Japan: 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
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Every nation, state or territory has a history to it. An empire is not built in a day, nor is a nation. Their development transcludes from stories of regional and cultural conquests. However, what transpired in modern fables are the stories of the survivor or the transcripts that survived inter alia survival and rise from the ashes. This is what comprises the theme of the book. A story of the rise, fall and regrowth of the nation of Japan.
The book interestingly covers six stages of the history of Japan- ancient, classical, medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary. Starting from the Jomon people, the medieval age (popularly recognised as the age of sho-guns), the culture surrounding the samurai and the popular ronin figures that made an impact throughout the Japanese history, the building of an empire and its fall at the end of the world war- II. However, what the author fails to cover is the allegations of wrongdoing and the admission of Japan as a nation against the contemporary countries.
The book dearly tries to glorify its content with ambiguous words, and neatly subverts from discussing world war- I and II, while implicating the western forces. If not for the omissions and errors on part of the author, I would give it 2 stars out of 5 for the cultural influences Japan has left over its contemporaries. This is for the Samurais, the anime and the Japanese technology.
-by boringbug
boringbug.com 
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