Mikiso Hane (1922–2003)

This newly revised volume drawn from Professor Hane's classic text, Japan: A Historical Survey, presents a rich account of early Japanese history for students. Important elements of early Japanese history persist in present-day Japan more tenaciously than is sometimes realized. Hane traces the key developments of Japanese history in the premodern period, including the establishment of the imperial dynasty, early influences from China and Korea, the rise of the samurai class and the establishment of feudalism, the culture and society of the long Tokugawa period, the rise of Confucianism and Shinto nationalism, and, finally, the end of Tokugawa rule.

Although the book is structured around major political developments, Hane also carefully integrates the social, economic, cultural, and intellectual aspects of Japanese history. His revisions incorporate important recent scholarship on this formative period of Japan's history.

Mikiso Hane is professor of history at Knox Colege and has written extensively on Japan for over twenty years.

Contents

Preface
Introduction
1 The early years
Geographic setting
The mythological originsof Japan
Japanese prehistory
Japan's neighbor: Korea
Early Yamato Society: Fourth and Fifth Centuries
Shinto
Social practices and conditions
Architecture
2 The advent and assimilation of Chinese civilization
The introduction of Chiense civiliiization
Buddhism
Prince Shotoku
The taika Reforms
Culture of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries
Social and economic conditions
Internal and external foes
3 Heian Period: The age of court aristocracy
The central government
Culture
Buddhism
Rise of the Shoen
The emergence of the warrior class (Samurai)
4 The Kamakura period: The triumph of the samurai
The rivalry of theTaira and Minamoto Clans
The Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333)
The Hojo Regency
The Mongol invasions and the decine of the Kamakura Bakufu
The ethos of the samurai
Buddhism
Culture
5 The Ashikaga Period: The emergence of the Daimyo
Political develpments
Ashikaga Rule
The declineof the shoen
The onset of the time of troubles
The rise of th eDaimyo and the warring states
The peasantry
Economic growth
The influence of Zen Buddhism upon culture
Other cultural developments
6 The restoration of order
Oda Nobunaga
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Hideyoshi's domestic policies
Momoyama culture
Contact with the West
Christianity in Japan
The introduction of Western things
7 The early Tokugawa Period
The triumph of Tokugawa Ieyasu
The power structure
Administrative structure
The administration of justice
Social structure
The samurai
The peasants
The townspeople
Other classes
Family hierarchy and women
8 Intelledctual and cultureal developoments in Tookugawa Japan
Confucianism
The Chu Hsi School in Japan
Te Wang Yang-ming School
Ancient learning
National learing Agrarian egalitarianism
The culture of the townspeople
Prose fiction
Thearter
Woodblock printing and painting
Haiku
Education
The state of Buddhism
9 The late Tokgawa Period
Political developments
Economic problems
The lot of the peasants
Peasant uprisings
Agricultural improvements
Intellectual currents: Reformers and critics
10 The fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu
Arrival of Commodore Perry
The immediate consequences
The mentality of Sonno Joi
The rise of the anti-Bakufu forces
The Meiji Restoration
Chronological chart
Selected bibliography
About the book and author
Index
Maps:
Modern Japan
The pre-Meiji Provinces
Major Daimyo, around 1570
Tokugawa domains, 1664
Prominent Daimyo domains, 1867… (plus d'informations)

Detailed account of the hard life of rural people, especially rural women, miners, factory workers and the outcastes in Meijji era and later Japan. The push for industrialization and militarization improved life for many in the cities, but calls for cash taxes and recruitment of factory workers did not lead to better lives for peasants. Women workers in textile factories and coal miners were treated almost as slaves, unable to leave jobs or protest working condition.s Rural women worked harder when their men left for factory work and in times of famine many young women were sold into prostitution. Although the law had theoretically eliminated the category of outcaste prejudice continues to modern times.… (plus d'informations)