Customer Reviews

Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan

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I got this book because I am working on writing a historical novel. Of course the story is fiction and I take an author's "artistic liberty" at times, but I want to paint as accurate a picture as I can of life in those times while entertaining readers. It would be very easy for a western writer to add many unrealistic details. Japanese culture and thinking are not easy matters to comprehend for us westerners. I am also well aware that my American heritage and upbringing significantly colors my storyline ideas, so I like to check myself often.

I like this book because it briefly covers a host of topics, including daily life, religion, society, government, philosophy, and of course warfare and history. The book is organized in such a way that I can pick a very specific subject and go right to it. It serves as a starting point. For example: if I want to learn about the role of women in Japanese society I can read the 2 or 3 pages in the book, which might generate more specific questions for me to research.

Which leads me to another cool thing about this book: at the end of each section is a list of further reading references on each topic. This is a good thing, because so many topics are covered, but somewhat briefly and in summary, so being pointed in the right direction for further study is a welcome feature.

For my purposes, this book is a very useful reference tool.