A Brief History of Japanese Civilization

by Conrad Schirokauer, David B. Lurie, Suzanne Gay

This balanced account of Japanese history focuses on developments in art, religion, literature, and thought as well as economic, political, and social history in a new four color-format. In addition to Conrad Schirokauer, this text has two new authors. Suzanne Gay is Professor of East Asian Studies at Oberlin College. Her research interests include the social and economic history of medieval Japan, with a particular emphasis on the role of commoners in history. David Lurie researches the history of writing systems in Japan and also works on the cultural and intellectual history of Japan through the Heian period. This author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of Japan.

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

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2005

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! I wish there was a brief history of ALL civilizations written in this manner. If you have any interest in the Japanese culture, or even if you do not, I think you'll find this to be a great read.

[Felipe Alfaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a student at UNT over ten years ago, this was the textbook for my Japanese history course.

I absolutely love this book as it has sentimental value for me since it was an important influence that inspired me to move to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Now over a decade later and after learning the Japanese language, I decided to review it thoroughly and focus on it in great detail. This book has everything you need to get a general understanding of Japanese history and I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject or in coming to Japan.

There are some reasons I reluctantly gave this four instead of five stars:
-There is no Japanese writing in this book, which is cumbersome for a serious student of the language, but probably accommodating for someone who isn’t.
-Some dates are questionable like putting Hideyoshi’s death date at 1616.
-Some important individuals who are too important not to be mentioned are left out, even in a brief history: Akamatsu Mitsusuke, Akechi Mitsuhide, Sakamoto Ryoma, and others.

In conclusion, it is very easy to understand and will give you the strong foundation you need to widen your understanding of the subject of Japanese history!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book stays true to its title: each chapter is brief. The author highlights major political, economic, religious and artistic breakthroughs of Japan's history. While not as detailed as I was hoping regarding the major players of the Sengoku era, the text was easy to read and kept my interest - I knew I was reading a textbook but it didn't necessarily feel that way.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

How can this book claim to give an entry-level history of Japan when all it does is string names, dates, and a few filler words together to construct paragraphs that convey the most factual and anecdotic information that is empty of any concrete meaning, leaving the (entry-level!) reader none the wiser than they were before?

[Javier Pavía · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia de Japón breve y que no se limita a enumerar fechas.

Lo bueno: toca también temas culturales. Habla de arte, literatura, cine...

Lo malo: es muy resumido, claro. Si quieres llegar de la prehistoria a Fukushima, no te queda más remedio. Aun así, pasa muy de largo por algunos temas.

[Karl Hallbjörnsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history textbook (for beginners/laymen though), pretty dry of course but very informative and interesting. Read earlier this year.

[Az · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno de los libros más completos y cuidados en materia critica de historia japonesa. Es un recorrido histórico desde los orígenes de Japón hasta la actualidad, deteniéndose en todos los aspectos posibles que refieren a la cultura japonesa. Un libro muy académico, en una edición preciosa y de gran calidad. La gente de la embajada japonesa me lo recomendó muy acertadamente y ha sido una lectura increíble y muy placentera.