History of Japan

The Most Important People, Places and Events in Japanese History. From Japanese Art to Modern Manga. From Asian Wars to Modern Superpower.

By: Rui Kanda

Narrated by: William Bahl

Length: 2 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Now tell us - did you ever like Japan? Do you know anything about its history, or just what you learned from television and anime, in general? That's a good starting point, anyway. If you want to delve deeper into Japanese history, in chronological order, and see the main events that transformed Japan into what it is today, you've just hit the jackpot.

What will you learn from this book? Among others:

• The main stages in Japanese history, from the most ancient, the Jomon period to Imperial Japan. Each of them will be explained so that everybody can understand them, without technical terms that harden the absorption of information.
• Japan during the Middle Ages
• Everything about shoguns, shogunates and all other forms of governance
• The situation in Japan during World War II and after that
• The most important battles between Japan and the United States of America
• The fall of the Empire of Japan
• Japanese politics
• The catastrophic Japanese deflation that ruined the economy for decades on end
• Japanese culture and what makes it so unique in the world
• Valuable information on anime and manga as distinct avatars of Japanese culture
• Tourism in Japan and why it is so important for the economic growth of the state

This book is for you, no matter if you are a student or a professor, or you just want to learn more about Japanese culture and history.

©2017 Lean Stone Publishing (P)2017 Lean Stone Publishing

Everybody knew, and everybody was wrong.

Yes, I think It will be a good match. I sense that I will match with the instructor's acculturation of Japanese.

I am a southerner but have been exposed to Japanese language and Japanese culture for over 30 years.

The instructor uses english with a Japanese grammatical construct, and hand expressions that seem Japanese to me based on my experience with my Japanese instructor in my chef career.

I have similar physical expression that is Japanese when talking english with my Japanese business associates.

I hope to learn fluency in Japanese I so I can express verbally the culture the I am already introduced to.

The definitive work

The “Civil War of Wa,” as it came to be known in Japanese history, was indeed real, as proven by The Record of the Three Kingdoms. This bloody conflict was perhaps necessary in giving Japan the boost it needed in order to evolve. It is quite odd that no archaeological evidence of this war was found in Japan, but that does not mean it did not take place. The most important aspect about Japan during this time is that it became the future of what we see today. The people shifted from a mentality of hunters and gatherers and grew “domestically,” in the sense that they became increasingly more sedentary. If the two documents mentioned above are genuine, then this paradigm shift also initiated a long civil war between the multitudes of clans on the peninsula. There was a clear-cut distinction between social ranks now. Common people, for instance, were buried separately, not with the social elite (the various leaders of the different clans). The Japanese started to live in proper houses and subsequently formed several communities/villages. Moreover, these communities led to the formation of particular clans. These clans waged war against each other more than in one occasion, most of the times spurring conflicts that lasted for hundreds of years. In 250 AD, the Yaoyi period reached its end, ushering in the Kofun period, which belongs to a cluster of groups known as the Yamato.

Culture and history intertwined

A very entertaining course. I have always been fascinated with the westernization and modernization of Japan.

I love how Bahl has taken the whole theme of globalization and incorporated that into the narrative of Japanese civilization and culture.

Prof is clear about a constructive humanly-possible plan...

Good to understand how American see Japan

In the 21st century, we can talk retrospectively about superpowers, kingdoms, and empires. We can immediately recognize the greatest countries in the world. With all these, the vast majority of people do not have a clue why a particular state was once an empire. How did it came to be a gigantic landmark not only in the context of its own history but in the history of humankind as a whole? Today, the mere sound of the word “Japan” summons images of samurais, the anime that have taken the entire world by storm, the Japanese writing that seems alien language to an outsider, geishas and the rather modest Japanese traditional houses, with their frugal furnishings. But there is so much more to this country than anyone could ever imagine. For starters, traces of human inhabitance in Japan go as far as the Paleolithic period, so approximately 40,000 years ago. At some point during history, Japan was completely isolated from the rest of the world. The Japanese did not appear any less peculiar to Europeans than the Amerindian peoples found in South America by the Spanish. It was clear that they possessed a culture so different and rich in comparison with anything the Europeans had seen until then.

A thorough walk through Japan

The Yaoyi period can be best described by a surge in metallurgy and a continuous social development. It is during this time that the Japanese people starts living in communities (in the modern sense) and builds houses with wood and rocks. The cultivation of rice was in bloom and ensured a quite impressive livestock to the tens of thousands of people that co-existed on the peninsula. Of all the stages of ancient Japanese history, none has been as controversial as the Yaoyi. Researchers are still at a loss in respect with reaching a consensus on when exactly this period began and when it ended, as well as on who were the Yaoyi people, because their physiognomy was relatively different than that of the Jomon people. The Yaoyi culture was considerably more varied than that of the Jomon. They had tools made out of iron, ceramics, a more developed pottery and rice, which accounts for the demographic growth from thousands to millions. The fact that the population was introduced to iron tools (especially agrarian ones) led to a better management of food, as well as of the community. The population, as we’ve seen, continued to grow to incredible numbers towards the late period of the Jomon period. Agriculture played a crucial role in making this possible.

Poor Listen

If you are at all familiar with Japan, the language and culture, you will find this book very disappointing. Pronunciation of names and places was atrocious. The book is either poorly written, or poorly read.
If you are totally unfamiliar with Japan, you may find it interesting. Having lived there and studied Japanese, I just could not finish the listen.

Great context for a visit

Fantastic! Incredibly engaging overview of Japan which uses history and culture to explain where Japan came from and what it looks like today.

I downloaded this course as soon as my company moved me to Japan and have had a much better appreciation for this country since understanding the nuances explained in this course.

Thanks Professor Rui Kanda for making this foreign culture understandable and accessible!

Bare bones outline. Focus on warfare.

Simply an outline, no real details. Narrated as if the listeners are ignorant and hate "educated learning." Never goes into detail about cultural phenomena, spends too long on WW2. If you want a long list of battles and conquerors, listen to this.

beginner history stilted delivery

In an audible book, if you are going to have questionnaires, you should include the answers, since turning to the back isn't an option. The book has a very Japan-centric point of view, almost apologetic at times. There are no details about the eras described. The narrator rushed delivery and spoke with odd timing. If you knew nothing about Japan, this might be helpful, but otherwise, give it a miss.

Not at all useful. Terrible in fact.

Seems like book you would have to read in high school that will make you remember why you hated high school. Lots of term, never described. Waste of time. Zero useful content. I rarely write reviews but this was that bad. Would not recommend any books by this author ever.