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Product Description
From Library Journal
Tames ( Encounters with Japan , LJ 6/1/92, among others) has written an interesting and informative introduction to Japan. The first two-thirds of the book comprise a mad dash through Japanese history, from prehistoric times to the 1990s. This section of the book has as much detail and scope as the brief space allows. The final third consists of topical information: "Food and Drink," "Prime Ministers," and so forth. Blunders include a bizarrely rose-tinted view of the Yakuza crime syndicate and the lack of any real treatment of Shinto. Although hampered by brevity, Tames does manage to hold the history together, and the book is fairly engaging. Recommended for most travel collections.
- Chuck Malenfant, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Chuck Malenfant, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 4^-6. The strength of this user-friendly guide, part of the Country Topics for Craft Projects series, is that it provides the kind of cultural particulars that are hard to find in comparable books. Unfortunately, both textual and visual information is sometimes sketchy or unclear. For instance, the section "Around Japan" states that Tokyo's tall skyscrapers are near Shinjuku, "the city's busiest station." Is that a bus, train, or subway station? In addition, a map that claims to show Japan's most important cities doesn't. And while a "sharp knife" is required to make radish flowers, safety precautions are not mentioned. Despite these shortcomings, this overview has a bustling, accessible format that combines brightly colored cartoons with formal photographs. The wealth of information about sports, food, language, holidays, the arts, poetry, and history leads right in to craft projects that should satisfy both teachers and students. Julie Corsaro
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Book for Starters!,
By "hanada_tattsu" (Northridge, California United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Travellers History Of Japan (Paperback)
Contrary to the popular opinion here, I enjoyed this book. For some one who does not really know much about Japan, or Japanese history, for that matter, the book is great. It starts off with a short prehistory, followed by the first Yamato state in Japan, followed by the Heian era, and the different shogunal dynasties, such as the Tokugawa and the Kamakura Shogunates. Then, it gives information about the Meiji Period, Japan's time as a power, and its defeat in World War II. It ends with a description of Modern Japan politically, socially, and economically.One person said that Buddhism gets no treatment. Actually, it does. All of the important Buddhist sects (Tendai, Shingon, Nichiren, Pure Land, and Zen) are mentioned and information given about them. I do have to say, however, that Shintoism gets hardly any treatment. And I do wisht hat the book gave more pictures and more information about the imperial family. But apart from that, I would get it!
1.0 out of 5 stars
Missing the most important aspect of Japan,
By
This review is from: Travellers History Of Japan (Paperback)
Any visitor to a foreign country is well advised to get to know its religion, not only because it's practiced by most inhabitants of the country, but also it illuminates many cultural and social parculiarities of the locale. This book claims to be a travellers' book on Japan, yet Buddism, which informs most of Japan's architectures, art, literature, is relegated to an a few index pages in the back of the book. More distressingly, Christianity is treated with a whole chapter, "The Christian Century", which should be appropriately titled "Encounters with the West". The Christian Century implies somehow that Japan was almost Christianized, when in fact the reader will find that at most 50,000 Japanese converted during that time. Too much emphasis is put on how these converts were persecuted, without putting these incidents into historical context. In 16th century Japan, the Emperors saw Christianity as a threat and meddling to their affairs, due in part to the missionaries' arrogant dissimal of Buddism as idolatry. In the index, Buddism is said to be a religion that "conceives salvation as extinction, rather than redemption." This is a serious misunderstanding of Buddism.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great, quick, and well-balanced general history,
By Mike Clarken (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Travellers History Of Japan (Paperback)
By title, this book, indeed this series, may put fear into the reader of being a too-general and non-scholarly vast account of a subject matter too complex for any quality to come from the short format. Tames proves these fears wrong almost from the beginning in this indeed scholarly, engaging, and very well-balanced account of the history of one of the most misunderstood nations among today's world leaders. Tames does write a very general account, but "general" can be better understood as "broad" and "far-reaching" in this narritive. Regardless of the period discussed, his approach is rarely too single-tracked. This is a developmental history, and as such, properly includes development of Japanese government, culture, arts and literature, and the cumulative effects of this development onto the subsequent generations of Japanese. Tames does an excellent though suggestive job of relating the development of the Japanese nation to that of its people, and vice-versa. Throughout, except for the beginning, where it is often difficult to make any pre- and early histories come to life, the narritive flows freely with a purpose, and Tames' clear interest in his subject shines through the pages to take the reader with him on the easy, air-conditioned, and quick monorail tour through the safari of Japanese history, which is exactly what it is meant to be. In addition to the narritive is an excellent bibliography with commentary, as well as an entire reference section on everything Japanese from language to food and drink to holidays and their meanings. Especially for ex-pats living in Japan who don't want to be bogged down with anything dry or without connection to their experience, this is a quick, excellent read. It does a great job of subtly explaining the oft-seemingly unexplainables of Japan today.
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