A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower

K. Henshall

Dec 2015 · Springer

About this eBook

In a rare combination of comprehensive coverage and sustained critical focus, this book examines Japanese history in its entirety to identify the factors underlying the nation's progression to superpower. Japan's achievement is explained not merely in economic terms, but at a more fundamental level, as a product of historical patterns of response to circumstance. Japan is shown to be a nation historically impelled by a pragmatic determination to succeed. The book also highlights unresolved questions and little-known facts.

About the author

KENNETH G.HENSHALL is Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. The author has a first-class honours degree in Japanese from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and obtained a doctorate in modern Japanese literature from the University of Sydney, and postgraduate qualifications in education from the University of Adelaide. He has taught at the University of Auckland, The University of Western Australia, and the University of California at Berkeley, as well as holding a number of research fellowships at universities in Japan. Best known for his books on language and literature, which include the bestselling Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters and several translations of the Japanese naturalist writer Tayama Katai, Kenneth G.Henshall's main interest at present is to introduce Japan to a wider audience, and from a multidisciplinary perspective.