Japan in World History

by James L. Huffman

Japan in World History ranges from Japan's prehistoric interactions with Korea and China, to the Western challenge of the late 1500s, the partial isolation under the Tokugawa family (1600-1868), and the tumultuous interactions of more recent times, when Japan modernized ferociously, turned imperialist, lost a world war, then became the world's second largest economy--and its greatest foreign aid donor. Writing in a lively fashion, Huffman makes rich use of primary sources, illustrating events with comments by the people who lived through them: tellers of ancient myths, court women who dominated the early literary world, cynical priests who damned medieval materialism, travelers who marveled at "indecent" Western ballroom dancers in the mid-1800s, and the emperor who justified Pearl Harbor. Without ignoring standard political and military events, the book illuminates economic, social, and cultural factors; it also examines issues of gender as well as the roles of commoners,
samurai, business leaders, novelists, and priests.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Japan, Asia

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comparatively speaking, this 7-chapter, 156-page paperback published in 2010 could be categorized as a concise book on Japanese history in spite of the fact that Japan herself has long since been the country with more than 1,000 years of inception, civil wars, the Western challenge, religious developments, fascinating cultural traditions, one of the pioneers in economy, high technologies, infrastructure as well as world-class green and clean environment, etc. One of the reasons is that each chapter has to be as precise as it can be by the authoritative understanding and expertise of Prof. James L. Huffman. I think its contents should be revealed as an overview as follows:

Chapter 1 Before the Brush (to 645 CE)
2 Emperors and Aristocrats: Rule by Law and Taste (645-1160)
3 Warriors: The Long Rise (1160-1550)
4 Peace – And Its Benefits (1550-1850)
5 The Nation Transformed (1850-1905)
6 Engaging the World, for Good and for Ill (1905-1945)
7 A New Kind of Power (after 1945)

There are altogether 21 black and white photos scattered in all chapters and 3 maps that definitely help the readers to grasp ideas and imagine visions by means of such printed media related to their content contexts. As for its appendix, they can fulfill their understanding and knowledge by searching more information from these useful topics: Chronology, Notes, Further Reading, Websites, Acknowledgments, and Index.

Since it’s tedious to cite interesting parts from each chapter; therefore, I’d like to suggest only two excerpts from Chapter 7, that is, from the opening paragraph and the last one’s three final sentences as follows:

When the Showa emperor opened the Tokyo Olympics on October 10, 1964, few missed the significance. Here was Japan’s wartime sovereign, presiding over a gathering of 75,000 spectators and 5,000 athletes from ninety-four nations. The torch-lighter was a Waseda University runner born in Hiroshima the day the atomic bomb was dropped. When the game closed two weeks later, Japan had won a recorded sixteen gold medals, and journalists had rhapsodized about the country’s reentry into the community of nations. Olympics president Avery Brundage declared Japan the “Olympic nation No. 1 in all the world.” (p. 109)

… When the sun goddess was troubled by pernicious behaviors in prehistoric times, she shut herself up in a cave to avoid seeing evil. No one envisioned a similar withdrawal by today’s leaders. A more likely model lay in the seventh century’s Suiko and Shotoku Taishi, who, when faced by challenges, sought wisdom abroad and wrote a constitution urging officials to “attend the court early in the morning, and retire late” because “the whole day is hardly enough.” (p. 128)

Briefly, this book (from its format, probably a textbook) is manageably studied and readable for its concise contents, it would be a must for any reader keen on reading anything Japanese, especially her unique fascinating history.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting, but sometimes it's also hard to follow. It's not quite linear, often jumping around to different events at different points in a given decade or period, which can get confusing.

Read this for my Japanese history class.

[Eskil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veldig kort (bra) og konsis (bra) oversikt over hvordan Japan har tatt imot, bearbeida og absorbert utenlandske impulser gjennom historien. Boka har en konsekvent, dog til tider litt bortgjemt tråd som går gjennom hvert kapittel, så etter å ha presentert noen av de store endringene kontakt med andre kulturer førte til viser forfatteren hvordan resultatet var 100% japansk.

[Stephanie Gillis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my Japanese History class and of all the textbooks I’ve had to deal with this one is nicely compact and provides information without being dry and boring me to tears. If you want a good overview of Japanese history this is a great resource.

[Marcella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good overview, I think. I never took world history, this contextualized a lot of scraps I'd heard of and was very readable.

[Ed R White · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose was a bit dry at times, but overall, the book gave a solid glimpse into Japan's history. I loved the mythological references.

[Miles Starkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading material for modern Japanese history class.

Wonderful examples of primary accounts and sources of Japan’s modern era. Beautiful pictures.

[Jennifer Frazier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice condensed survey of Japanese history that reads easy. If your looking for a place to start in studying Japanese history you can find it in Huffman's Japan in World History.

I would also recommend reading Kenneth B. Pyle's book The Making of Modern Japan. This is also a short concise history on Japan that is reader friendly.

[bravebird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent introduction to Japanese History. It is well-balanced and lucidly written. Only one thing to point out is Korean influence was huge during Shotoku Taishi's era, unlike what is written in the book. His teachers for Buddhism are known to be monks from three Kingdoms of Korea.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice short overview on the history of Japan.