Joyce Lebra: Trailblazing scholar and witness to Japanese history
The world of academia lost a true pioneer when Joyce Lebra passed away last month. She received the Order of the Rising Sun award in a ceremony a month earlier.
Poetic escapism for the end of the year
If the year-end seems less festive than foreboding, escape through the poems of the "Koshinsu," Japan's earliest poetic anthologies.
'China and Japan': Facing off across the aeons, two giants of East Asia
Ezra Vogel's "China and Japan" is a timely reminder of how public perceptions are shaped by political expediency, how new leaders and propaganda can efface existing goodwill.
Emperor Go-Daigo: The pride before a fall
The anonymous 14th-century chronicle "Masukagami" ("The Clear Mirror," translated by George Perkins), dramatically details the trials and errors of Emperor Go-Daigo, the 96th emperor of Japan.
'Japan Story': History enlivened at every turn with flashes of wit
Christopher Harding's comprehensive "Japan Story" is an ultra-progressive account of modern Japanese history, ushering the often-ignored maverick women, socialist thinkers and doubters of the state version of modernity to the front.
"Clouds Above the Hill" portrays, in rich detail, the first generation to grow up in the Meiji Era and culminates in Japan's surprising victory in the Russo-Japanese War.
Meiji 150 as the end of an era
When Japan was a young nation-state 150 years ago, its leaders charted a course through trial and error. Now we are in need of a new vision, identity and strategy for the next 150 years.
Mass media and democracy in prewar and postwar Japan
Now, more than ever, the free press must avoid the perils of populist pandering and fulfill its responsibility as one of the key pillars of democracy.
The process of the Meiji Restoration looks all the more relevant at a time when Japan is facing an uncertain and uncharted future.
The long struggle to become international
Eighth-century Japan was an infant civilization. Its prehistory had been long. Awakened at last, Japan drank eagerly from the source: China, then at its creative peak.
'A Brief History of Japan': Jonathan Clements guides readers from ancient lore to otaku obsessions
Ask any Japanese high school student which is their most difficult subject, and chances are they'll answer Japanese History — a consequence of the endless litany of dates, names and battles they need to memorize. Pity then, that they don't use this little book ...
Battle of Sekigahara: a war set in stone
The open valley basins of Gifu Prefecture at the very center of Honshu, where the town of Sekigahara lies, were easily co-opted as theaters of war. It's no coincidence, given the martial history of the region, that the town of Seki was once known ...
