The Arts of Japan

A Short History of Japan

Harding, ChristopherPelican · 2025

Cover of A Short History of Japan

Details

Title
A Short History of Japan
Publication Date
2025
Language
English
Media
Print
Page Count
240
width
141 mm
height
223 mm
Publisher
Pelican

Blurb

In this enormously enjoyable introduction to a remarkable country, Christopher Harding traces Japan's rich history over several millennia. Beginning with its earliest coastal communities through to the spread of Buddhism, the rise of the warlords, the promise and menace of the West and Japan's own empire-building, Harding explores how a distinctly Japanese society and culture was forged.

Drawing on the latest scholarship, A Short History of Japan moves beyond traditional tourist-board clichés to consider Japan's own view of its past, values and culture, from ceramics and theatre to food and architecture. The result is a sensory, tactile history conveying to the reader much about Japan’s special nature. Harding skillfully shows how these everyday details are intimately bound up with the bigger historical picture, as an expression of the values that have been extraordinarily successful in helping the country to cope with centuries of radical change.