Dějiny Japonska

by Edwin O. Reischauer, Albert M. Craig, David Labus (Translator)

Ve srovnání s jinými národy vypěstovala u Japonců jejich relativní ostrovní izolovanost mimo jiné zvýšenou vnímavost vůči přejímání cizích kulturních vlivů. Jedním důsledkem je poměrně časté vyzdvihování primitivních, a proto domněle původních domácích charakteristických rysů v průběhu japonských dějin, jiným je mýtus, že Japonsko si neumí než kulturně vypůjčovat. Pravdou se však zdá být, že vzhledem k ostrovní poloze si Japonci sami vytvořili větší část kulturních statků než většina jiných národů. To názorně dokládá i původní práce úspěšných autorů Reischauera a Craiga, která přehledně shrnuje obecné, hospodářské, sociální a kulturní dějiny Japonska od nejstarších dob až po nedávnou současnost. Je narativní a čtivá, pokouší se spíše interpretovat než podat vyčerpávající přehled faktů. Její obsahové těžiště spočívá v posledních zhruba dvou stoletích, kdy Japonsko vystupuje jako jediný nezápadní stát ve skupině vedoucích západních mocností. České vydání bude navíc doplněno o kapitolu o dnešním Japonsku, která reflektuje vliv zásadních geopolitických změn minulého desetiletí na mezinárodní postavení Japonska.

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction, Japanese Literature

476 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1978

About the author

Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and culture of Japan and East Asia. Together with George M. McCune, a scholar of Korea, in 1939 he developed the McCune–Reischauer romanization of the Korean language.

Reischauer became involved in helping create US policy toward East Asia during and after World War II. President John F. Kennedy appointed Reischauer as the United States Ambassador to Japan, where he served from 1961 to 1966. Reischauer founded the Japan Institute at Harvard University in 1973 and was its founding director. It was later named in honor of him.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as textbooks go, this is probably the best on Japanese history that I've ever read. It's to the point, informative, even-handed, short--only around 335 pages--and written in an engaging style that rarely bores me. This makes sense considering it was written by the great Edwin Reischauer of Harvard University. Definitely recommended for those interested in Japanese history but not yet ready or willing to tackle books like The Making of Modern Japan (another excellent history but mostly focused on Japan after 1600).

The only downside is the book is a bit outdated (it was published in 1989). A lot of things have changed since then, and it would be interesting to see what Reischauer would say about post-Showa Japan. But as a survey of Japanese history from ancient times to the mid-20th century, this book is still extremely useful.

And no, the book does not ignore the Rape of Nanking and other horrible things the Japanese did during WWII. Nanking for one is referenced on page 256: "Nanking was captured in December, and the willingness of army commanders to see this former center of anti-Japanese agitation punished led to days of wanton slaughter."

[Josef Komensky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nadherne napsana kniha o dejinach Japonska zeme vychazejiciho slunce. Ikdyz kniha konci nekdy v 90. Tych letech je velice detailne napsana a dava tak ctenari jasny obraz rozvoje Japonskeho cisarstvi a jeho intervalu otevirani se a pak zase uzavirani se svetu.

Co me nejvice zaujmulo byl velice intenzivni obchodni vztah s Nizozozemim, se kterym Japonske cisarstvi nejenom cile obchodovalo ( Nizozemsti kupci dosahli urcitou dobu monopolniho postaveni v obchodu s Japonskem ) nybrz od nehoz si nechavalo Japonsko tisknout a prekladat veskerou technickou a vedeckou literaturu cimz padem existuji dodnes foneticky znejici holandska slova v Japonstine.

Napriklad Stastne a vesele vanoce
Pritty Kirismasu :-))

[Noctua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was used by one of my family members in their history class. I flipped through it out of curiosity, even though I never liked East Asian history books that were written for Westerners by Westerners. With that out of the way, I'll review this book from the POV of a history enthusiast. In short, the title of this book is hugely misleading - it is NOT a comprehensive history book on Japan, since its focus is on the early-modern period of Japan. Only 1/5 of the book (about 70 out of 335 pages) is dedicated to the history before the 16th century, which is very strange considering that there is a whole millennium of history between the Asuka period and the Edo period. The book should be more accurately named "History of early-modern Japan" or "Japan under globalisation".

[Dan B · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book - almost. The writing is good, informative, and succinct. But the book entirely ignores the rape of nanking and overly paints Japan in too nice of a view. I would say this is a dangerous book because of how generous it is, but it's unforgivable that they ignored such an event.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book saved my life.