Jonathan Clements – A Brief History of Japan
Summary: With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present and future of Japan, revealing in broad yet detailed strokes a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions and a democracy with an emperor as head of state. Starting in ancient Japan during its early pre-history period, the book covers every important aspect of history and culture through feudal Japan to the post-Cold War period and collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s. In less than three hundred pages, readers time travel through Japanese history, including informative and insightful treatments of Samurai, Shoguns, and Zen. What makes this such a stand-out book on Japan is its humor, presenting a compact, exciting, eye-opening vision of Japan’s entire history with the people and events that shaped Japan over millennia.
Why we like it: If you have a close connection with Japan as we do, this book can help you to gain a better understanding of Nihon’s culture, development, people, food and so much more. We love this book maybe also because it tries to simplify the complex and exciting history of Japan and makes it „digestible“ for the western society. A must read for all of you who do or plans to do business with Japan.