Showa, 1926-1939: A History of Japan

Showa, 1939-1944: A History of Japan

Shigeru Mizuki · 548 pages

Continues Mizuki's autobiographical and historical account of Showa-era Japan. This volume covers the final moments of the lead-up to World War II and the first few years of the Pacific War, and is a chilling reminder of the harshness of life in Japan during this highly militarized epoch.

Japan AI: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan

Aimee Major-Steinberger · 180 pages

Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha

Lesley Downer · 304 pages

"As denizens of a world defined by silence and mystery, geisha are notoriously difficult to meet and even to find. Lesley Downer, an award-winning writer, Japanese scholar, and consummate storyteller, gained more access into this world than almost any other Westerner ever has and spent several months living in it. In Women of the Pleasure Quarters, she weaves together intimate portraits of modern

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand · 514 pages

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Se

Confessions of a Texan in Tokyo

Grace Buchele Mineta · 188 pages

The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan

Ivan Morris · 350 pages

A Drifting Life

Yoshihiro Tatsumi · 855 pages

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present

Andrew Gordon · 400 pages

Introduction: Enduring Imprints of the Longer PastPART 1. CRISIS OF HE TOKUGAWA REGIME 1. The Tokugawa Polity UnificationThe Tokugawa Political SettlementsThe DaimyoThe Imperial InstitutionThe SamuraiVillagers and City-DwellersThe Margins of the Japanese and Japan2. Social and Economic Transformations The Seventeenth-Century BoomRiddles of Stagnation and Vitality3. The Intellectual World of Late T

The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori

Mark J. Ravina · 265 pages

The dramatic arc of Saigo Takamori's life, from his humble origins as a lowly samurai, to national leadership, to his death as a rebel leader, has captivated generations of Japanese readers and now Americans as well - his life is the inspiration for a major Hollywood film, The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. In this vibrant new biography, Mark Ravina, professor of history and D

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

Herbert P. Bix · 800 pages

Winner of the Pulitzer PrizeIn this groundbreaking biography of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, Herbert P. Bix offers the first complete, unvarnished look at the enigmatic leader whose sixty-three-year reign ushered Japan into the modern world. Never before has the full life of this controversial figure been revealed with such clarity and vividness. Bix shows what it was like to be trained from bir

Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan

Giles Milton · 368 pages

The true story behind James Clavell's best-selling Shogun, Samurai William is the incredible tale of a man who tried to bridge two very different cultures during one of the earliest and most fascinating encounters between East and West. In 1611, the merchants of London's East India Company received a startling letter from Japan, written by a marooned English mariner named William Adams. Even thoug

Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun

Rhoda Blumberg · 144 pages

In 1853, few Japanese people knew that a country called America even existed.For centuries, Japan had isolated itself from the outside world by refusing to trade with other countries and even refusing to help shipwrecked sailors, foreign or Japanese. The country's people still lived under a feudal system like that of Europe in the Middle Ages. But everything began to change when American Commodore

Drawing from Memory

Allen Say · 63 pages

"Caldecott Medalist Allen Say presents a stunning graphic novel chronicling his journey as an artist during WWII, when he apprenticed under Noro Shinpei, Japan's premier cartoonistDRAWING FROM MEMORY is Allen Say's own story of his path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. Shunned by his father, who didn't understand his son's artistic leanings, Allen was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan's

A Brief History of the Samurai (Brief History

Jonathan Clements · 356 pages

Inventing Japan: 1853-1964

Ian Buruma · 192 pages

LA Times Book Award winner and expert on the past and present Japan, Ian Buruma examines the transformation of a country. Following Japan's history from its opening to the West in 1853 to its hosting of the 1964 Olympics, Buruma focuses on how figures such as Commodore Matthew Perry, Douglas MacArthur, and Emperor Mitsushito helped shape this complex country.

Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai

Kokichi Katsu · 178 pages

Turning Japanese

MariNaomi · 217 pages

Turning Japanese is an illustrated memoir that chronicles MariNaomi's experiences working in illegal hostess bars in San Jose and Tokyo while attempting to connect with a culture that had eluded her since childhood.

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

John W. Dower · 680 pages

John Dower, distinguished historian of modern Japan, casts his eye on the immediate aftermath of World War II. Drawing on a vast range of Japanese sources, this new study illuminates how shattering defeat followed by over six years of American military occupation affected every level of Japanese society in ways that neither the victor nor the vanquished could anticipate. The great achievement of

The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back

Charles Pellegrino · 413 pages

Drawing on the voices of atomic-bomb survivors and the new science of forensic archaeology, Charles Pellegrino describes the events and aftermath of two days in August when nuclear devices detonated over Japan changed life on Earth forever.

Japan at War: An Oral History

Haruko Taya Cook, Theodore F. Cook · 479 pages

This pathbreaking work of oral history captures for the first time ever - in either Japanese or English - the remarkable story of ordinary Japanese people during World War II. In a sweeping panorama, Haruko Taya and Theodore Cook take us from the Japanese attacks on China in the 1930s to the Japanese homefront during the inhuman raids on Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, offering the first glimpses

A People's History of American Empire

Howard Zinn, Paul M. Buhle, Mike Konopacki · 288 pages

The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45

John Willard Toland · 954 pages

Comprehensive account of the military and political events that led to Pearl Harbor, the war in the Pacific, and Japan's defeat; based on interviews with participants, and told from a Japanese point of view.

Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War

Susan Southard · 402 pages

This book is a powerful and unflinching account of the enduring impact of nuclear war, told through the stories of those who survived. On August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, a small port city on Japan's southernmost island. An estimated 74,000 people died within the first five months, and another 75,000 were

Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45

Max Hastings · 656 pages

By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan's defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained unclear. The ensuing drama--that ended in Japan's utter devastation--was acted out across the vast theater of Asia in massive clashes between army, air, and naval forces.In recounting these extraordinary events, Max Hastings draws incisive portraits of MacArthur, Mao, Roos