Customer Reviews

A Short History of Japan: From Samurai to Sony (A Short History of Asia series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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This book is well organized and well written, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a concise political and economic history of Japan. That is particularly true for business persons, political scientists or economists whose main interest is in the past fifty years or so of Japanese history. Slightly under half of this book covers the period from 1952, when Japan began its economic recovery in earnest, up to the current day. For that time period, the book presents a good bit of technical political and economic detail.

Western readers who are looking for a cultural history of Japan are likely to be disappointed by this book. Details of the day-to-day life of the Japanese, the samurai bushido code, Kabuki theater, tea ceremonies and the many other things that make Japanese culture so distinctly different from Western culture are either not described at all or receive only a fleeting mention, while the emphasis of the narrative is on changes in the style of government and the seat of executive power. The Confucian and Shinto religions are mentioned primarily in references to their effects on the Japanese acceptance of varying degrees of authoritarian governance.

I have come away from reading this book with a good understanding of the current Japanese political and economic situation and its basis in Japanese history. But I will continue my search for a good history of Japan's unique culture.

Well, I do have some knowledge of Japanese History, but I just wanted a broad overview, so I got this book. The book is very good. It is 252 pages, which is still short for a short history of a country but that's good enough. The book is an Australian printing, and has never been revised and is not revised. One mistake I saw on Amazon is that it says that the book was published in 2003 and that it is 268 pages, but I checked with the publisher and she said that it was indeed published in 2002, and it is only 252 pages, there is no revised edition and the edition is not revised. Okay, let's get started with the review!

The book discusses everything, it gives info on the geography and the early prehistory of ancient times, and goes on to the Yamato Dynasty's start, how the government borrowed from Chinese and Korean cultures, and how the early capitals at Nara and Heian (now Kyoto) were influenced by China and Korea.

It likewise talks about how the Hojo Regency overthrew the Yamato Dynasty and how the different shogunates, including the Minamoto and the Tokugawa Shogunates, seized power from each other, and how feudalism kept Japan in isolation from the 1100's to 1853, when Colonel Perry of the American Navy opened Japan's gates and how the Yamato Dynasty came back into power.

It also talks about how Japan experienced with imperialism, gained an empire with Taiwan, Manchuria, and Korea, and finally how Japan's rampage through Southeast Asia bought it face to face with one of the most powerful countries in the world, America.

It finally talks about the brutal American occupation, and concentrates on Japan's miracle economy, and how Japan is going to walk into the modern era. The book contains a number of black and white/color pictues by the author and also some figures/maps from other Japanese books.

Like I said, if you want to learn about Japanese history, get this book, it's excellent, but if you know everything about it, I would get something in more detail.

RATING: ***** 5 Stars A +

I read this book on a recent airplane ride across the USA. I had never read a book dedicated to Japanese history, nor do I usually read nonfiction for pleasure. A few words to describe this book: absorbing, descriptive, informative, and well worth reading! While most history texts are dry, this book tells a story that kept me turning the pages long past when I usually fall asleep. It examines the key issues and events with a fair, balanced hand. Movement between topics takes place logically. The depth of the inquiry is right on for an introduction, and at the same time is so transparent that the complexities of Japan's history are made that much more understandable.

This book really is a lot more than you bargain for.
The title "...from Samurai to Sony..." gave me the impression of a very basic history book on the most popular facets of Japan. This book doesnt talk about how cool samurai's are, or where to get discount sony products, how to make a bonsai tree, sushi or draw manga. It is actually a politic, social and economic review of Japan and its relations with the world, starting from its, possible, origin of 6000 years ago (although likely to be more recent as discussed in the book).

The book deals with:
-Why Japanese people consider them selves different from the rest of the worlds human population.
-How the country was run up to ~1900CE, at which time international influence (which had been strongly repelled) dramatically changed the whole country.
-Why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
-How they forged a super power in under 30years (from war torn country).
-Why they have such poor international relations.
-Why their economy crashed in the '90s (When everywhere else was doing so well).
-Current issues with their society, as well as probably future ramifications (aging population and youth rebellion).

The book also highlights peace and success of the japanese way of life, however overall it is targeted at westerners who wish to know answers to the questions above (not that the reader knew of these questions, or there global importance, before reading this book).

I would say this book is essential before visiting Japan for any extended period of time.
It has given me a VERY different perspective of the japanese people and their culture.
It's important to try and subjectively compare what is in this book with your own society to not get the wrong idea, that japanese are racist, fascists only looking out for them selves. But that is the case with any countries history.


A follow up book by Curtis Andressen would be very interesting, as he leaves us up to 2002 (date published), with many proposed outcomes for the re-emerging Japan, circa 2010.