ABSTRACT

Japan Emerging provides a comprehensive survey of Japan from prehistory to the nineteenth century. Incorporating the latest scholarship and methodology, leading authorities writing specifically for this volume outline and explore the main developments in Japanese life through ancient, classical, medieval, and early modern periods. Instead of relying solely on lists of dates and prominent names, the authors focus on why and how Japanese political, social, economic, and intellectual life evolved. Each part begins with a timeline and a set of guiding questions and issues to help orient readers and enhance continuity. Engaging, thorough, and accessible, this is an essential text for all students and scholars of Japanese history.

part 1|52 pages

Landmarks, Eras, and Appellation in Japanese History

chapter 1|13 pages

Japan’s Natural Setting

chapter 2|5 pages

Sorting the Past

chapter 4|10 pages

Defining “Medieval”

chapter 5|11 pages

Defining “Early Modern”

part 2|56 pages

Immigrants, Chieftains, and Kings in Ancient Times

chapter 6|11 pages

Origins of the Japanese People

chapter 7|11 pages

What Used to be Called Shinto

The Question of Japan’s Indigenous Religion

chapter 9|9 pages

Early Japan and the Continent

part 3|91 pages

Court, Capital, and Countryside in the Classical Age

part 4|108 pages

Demesne, Dominion, and Diffusion in the Medieval Age

chapter 21|9 pages

Medieval Religion

chapter 22|11 pages

Warriors, Warlords, and Domains

chapter 23|10 pages

Medieval Warfare

chapter 24|13 pages

Medieval Arts and Aesthetics

chapter 26|11 pages

The Rise of the Peasantry

chapter 27|10 pages

The Medieval Economy

chapter 28|10 pages

Diplomacy, Piracy, and the Space Between

Japan and East Asia in the Medieval Period

part 5|115 pages

Bureaucrats, Burghers, and Bailiwicks in the Early Modern Age

chapter 29|10 pages

The Sixteenth-Century Reunification

chapter 30|12 pages

The Political Order

chapter 31|11 pages

A Whole New World (Order)

Early Modern Japanese Foreign Relations, 1550–1850

chapter 32|12 pages

The New Warriors

Samurai in Early Modern Japan

chapter 34|12 pages

Ukiyo asobi

Urban Arts and Entertainments in Early Modern Japan

chapter 35|13 pages

Religion In Early Modern Japan

chapter 36|11 pages

Peace Dividend

Agrarian Developments in Tokugawa Japan