The Shortest History of Japan: From Mythical Origins to Pop Culture Powerhouse?The Global Drama of an Ancient Island Nation (The Shortest History Series)
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Zen, haiku, martial arts, sushi, anime, manga, film, video games . . . Japanese culture has long enriched our Western way of life. Yet from a Western perspective, Japan remains a remote island country that has long had a complicated relationship with the outside world.
Japan—an archipelago strung like a necklace around the Asian mainland—is considerably farther from Asia than Britain is from Europe. The sea has provided an effective barrier against invasion and enabled the culture to develop in unique ways. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shoguns successfully closed the country to the West. Then, Japan swung in the opposite direction, adopting Western culture wholesale. Both strategies enabled it to avoid colonization—and to retain its traditions and way of life.
A skilled storyteller and accurate historian, Lesley Downer presents the dramatic sweep of Japanese history and the larger-than-life individuals—from emperors descended from the Sun Goddess to warlords, samurai, merchants, court ladies, women warriors, geisha, and businessmen—who shaped this extraordinary modern society.
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Lesley Downer is a Japan expert, author, journalist, and historian. She has written four novels, The Shogun Quartet, and several works of nonfiction, including the immersive work of journalism Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha and The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan’s Richest Family, which was chosen as a New York Times Book of the Year. She has traveled widely and given lectures at the Japan Society New York, at Asia and Japan Societies across the United States, at the Royal Geographic Society and the British Museum in London, and many other venues. She was the historical consultant for Northern Ballet’s spectacular 2020 ballet Geisha and she appears on Age of the Samurai: Battle for Japan (Netflix). She lives in London with her husband, the author Arthur I. Miller.
