom in Central Japan, holding the distant portions of his quasi-empire in tribute; and, still later, when he was the head of an undivided empire - mark the era of his personal importance and energy. Then, in the mikado dwelt a manly soul, and a strong mind in a strong body. This era was the golden age of the imperial power. He was the true executive of the nation, initiating and carrying out the enterprises of peace or war. As yet, no military class had arisen to make themselves the arbiters of the throne; as yet, that throne was under no proprietorship; as yet, there was but one capital and center of authority.

Contents: The Background. The Aborigines. Materials of History. Japanese Mythology. The Twilight of Fable. Sūjin, the Civilizer. Yamato-daké, the Conqueror of the Kuanté. The Introduction of Continental Civilization. Life in Ancient Japan. The Ancient Religion. The Throne and the Noble Families. The Beginning of Military Domination. Yoritomo and the Minamoto Family. Creation of the Dual System of Government. The Glory and the Fall of the Hōjō Family. Buddism in Japan. The Invasion of the Mongol Tartars. The Temporary Mikadoate. The War of the Chrysanthemums. The Ashikaga Period. Life in the Middle Ages. The Growth and Customs of Feudalism. Nobunaga, the Persecutor of the Buddhists. Hidéyoshi's Exterprises. The Invasion Of Corea. Christianity and Foreigners. Iyeyasu, the Founder of Yedo. The Perfection of Duarchy and Feudalism. The Recent Revolutions in Japan.

Genres: History, Japan, Nonfiction

343 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1876

About the author

American orientalist, Congregational minister, lecturer.

Griffis was an English and Latin language tutor for Tarō Kusakabe, a young samurai from the province of Echizen.

In September 1870 Griffis was invited to Japan to organize schools along modern lines.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1875 and as interesting as a picture of American scholarship at that time as it is as a discussion of Japanese history. Full of archaic terminology and spellings, weird punctuation (some of which are clearly errors in the Kindle transfer, but goodness, there are a ton of commas in this), and some cringe-worthy language (my favorite is when the author refers to the Ainu as being obsessed with their rice wine 'which they crave as the Indians do "fire-water,"'(?!?)). It'll need a couple more reads just to give me a chance to report all the typos, but it's a fun time, though I'm not sure how informative (as opposed to mis-informative) it is.

[julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2/25/2025
read for MMW, i thought it was interesting and let me just say THANK YOU to william elliot griffis for actually writing about samurai culture and giving me good quotes to use because commodore perry was on some other vibe about it and wasn't giving me anything

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Edward Gibbon wrote a history of Japan, it would read something like The Mikado's Empire. The fact that this book was written by a 19th century American scholar is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness.

On the one hand William Elliot Griffis writes with the flair and wit that's of typical 19th century historians, unbound by today's strict academic rules of scholarship, and the fact that the author lived and worked in Japan during the years immediately after the Meiji Restoration means that it can also be read as a primary source. Indeed, while the first half of the book contains the history of Japan from the earliest times until the restoration, the second half is a travelogue and diary written during Griffis' time in Japan, which contains a lot of entertaining observations, anecdotes and tidbits on Japanese everyday life at the time.

The book's age also comes with some problems however. Most notably it offers a lot of outdated explanatory models, and many attempts at analysis are unconvincing. As with other 19th century historians there is a tendency to explain historical events and developments by referring to the inherent proclivities of a people's "character" - and then no further analysis is needed. Secondly, the author decides to skip over the whole Sengoku Jidai period, arguing that after having covered the wars up to that point he didn't wish to give readers the idea that the Japanese did nothing but wage war. This is extremely unfortunate, as the Sengoku Jidai is not only one of the most dramatic but also one of the most transformative periods of Japanese history, which till this day is very poorly covered in English.

[mj durocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm. Histories can be very interesting, especially when they are written by a person that has a flair for language and a true passion for the topic. Griffis is such a person. I don't know who he was but he manages to relate an entertaining history of Japan with a keen eye that focuses heavily on the mikado.

Is it non-biased? No. But not any more than any other history I have read. It does paint a comprehensive picture of the early history of Japan that isn't fractured by the happenings in the 20th century.

This book is good if you want to get a quick overview of Japan's long history. It is by no means the authority, nor is it the most comprehensive, but I believe it is a strong entry point to help understand one of the many aspects of our cultured world.

[Lemuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was at BookPeople and decided I wanted to learn more about Japanese history. This seemed like a pretty good book, I didn't bother to read any of the pages or summary. It turns out the book was written in 1875 and the writing shows it. Since I know nothing of the history of Japan I can not judge it's accuracy, but I am sure it will show what Japan looked like to the west in the 1800's once I find a better book to read. There have been changes in the field of histroy-graphy that are very obvious when reading, but the author obviously loves Japan culture and this makes it very fun to read.