The Shortest History of Japan

Haiku, Manga, Martial Arts, and Shoguns: A Guide to Japan's Colorful and Unique History
What do we know about Japan? Zen, martial arts, sushi, anime, manga... Its culture has long and deeply penetrated our everyday lives, and yet the country itself still remains a mystery - an island nation with difficult relations with the outside world.

Why is Japan's culture so fascinating? What is hidden behind its restraint, aesthetics, and external harmony? And how did Japan, avoiding colonization, manage to preserve its identity and later conquer the world? British historian Leslie Downer immerses readers in the whirlpool of Japanese history, full of drama, beauty, and paradoxes: from the closed Edo period to the era of hypermodernity. Emperors, descendants of the Sun Goddess, samurai and shoguns, court ladies and warrior women, merchants and geishas—those who shaped Japan's cultural landscape for centuries—come to life in the pages of A Short History of Japan. This is a new step into a world where manga and sword, Zen and business, tradition and technology coexist in perfect balance.