Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600

AFTER READING THIS, OR BEFORE....IF YOU HAVEN'T - YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ JAMES CLAVELL'S "SHOGUN" EPIC. IT HELPS TO HAVE INSIGHT INTO WHERE THE JAPANESE HEADED IN WORLD WAR II, AND SINCE THEN. A GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED GROUP OF ISLANDS WITH LITTLE RESOURCES, ALWAYS LOOKING FOR MORE ...MORE LAND, MORE RESOURCES, MORE POWER.......VERY EDUCATIONAL TO KNOW ABOUT JAPAN AND HOW, AFTER LOSING WORLD WAR II, THEY VOWED TO MAKE THEIR WAY IN BUSINESS AS A "PERSONAL WAR CHALLENGE."THEY STARTED WITH TEXTILES (CHEAP LABOR AND GOODS) AND THEN WENT INTO TRANSISTORS, FROM THERE INTO TVS AND OTHER THINGS AND - OH, YES, CARS - FROM WHICH WE LEARNED THAT CARS COULD LAST AND LAST, NOT HAVE TO PREDICTABLY RUST OUT AS DETROIT KNEW ABOUT AND PLANNED.JAPAN THEN WENT ON TO BECOME THE COMPUTER EXPERTS OF THE WORLD. NINTENDO HAPPENED....AND A FEW GENERATIONS OF CHILDREN WERE THRILLED WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR A TINY LITTLE POCKET-SIZED GAMEBOY WHICH DEVELOPED IN A FEW SHORT YEARS, INTO OTHER AND OTHER AND OTHER INCREDIBLE THINGS.AT THIS POINT, IT MATTERS A WHOLE LOT TO READ A BOOK LIKE THIS1\NM

As a history nerd I have read plenty of dry books, but this is not one of them. The authors do a wonderful job of giving a small summary of what the chapter will contain, and another summary before each individual source material. Even many of their foot notes are interesting and greatly help you through the source material. Sure some of the sources are a little dry themselves, but that can't be helped, that's just how they wrote at the time. And in spite of that, I still enjoy reading it because of their historical significance. An overall interesting, informative and well put together book worthy of anyones time with an interest in Japanese History.

I find this book very readable (and I'm reading it for pleasure/interest). It would probably be helpful to read this after or while reading a general Japanese history, though.However, for a western reader, the unfamiliar place names do make it a bit of a memory exercise.Perhaps that exercise is a good thing. And in any case, I do enjoy searching on the internet for such things. But often I just want to read uninterruptedly, without piling up notes of things to check.So on balance I think it would be a major help, at minor cost, to add perhaps a half-dozen pages of maps from various eras. Japan, Korea, nearby China.

I love Japanese history, especially ancient history. This book contains a lot of background information, some I knew, a lot I didn't. If you like older Japanese history, this is a most have.

Fascinating compilation of readings from early Japan, right from the (translated) source.