Japan: history and culture from classical to cool

Aesthetics and tradition occupy a central role in modern Japanese national identity to a degree seemingly unparalleled among the world's wealthiest nations. This text surveys highlights in Japanese history, culture, and society from prehistoric to contemporary times, devoting significant attention to the visual and literary arts and to everyday material culture in each period. It provides relatively equal coverage of the premodern and modern eras, describing important historical events, personages, and cultural developments. In addition, it traces gender ideals and the emergence of religious, intellectual, and social protest movements across time. Japan's twentieth century interlude as an empire and colonizer receives a full chapter of coverage, as do postwar economic growth and the nation's emergence as a cultural superpower in the twenty-first century. Countering general perceptions of Japan as a unique and isolated country, the text highlights how interactions with other civilizations, primarily Korea and China in premodern times and Western nations in modernity, have deeply influenced its politics, economy, society and resulted in cultural hybridity.