Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women [Paperback]

Mark Weston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2002 | ISBN-10: 1568363249 | ISBN-13: 978-1568363240

Giants of Japan brings to life fifteen centuries of Japanese history through lively biographical sketches of the great men and women who have shaped this fascinating and complex country. Covering industry, the arts, religion, and politics, the book includes business titans such as Morita Akio, founder of Sony, and Toyoda Eiji, the man behind Toyota's incredible success; creative giants such as writer Mishima Yukio and film director Kurosawa Akira; and historical icons such as Shotoku, the prince who helped bring Buddhism to Japan, and Izumo no Okuni, the actress and dancer who created kabuki theater.

The economies and futures of the West and Japan are now more interdependent than ever, yet Japan remains very much a mystery to many Westerners. The more than forty profiles in this entertaining and enlightening book are essential knowledge about a nation that is a key player on the world stage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A superb new book."-Los Angeles Times

"A successful attempt to personalize history."-The Washington Post

"Vivid...An excellent introduction to Japanese history."-Foreign Affairs

"Enjoyable, informative, and well-written."-Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha

About the Author

MARK WESTON has worked as a journalist for ABC News and has written for The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. He is the author of The Land and People of Pakistan, and a one-man play about George Orwell, The Last Man in Europe. He lives in Armonk, New York.

WALTER MONDALE, who wrote the foreword, is a former vice president of the United States and Ambassador to Japan.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha USA (August 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568363249
• ISBN-13: 978-1568363240
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Weston's new book Prophets and Princes - Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present, was published by John Wiley & Sons in the fall of 2008. Britain's New Statesman magazine called it "always intelligent," and Saudi Aramco World magazine said Weston "writes sensitively about the post-9/11 era." While researching his book, Weston was a Visiting Scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. Weston's interest in the Muslim world began when he lived in Lahore while writing his first book, The Land and People of Pakistan (HarperCollins 1992.)

The Los Angeles Times called Weston's second work, Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women (Kodansha 1999) "a superb new book." Foreign Affairs called it "vivid, an excellent introduction to Japanese history." Walter Mondale wrote the foreword, and the book went into paperback in 2002 and again in 2008.

Weston grew up in Armonk, New York and graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in history. He spent a year at the London School of Economics, then earned a law degree from the University of Texas. He has been a lawyer for ABC Television and a journalist for ABC News, and has written articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. His one-character play, "Meet George Orwell," has been performed at Trinity College, Oxford and the John Kennedy Presidential Library Theatre in Boston, among other venues.

In 1991 Weston won enough money on TV's Jeopardy! to start a company that makes geographical jigsaw puzzles for children. He sold his firm to a larger puzzle company three years later, then lived with a Japanese family in Tokyo while researching his second book. He has also written a children's book, Honda: The Boy Who Dreamed of Cars, that Lee & Low Books published in the autumn of 2008.

Weston gives lively talks on the Middle East, Islam and Japan. Venues have included the White House Fellows, the Middle East Institute, the Toyota Motor Corporation,. Columbia University, and a cruise ship, the Clipper Odyssey.
P.O. Box 892, Armonk, NY 10504-0892

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for first-time travellers to Japan!, July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women (Hardcover)

I took this book with me on a two-week trip to Japan and it was invaluable. Weston's book is the only one I've found which focuses on individuals, rather than on time periods spanning hundreds of years or on confusing family dynasties. Instead, the book is divided into easily digestible topics like "Industry," "Traditional Culture," and even "Modern Writers." As I travelled, I skipped around in the book, reading chapters which helped me better understand my surroundings. After seeing Tokyo's electronics district, I read about the founders of Sony, Mitsubishi and Minolta. On the train to Hiroshima, I read up on Tojo, Emperor Hirohito, and novelist Ibuse Masuji(Weston shares Masuji's vivid descriptions of the bombing). I wandered through several of Kyoto's impressive temples and shrines but had no sense of the history behind the architecture, so I looked to Weston's chapters on Oda Nobunaga, "the warrior who united half of Japan," and on Tokugawa, the founder of a three hundred year-old dynasty which produced several of Kyoto's most glorious structures. After viewing ancient woodcuts in Kyoto, I developed a real appreciation for them by reading about Hokusai, whose work virtually defines the craft. On the plane back to the US, I read Weston's chapter on the filmmaker Kurosawa and decided which movies to rent back home! Weston's book is packed with interesting details, yet does not overwhelm the initiate. If you're travelling in Japan and plan to get by on the information in the front of your guidebook, forget it! You'll be missing out on the most fascinating aspects of everything you see. Stick Weston's paperback in your suitcase and refer to it whenever you wonder things like, "Wow, where did Haiku poetry come from?" "How did Japan's industrial base become so strong?" "How are women treated in modern Japan?" "What's going on in the tea ceremony?" "What was it like here during the post WWII American occupation?" and of course... "Which Japanese samurai films are must-sees?"

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy a ride of Japanese history!, August 28, 2004

By 

Bruno Strulovici (Stanford , CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women (Paperback)

Giants of Japan is a very pleasant introduction to Japanese history, organized in a succession of biographies of the most influential figures in Japanese business, politics, arts and sports. In addition to being well-written, the book offers a good mix of key facts and anecdotes, making the reading both interesting and exciting.

Beyond information about the country itself, Weston takes good care of extracting history lessons from his biographies. For example, it is edifying to learn how (with what vision, strategems, and tricks) Mistui developed from a sake brewry into one of the world�fs largest corporations, with what political purpose tea ceremony was used, and how a single author, Fukuzawa Yukichi, precipitated Japan's westernization.

The book recounts the origins of Shintoism, Haiku, even Aikido (judo�fs creator, Jigoro Kano, is missing from the book). It depicts the spirit of feudal warriors (both samurais and ronins), and shows how Bushido has survived in 20th century Japan (exemplified by Mishima�fs tragic death). It also deals with the dark pages of Japanese history, including Japanese military actions before and during WWII and modern political corruption.

I recommend this book to anyone who has a yet unfulfilled interest in Japan; the biographical structure of the book makes it readable even to a busy audience.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eclectic collection of fascinating and remarkable lives, December 8, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women (Paperback)

Giants Of Japan: The Lives Of Japan's Greatest Men And Women by journalist and author Mark Weston is an informed and informative biographical survey of great figures drawn from fifteen centuries of Japanese history. Ranging from the internationally famous writer Yukio Mishima and the film director Akira Kurosawa, to historical icons such as Shotoku (the prince who helped bring Buddhism to Japan), and the actress Izumo no Okuni (who created kabuki theater), Giants Of Japan effectively summarizes an eclectic collection of fascinating and remarkable lives revealed in an energetic and raptly interesting presentation. Very highly recommended reading for students of Japanese history and culture.