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ovidusnaso's review against another edition
5.0
Bjuutifull! Da jeg så at vi hadde hele boka som pensum til én forelesning ble jeg ganske skeptisk, men dét var det ingen grunn til! Det var kanskje litt i overkant, men selve boka er suveren! Den gir et solid oversiktsbilde over ikke bare "stormannshistorie", men også hva som skjedde på sosialt og kulturelt plan i alle periodene den tar for seg (1000 f.kr.-1868 e.kr.), hvilket ikke er dårlig gjort! Boka bygger tydelig på årtier med forskning, og jeg gleder meg til å ta fatt på den 40 sider lange lista over "suggested readings"! Hadde den hatt flere illustrasjoner hadde jeg blitt glad, men jeg tenkte ikke engang på det da jeg leste boka.
fraeyalise's review against another edition
3.0
Read for school; chapters 1-9, and part of chpt 10. Interesting and easy to read, with helpful indexes and appendices. Would recommend to anyone who wants to know about early Japan.
yonnyan's review
4.0
After many months of searching, I finally found a history book about Japan that is co-authored by a Japanese individual, and I have to say that I absolutely loved this book.
This is a very comprehensive telling of Japanese history from ancient times right up to the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, and thus the end of the shogunate as we know it. While being so beautifully extensive, it still manages to be concise. Hane and Pérez do a fabulous job of providing the readers with thorough information on particular aspects of history without sounding repetitive, or long-winded. We get a look at all of the important facets with a brief explanation on the causes and effects and full bodied understanding of how these historical events/figures/beliefs helped to shape the Japan of today.
This book is also wonderfully objective. There are no crude jokes made by the authors poking fun, or offering any sort of biased and offensive opinions on the ongoings of Japan's history. From my experience, (referencing [b:Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History|39433|Korea's Place in the Sun A Modern History|Bruce Cumings|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388288092s/39433.jpg|39141]) I was afraid of prejudiced input and judgemental commentary on the choices made during Japan's rise as an individual nation. For someone who seeks these sorts of books for educational and informative purposes, that type of inclusion can be off-putting and dreadfully awkward or uncomfortable. However, the authors here provided great insight as to why specific choices/acts/customs worked for the time period, thus enlightening me in the ways that Japanese people thought historically. It also helps to illustrate an evolution of culture and politics that is profoundly rich. Hane and Pérez shine respect in all of the successes and short-comings in way that really helps you learn, not only history as it's told, but the intangible aspects such as logic and strategical comprehension for the time periods.
While being quite intelligent in its production, Premodern Japan is also exceptionally accessible. You don't have to be a scholarly type, or a college student, to pick this book up. It reads in a very fluid and engaging manner, almost like you're reading a storybook. With the way that I learn, I sometimes have trouble reading books such as these for extended periods of time due to all of the boring intellectual dribble, yet I was never bored reading this title. It helps that it approaches the concepts and exploration in a straightforward means. There's less time spent on deciphering the underlying meaning of whatever is being said. I don't care for that sort of thing when I'm trying to learn about histories.
I highly recommend this to any and all persons searching to expand their understanding and knowledge of Japanese history. This is a great place to begin that journey. It's fulfilling, educative, and stimulating.
4.75 out of 5.
This is a very comprehensive telling of Japanese history from ancient times right up to the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, and thus the end of the shogunate as we know it. While being so beautifully extensive, it still manages to be concise. Hane and Pérez do a fabulous job of providing the readers with thorough information on particular aspects of history without sounding repetitive, or long-winded. We get a look at all of the important facets with a brief explanation on the causes and effects and full bodied understanding of how these historical events/figures/beliefs helped to shape the Japan of today.
This book is also wonderfully objective. There are no crude jokes made by the authors poking fun, or offering any sort of biased and offensive opinions on the ongoings of Japan's history. From my experience, (referencing [b:Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History|39433|Korea's Place in the Sun A Modern History|Bruce Cumings|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388288092s/39433.jpg|39141]) I was afraid of prejudiced input and judgemental commentary on the choices made during Japan's rise as an individual nation. For someone who seeks these sorts of books for educational and informative purposes, that type of inclusion can be off-putting and dreadfully awkward or uncomfortable. However, the authors here provided great insight as to why specific choices/acts/customs worked for the time period, thus enlightening me in the ways that Japanese people thought historically. It also helps to illustrate an evolution of culture and politics that is profoundly rich. Hane and Pérez shine respect in all of the successes and short-comings in way that really helps you learn, not only history as it's told, but the intangible aspects such as logic and strategical comprehension for the time periods.
While being quite intelligent in its production, Premodern Japan is also exceptionally accessible. You don't have to be a scholarly type, or a college student, to pick this book up. It reads in a very fluid and engaging manner, almost like you're reading a storybook. With the way that I learn, I sometimes have trouble reading books such as these for extended periods of time due to all of the boring intellectual dribble, yet I was never bored reading this title. It helps that it approaches the concepts and exploration in a straightforward means. There's less time spent on deciphering the underlying meaning of whatever is being said. I don't care for that sort of thing when I'm trying to learn about histories.
I highly recommend this to any and all persons searching to expand their understanding and knowledge of Japanese history. This is a great place to begin that journey. It's fulfilling, educative, and stimulating.
4.75 out of 5.
davramlocke's review
5.0
In considering the full spectrum of Japanese literature and film that I've absorbed in my life, it became clear to me as soon I as finished Premodern Japan that I should have read it before doing anything else. It is such a comprehensive look at Japan from its earliest written records up to the Meiji restoration that it puts anything I could be reading or watching into a solid, real state.
Premodern Japan is a history book, and a fairly broad one at that. It covers almost two thousand years worth of Japanese history. Basic Western history books usually cover the period of Ancient Egyptian civilization into the various eras after, which this book does not. Written records in Japan did not stretch back that far, and Premodern Japan begins before the CE break, the year one as history records it, and not much before. History is hazy for the country pre Common-era times, and mythology is as much a source as anything. According to some of the earliest myths, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu created Japan as the first among all nations, and every Emperor has been divined by Her since the dawn of time (I didn’t even know Japan still had Emperors, but apparently a fellow named Akihito is the current one). Premodern Japan covers those initial mythologies, then becomes more factual up to the middle of the 19th century. It does so in a comprehensive and incredibly readable way.
Could I tell you the history of Japan now? Not really. I could likely recite a few facts, tell you what a few terms meant, and might even be able to place a name should you toss it my way. The point of Premodern Japan isn’t to make one an expert in Japanese history, at least as far as I can tell. Rather, the point of the book, much like whatever World History book you may have read in college or high school, is to give an outline of Japanese history in such a way that you feel a grasp of the country from one point in its existence to another. Before I read his book, I had only the vaguest idea of how the country was formed, what the Emperors functions were, what the term Shogun even meant, or why and how Japan closed its borders for hundreds of years to all outside influence. My knowledge to this point had been picked up here and there from movies and literature, neither of which have any responsibility at accuracy.
Thanks to this book, I now feel equipped and intrigued to dive into more succinct history books about Japan. Not only does Premodern Japan boast a dizzying bibliography of sources to follow up with, but it’s given me specific points of interest to learn about. I now know that the early rulers of Japan were often female. I’d like to know more about that, and will be looking for a book that dives deeper into those early female leaders (particularly the famed Himiko). I learned that ninja were not nearly as ubiquitous as they are in popular culture, and that the notion of a samurai’s honor, so prolific in our thinking, is not really as romantic as we might wish to believe (most of the samurai in Japan’s history were more interested in greed and self-survival than they were in duty, loyalty, and honor).
It’s odd how growing up with history classes in school, even if I wasn’t always paying that close attention, has molded my general framework for how the world was formed. Yes, those books had a Western bias and left out key areas of the world, but I can see a timeline in my head of where and how the main body of Western humanity coursed across the land and where the hearts of civilization were. Premodern Japan has done a similar thing for me, as I can now close my eyes and watch the rise and fall of Shoguns and daimyo and various other political powers as easily as I can envision Alexander the Great sweeping across Europe or the Civil War tearing America apart. It’s refreshing, and I can hardly believe I attempted to study Japanese culture without giving myself this most basic of lessons first.
And here are a few nerd moments. As I neared the end of Premodern Japan and the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the book started to feel like a novel to me, and I was visibly excited as I read about the final players in this very real drama. After finishing, I found myself eager to learn more.
Original review at - https://goldnotglittering.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/book-review-premodern-japan-by-mikiso-hane-and-louis-g-perez/
Premodern Japan is a history book, and a fairly broad one at that. It covers almost two thousand years worth of Japanese history. Basic Western history books usually cover the period of Ancient Egyptian civilization into the various eras after, which this book does not. Written records in Japan did not stretch back that far, and Premodern Japan begins before the CE break, the year one as history records it, and not much before. History is hazy for the country pre Common-era times, and mythology is as much a source as anything. According to some of the earliest myths, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu created Japan as the first among all nations, and every Emperor has been divined by Her since the dawn of time (I didn’t even know Japan still had Emperors, but apparently a fellow named Akihito is the current one). Premodern Japan covers those initial mythologies, then becomes more factual up to the middle of the 19th century. It does so in a comprehensive and incredibly readable way.
Could I tell you the history of Japan now? Not really. I could likely recite a few facts, tell you what a few terms meant, and might even be able to place a name should you toss it my way. The point of Premodern Japan isn’t to make one an expert in Japanese history, at least as far as I can tell. Rather, the point of the book, much like whatever World History book you may have read in college or high school, is to give an outline of Japanese history in such a way that you feel a grasp of the country from one point in its existence to another. Before I read his book, I had only the vaguest idea of how the country was formed, what the Emperors functions were, what the term Shogun even meant, or why and how Japan closed its borders for hundreds of years to all outside influence. My knowledge to this point had been picked up here and there from movies and literature, neither of which have any responsibility at accuracy.
Thanks to this book, I now feel equipped and intrigued to dive into more succinct history books about Japan. Not only does Premodern Japan boast a dizzying bibliography of sources to follow up with, but it’s given me specific points of interest to learn about. I now know that the early rulers of Japan were often female. I’d like to know more about that, and will be looking for a book that dives deeper into those early female leaders (particularly the famed Himiko). I learned that ninja were not nearly as ubiquitous as they are in popular culture, and that the notion of a samurai’s honor, so prolific in our thinking, is not really as romantic as we might wish to believe (most of the samurai in Japan’s history were more interested in greed and self-survival than they were in duty, loyalty, and honor).
It’s odd how growing up with history classes in school, even if I wasn’t always paying that close attention, has molded my general framework for how the world was formed. Yes, those books had a Western bias and left out key areas of the world, but I can see a timeline in my head of where and how the main body of Western humanity coursed across the land and where the hearts of civilization were. Premodern Japan has done a similar thing for me, as I can now close my eyes and watch the rise and fall of Shoguns and daimyo and various other political powers as easily as I can envision Alexander the Great sweeping across Europe or the Civil War tearing America apart. It’s refreshing, and I can hardly believe I attempted to study Japanese culture without giving myself this most basic of lessons first.
And here are a few nerd moments. As I neared the end of Premodern Japan and the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the book started to feel like a novel to me, and I was visibly excited as I read about the final players in this very real drama. After finishing, I found myself eager to learn more.
Original review at - https://goldnotglittering.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/book-review-premodern-japan-by-mikiso-hane-and-louis-g-perez/
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