Customer Reviews

Korean Impact on Japanese Culture: Japan's Hidden History

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Jon and Alan Covell present evidence of Korea's influence on ancient Japan in a way that is easy to understand. Japan, an economic power today has always denied historical influnce Korean culture has had on its culture. It has even halted archeological excavations on ancient tombs because of the unwanted reality they may provide.

Covell provides some key evidence which provides strong support for the penninsular influence on Japan. Covell organizes the book in a chronological fashion which allows for easy reading. The book also contains many photographs, maps and other visual information to supplement the reading.

If you are interested in East Asian history and have an open mind, this book may prove to be very interesting. If you are not convinced by Corvell concerning the influence of Korea on ancient Japan, the authors at least bring a different perspective to Japan's cultural connection with the continent.

There is already well-supported genetic, linguistic, archeological evidence linking Japan to Korea, but I had not realized the relationship to be so close. We know that Paekche, the Korean Kingdom, and early Japan shared an uncommonly close relationship, and the writer takes great pains to retrace the origins of Japanese by drawing on its historical relationship to Paekche. He tries in particular to fill in the gaping holes and reconcile the inconsistencies in the historical record. Overall, an excellent read. I recommend it for anyone interested in Japanese and Korean history.

It's easy to think that Japan and Korea were mostly influenced by Chinese culture by ignorance but by the fact that their language is Altaic-Isolate not Chinese - means Korea and Japan maintained their own unique culture(s) that are different from Chinese despite heavy historical & culutral influence by former Chinese states.

This book explores the area that are different and in fact starting from Japanese Yayoi culture about 2300BP, there were political refugees from various states in Korea establised their own sister states in Japan. Around 400AD, Backje lost a big battle against Gokuryo, and started massive refugee migration to the region of Japan where their former Backje political refugees established strong foothold. This lasted for a while. Historical documents shows more than 1-million people escaped to Japan from Backje(South West region in Korea) and they were able to conqure various states in Japan then and able to start Unified Nihon state called Yamato State around 6-7 century.

Out of the three East Asian civilizations, it appears Japan has gotten the most attention from the West. Japan is neither the oldest or most cultured of the major East Asian civilizations. Little do most people know that the Japanese are probably the biggest cultural borrowers that mankind has ever seen whether it be aping everything Western during the Meiji Restoration or copying the Chinese structure of government during the Taiki Reforms. This book is about early Japanese history and how the Japanese copied the art and culture of Korea in the formative years of the Yamato dynasty. It's a real, but often unacknowledged history that has to be told so the world can put Japanese culture in its correct context when compared to the other ancient East Asian cultures. The book itself is good in most regards, but sometimes it is too dogmatic in its presentation and doesn't provide enough evidence for its early background conclusions. Many pictures to illustrate the author's points. Considering the scarcity of books on this subject, anyone interested in Japan's early past should take a look at this book.

The author reveals what Japanese do not want to admit. Indeed, Japanese culture is influenced by the Korean culture. This scholary writing based on her extensive research reveals the secret of Japanese history. It is an excellent book.

Isn't it usual to think that Chinese culture rather than Korean culture influenced the ancient Japanese culture? I found no good proofs to support the opinions of the history fiction writer. It is better to read this book unbelievingly. I also recommend to read "Korea and Her Neighbours" written by Isabella Bird, English traveler and writer, first woman member of the Royal Geographical Society.