This authoritative and accessible book charts the history of Japan from c.8000 bc to the 1990s.

"A History of Japan is a highly recommended, informative, scholarly, comprehensive, and a reader friendlya introduction and historical survey that will be much appreciated by students of Japanese history and culture, and has a wealth of material for the non--specialist general reader seeking to understand the Japan of antiquity as well as a contemporary and influential society." The Midwest Book Review "Not until Conrad Totmana s A History of Japan has there been such a sophisticated and detailed record of Japana s past, one that combines and critiques the standard perspectives while adding a new vision all its own. In a word, this is the best single--volume examination of Japana s history available .. A History of Japan is a masterpiece." Monumenta Nipponica "A clear and concise overview of the whole of Japanese history." History "Students and the ... general reader ... will profit from engagement with this book." English Historical Review "A History of Japan is one of the most perceptive and illuminating studies of Japana s history to have appeared in English in recent decades, and is likely to be widely used by teachers, students and researchers." Times Higher Education Supplement "Totmana s work reflects its authora s erudition, expansive vision, and humanism. It will suit the needs of instructors and many general readers perfectly." David Howell, Princeton University, for the Journal of Japanese Studies

Conrad Totman is Professor Emeritus at Yale University. He has also taught Japanese history at the University of California, Santa Barbara and at Northwestern University. He is the author of ten previous books, including Japan before Perry: A Short History (1981), Early Modern Japan (1993), and Pre--industrial Korea and Japan in Environmental Perspective (2004).

List of Illustrations. Conventions Used. Acknowledgements. Preface. Maps. Introduction. Part I: Beginnings:. 1. Geology, Climate, and Biota. 2. From Origins to Agriculture. Part II: The Age of Dispersed Agriculturalists (400 BCE -- 1250 CE):. 3. Political Consolidation to 671 CE. 4. Establishing the Ritsuryo Order (672--750). 5. Ritsuryo Adaptation and Decay (750--1250). 6. Classical Higher Culture (750--1250). Part III: The Age of Intensive Agriculture (1250--1890):. 7. The Centuries of Disorder (1250--1890). 8. Medieval Higher Culture (1250--1550). 9. Establishing the Bakuhan Order (1550--1700). 10. The Age of Growth (1590--1700). 11. Stasis and Decay (1700--1850). 12. Crisis and Redirection (1800--1890). Part IV: The Age of Industrialism: Early Decades (1890--Present):. 13. Early Imperial Triumph (1890--1914). 14. Early Imperial Society and Culture. 15. Later Imperial Politics and Economy (1914--1945). 16. Later Imperial Society and Culture (1914--1945). 17. Drift to Disaster (1914--1945). 18. Entrepreneurial Japan: Politics and Economy (1945--1990). 19. Society and Environment (1945--1990). 20. The Culture of Entrepreneurial Japan (1945--1990). Epilogue: Japan Today and Tomorrow. Endnotes. Appendices. A. Tables I--X. B. Chinese Words: Wade--Giles & Pinyin Orthographies. C. Glossary of Japanese Terms. D. Supplemental. Readings. Index.