Voices of Early Modern Japan by
The domestic sphere. Getting married ; Obtaining a divorce ; The consequences of adultery ; A woman's place -- Material life. Regulating fashion and consumption ; Samurai dress and grooming standards ; Lunisolar calendar ; Japanese foodways and diet ; The communal bath ; The Japanese home -- The political sphere. A foreigner's view of the Battle of Osaka ; Forging political order ; The emperor and the Kyoto aristocracy ; Weapons control in Japanese society ; Self-governance in villages ; Regulating townspeople in two cities -- Foreign relations. Regulating foreign relations ; Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea ; Leaving a window open to the Western world ; A Dutch audience with the shogun ; Sizing up the foreign threat -- Social and economic life. The social estates ; Trying to get by on a fixed income ; The samurai and death ; Private vengeance among samurai ; Rules of merchant houses ; Dealing with deviant behavior ; Loans among the peasantry ; Unrest in the countryside ; Outcastes in Tokugawa society -- Recreational life. Advice to travelers in the Edo period ; Documentation for travel ; Children and their amusements ; The tea ceremony ; Archery and the martial arts ; Courtesans and the sex trade ; A hero for the masses -- Religion and morality. Preaching to the people ; Anti-Christian propaganda ; Controlling the populace ; Religious views of the Japanese ; The teachings of Zen Buddhism.
Shogunate Japan by
Japan's Shogunate period lasted from 1192 to 1867, with only occasional breaks from military government.
This is the story of Emperors with prestige but little power, and of Shoguns who used political cunning and military force to control the nation. Dedicated soldiers, known as samurai, fought the Shogun's battles and maintained civil order among the population. This book explores the styles of the many Shoguns until the Meiji Restoration.
Shogunate Japan is the origin of the military tradition that continues to influence Japan today.
Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps by
Shinsengumi: The Shogun's last Samurai Corps is the true story of the notorious samurai corps formed in 1863 to arrest or kill the enemies of the Tokugawa Shogun.
The only book in English about the Shinsengumi, it focuses on the corps' two charismatic leaders, Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, both impeccable swordsmen. It is a history–in–brief of the final years of the Bakufu, which collapsed in 1867 with the restoration of Imperial rule. In writing Shinsengumi, Hillsborough referred mostly to Japanese–language primary sources, including letters, memoirs, journals, interviews, and eyewitness accounts, as well as definitive biographies and histories of the era.
The fall of the shogun's government (Tokugawa Bakufu, or simply Bakufu) in 1868, which had ruled Japan for over two and a half centuries, was the greatest event in modern Japanese history.
Shoguns
Sakura Petals: The Shoguns brings you to Nikko, the most famous shrine in the country, the burial place of the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate clan that ruled Japan for three centuries. Further, coming back to Tokyo, we stop in one of the surrounding cities Kamakura, where originates the first shogun family in Japan, a city full of Zen Buddhist temples. We visit the city of Tokyo, with its beautiful museum, parks and temples mingled with modern architecture and we attend a kabuki show. Sakura Petals: The Shogun (41 minutes) covers the shrines at Nikko and the city of Tokyo.
Short History of Japan by
Japan is a country of contradictions and extremes. It is a country of age-old practices and cutting edge technology, strong martial traditions and refined artistic accomplishments. Few countries have been the subject of so much attention yet remain so elusive.
Japan is an island nation defined by its close proximity to, yet isolation from the Asian mainland. Throughout history, ideas adopted from both Asia and the West have, through this isolation, evolved in Japan into unique cultural hybrids. The result is a society that has traces of many civilisations and yet its own distinctive identity. Despite the region's few natural resources and frequent natural disasters, Japanese society has learned to thrive through a complex network of dependency and obligation born of the need to work together in a country where survival is relatively difficult.
From the influence of China to the impact of feudalism, modernisation and imperialism, from war and peace to the miracle economy and contemporary uncertainty, Curtis Andressen traces the threads of history, environment and culture that run through the centuries to explain much about the Japan of today.
Politics and Society in Japan's Meiji Restoration by
Communication - Political aspects - Japan - History - 19th century
Conservatism - Japan - History - 19th century
Japan - History - Meiji period, 1868-1912
Japan - History - Restoration, 1853-1870
Japan - Politics and government - 19th century
Mass media - Political aspects - Japan - History - 19th century
Monarchy - Japan - History - 19th century
Political culture - Japan - History - 19th century
Social change - Japan - History - 19th century
Commodore Perry in the land of the Shogun by
A thought-provoking history of how Commodore Perry opened diplomatic relations with the closed society of Japan.
Ancient Japan by
Step back in time more than 30,000 years, to when the first settlers reached Japan and a highly sophisticated civilization was born. Explore the grand palaces of regal emperors and shoguns, be amazed by the fighting skills of the feuding samurai, and admire the exquisite embroidery of the palace women's glossy silk kimonos. Step-by-step projects allow you to delve into everyday life and find out about ancient Japanese foods, skills and fashions - make delicious rice balls, try your hand at the delicate art of calligraphy, and sculpt a netsuke toggle.
Samurai by
Samurai: An Illustrated History brings the violent, tumultuous, and, at the same time, elegant world of the medieval Japanese samurai to life. This book of Japanese history traces the story of a unique historical phenomenon: a period of 700 years--equivalent to the entire stretch of Western history between the reigns of the Crusader king Richard the Lionhearted and of Queen Victoria at the height of the British Empire--during which an enclosed civilization was dominated by a single warrior caste. The historical narrative of samurai history is supported by explanations of samurai armor, weapons, fortifications, tactics, and customs, and illustrated with nearly 800 fascinating color photographs, maps, and sketches, including ancient scroll paintings and surviving suits of armor preserved for centuries in Japanese shrines.
Samurai Revolution by
Samurai Revolution is divided into two books in one complete volume. Book I chronicles the series of tumultuous and bloody events between 1853 and 1868, collectively called the Meiji Restoration, the "dawn of modern Japan," when the shogun's government was overthrown and the Emperor was restored to his ancient seat of power. Book 2 covers the first turbulent decade of the restored monarchy in which the new Imperial government worked desperately to consolidate its power and introduce innovations that would putJapan on equal footing with Western powers that threatened to dominate it.
Tokugawa Ieyasu : leadership, strategy, conflict by
Tokugawa Ieyasu is the pivotal figure of early modern Japan. He was the military leader who completed the reunification of Japan after more than a century of civil war and then restored for himself the central governing position of shogun following his victory at Sekigahara in 1600, one of the most decisive battles in Japanese history. Yet his triumph did more than bring peace to Japan, it placed his family in a position of dominance that they were to enjoy for two and a half centuries under the emergence of modern Japan. In this title, Stephen Turnbull examines Ieyasu's military career and achievements in detail, including the conflict with Hideyoshi, as well as the battle of Sekigahara and his claims for greatness. (Cover)