The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 3: Medieval Japan

The Cambridge History of Japan #3

by Kozo Yamamura

This third volume in The Cambridge History of Japan is devoted to the three and a half centuries spanning the final decades of the twelfth century when the Kamakura bakufu was founded, to the mid-sixteenth century when civil wars raged following the effective demise of the Muromachi bakufu. Volume 3 contains thirteen specially commissioned essays written by leading Japanese and American scholars that survey the historical events and developments in medieval Japan's polity, economy, society, and culture, as well as its relations with its Asian neighbors. The essays reflect the most recent scholarly research on the history of this period. The volume creates a rich tapestry of the events that took place during these colorful centuries, when the warrior class ruled Japan, institutions underwent fundamental transformations, the economy grew steadily, and Japanese culture and society evolved with surprising vitality to leave legacies that still characterize and affect contemporary Japan.

Genres: History, Japan, Japanese History, Nonfiction, Medieval History, Asia

736 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 1990

Reviews

[S. Kallahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great as a starting review of era. A little dated but good to locate yourself in the history and debates around it.

[Manuel Del Río Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is the third installment of a set of six Cambridge Histories of Japan. It is centered on 'Medieval Japan', which in Japanese History usually applies to the period between 1185 and 1568, covering the Kamakura, Nambokucho and Muromachi periods. In this age the Imperial Court loses ground and power, and the military government of the Shoguns is established. In society, Buddhism takes a greater stranglehold on the mentalities and beliefs, and new sects arise (Jodo, Jodo Shin, Zen, Nichiren). Central authority is progressively weakened, and a socio-economic order vaguely similar to western Feudalism appears, with a strong decentralization of political power (especially for the last century or so, when daimyos rule the land with almost complete autonomy).

Now, centering on the volume: it contains all the good and bad things of the Cambridge Histories. The good ones are the superb scholarship, made by specialists on the field and touching its subjects with depth and technical expertise. But that virtue is also the greatest setback. Don't expect a clear-cut, linear, mainly political history of Medieval Japan in this volume. On the contrary, you get a set of independent and hardly related monographs which are very vaguely ordered bearing in mind chronological order and subject-matter (first the ones on political history and economy; then the ones about foreign relations, culture and religion).

If what you're looking for is an extensive an coherent historical account of Medieval Japan, and/or you're a beginer to the subject, this book isn't for you. Now, if you already have a clear scheme of the main reigns, battles, events... in your head, and you want to deepen (or even subvert) the conventional truths and explanations, the book will come handy; bear in mind that even its 'political' monographs take for granted you are acquainted with events like Jokyu no ran or the Gempei wars and don't bother to narrate much.

That being said, all monographs are high quality, but can make very dull reading (especially if, for example, you aren't too interested in different types of land tenure or taxes). Best way to use the Histories is to navigate to the monographs that interest you. In this volume, I liked very much the one by Barbara Ruch, which tried to dispel topics and stereotypes about 'Japanese Medieval Culture'.

That's about it. I give it 4 stars. The scholarship deserves more, but it is only of real use to specialists, and the occasional dullness and lack of general historical narration would take it down rather fast. 4 is the middle ground, although I feel it might be too positive for the expectations I had when I got the book.

[Ethan Mckenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the others in this 6 volume set, it is both informative and detailed. Not really meant for the casual reader, as the price makes pretty apparent, for those who wish to seriously study Japanese history, it is excellent.

All the volumes are set up as a series of treatises by respected scholars on specific topics such as religion, economy, culture, foreign relations, etc, with the intent of providing the reader both with an up to date framework of scholarship on the era, and suggest areas where research is still lacking.

This particular volume was quite strong in areas dealing with the development of the medieval Shoen estate, and the development if Daimyo, as well as bringing to light the cultural role of women, shamanism, and the older artistic traditions, such as the blind biwa players that were white-washed out or simply lost in the reshuffle of scholarship beginning in the Meiji era. It had no striking weaknesses, save I did not find particularly convincing the arguments made by H. Paul Varley that Zen should be removed from a prime role in considering many of the artistic developments of the day, or his associated interpretations of poems, and concepts such as wabi, sabi, or mugen.

[Andrew Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st chapter good, 2nd chapter so boring I thought I'd put it down, 3rd chapter good then dribbles off into minituae about medieval appointments and land relations

for me, it was too detailed about feudal relations, and I didn't like that there were no Kanji for the Japanese terms, it made it harder to follow for me.