For nearly three decades Japanese Culture has garnered high praise as an accurate and well-written introduction to Japanese history and culture. This widely used undergraduate text is now available in a new edition. Thoroughly updated, the fourth edition includes expanded sections on numerous topics, among which are samurai values, Zen Buddhism, the tea ceremony, Confucianism in the Tokugawa period, the story of the forty-seven ronin, Mito scholarship in the early nineteenth century, and mass culture and comics in contemporary times.
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From the Inside Flap
"This is a masterpiece of much in little space. It neatly surveys over 2,000 years of the arts, religion, and cultural peculiarities (e.g., the tea ceremony) of one of the most cultivated of nations. It leaves virtually no major individual, religious sect, genre and style of visual art, form of literary expression, variety of theater or influence of extra-Japanese origin unconsidered. It nonetheless admirably retains its focus, ignoring the temptation to relate history that doesn't impinge on cultural developments. What's more, Varley writes superbly lucid prose and avoids long-winded annotation...A superior one-volume introduction to Japanese culture." --Booklist
About the Author
Paul Varley is emeritus professor at Columbia University and Sen Soshitsu XV Professor of Japanese Cultural History at the University of Hawaii.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
10,000 Years In 300 Pages,
By Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Japanese Culture, 4th Edition (Updated and Expanded) (Paperback)
The tracings of Japanese culture go back some 10,000 years - speaking conservatively. Since then there has been a remarkable continuity of inhabitation on the Japanese islands, which has resulted in one of the richest and complex cultures in the world today. Originally heavily influenced by the neighboring Chinese culture in the period from 300 BC to 300 AD, the islands quickly found their own way and over the ensuing years have developed a breadth of integrated experience that is often baffling to the outsider or curious student.
Paul Varley's book, in it's fourth edition and showing no signs of losing its value, is an attempt to present the significant cultural and historical developments, covering the past two millennia. OF course, most of the focus is from the eighth century on as Japanese civilization shifted from day to day survival to a complex political framework with a great flourishing of substantive creative art. Considering that my standard historical reference on Japan has some seven volumes and thousands of (often tedious) pages, Varley's task is considerable and his success worthy of note. In a mere three hundred pages of tiny print Varley manages to draw a picture of the Japanese people that, while far from complete, misses none of the key culture moments. He does this in a plain, business-like writing style that pours out unending amounts of information with merciless patience. He is very readable, but not what I would call enjoyable, since the sheer quantity of information can be overwhelming. If simply read straight through, it is easy to lose track of the thread of ideas. But the book rewards repeated study and the reader will soon find that all this information contributes much towards an understanding of the Japanese experience.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best,
By Zangiku (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Japanese Culture, 4th Edition (Updated and Expanded) (Paperback)
By far the best overall coverage of Japanese cultural history-- cogent, intelligent, readable, for the rank novice thru the specialist's reference shelf-- that I have found in 30 years of studying & teaching the subject. On second thought, not only the best but in fact the Only. Lovely illustrations too.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent survey of Japanese high culture,
This review is from: Japanese Culture, 4th Edition (Updated and Expanded) (Paperback)
The book surveys Japanese high culture, with a historical framework and enough historical detail to provide context. Emphasis is on art and literature. With such a broad range, the author can't be expected to be knowledgeable about everything. For example, his description of Zen is a mere caricature: "Zen .. in general urged individuals to renounce this world of suffering and perpetual flux and to seek entry into a transcendent realm of bliss .. through .. satori or enlightenment ..." p. 172 Overall, though, this is a rewarding book that delivers what its title promises.
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