An introduction to Japanese history

This book gives a short history from 500 A.D. (C.E.) to 1976 in a way intended to be meaningful and evocative for American readers. Readers can anticipate that a brilliant culture flourished in populous Kyoto in 1000 A.D. at a time when Paris and London were muddy villages and when most of North America was a trackless wilderness. When Commodore Perry's flotilla opened up Japan to foreign commerce, paving the way for the country's rapid assimilation of Western technology, Japan already had a literacy level which probably surpassed that of the U.S. and most of Europe.Japan was the first industrial society in Asia. Japan is key to hopes of development and peace in the vast Pacific-Asian region where nearly 2/3 of the world's population live. Book includes photos and works of art.