A Companion to Japanese History provides an authoritative overview of current debates and approaches within the study of Japan's history. Composed of 30 chapters written by an international group of scholars, it balances treatment of traditional themes with coverage of current trends and emerging perspectives.

List of Maps. Notes on Contributors. Introduction (William M. Tsutsui). PARTI JAPAN BEFORE 1600. 1 Japanese Beginnings (Mark J. Hudson). 2 The Heian Period (G. Cameron Hurst III). 3 Medieval Japan (Andrew Edmund Goble). PART II EARLY MODERN JAPAN. 4 Unification, Consolidation, and Tokugawa Rule (Philip C. Brown). 5 Social and Economic Change in Tokugawa Japan (Edward E. Pratt). 6 Intellectual Change in Tokugawa Japan (Peter Nosco). 7 Cultural Developments in Tokugawa Japan (Lawrence E. Marceau). PART III MODERN JAPAN: FROM THE MEIJI RESTORATION THROUGH WORLD WAR II. 8 Restoration and Revolution (James L. Huffman). 9 Oligarchy, Democracy, and Fascism (Stephen S. Large). 10 Social and Economic Change in Prewar Japan (Mark Jones and Steven Ericson). 11 Intellectual Life, Culture, and the Challenge of Modernity (Elise K. Tipton). 12 External Relations (Frederick R. Dickinson). 13 The Japanese Empire (Y. Tak Matsusaka). 14 The Fifteen-Year War (W. Miles Fletcher III). PART IV JAPAN SINCE 1945. 15 The Occupation (Mark Metzler). 16 Postwar Politics (Ray Christensen). 17 The Postwar Japanese Economy (Bai Gao). 18 Postwar Society and Culture (Wesley Sasaki-Uemura). 19 Japan in the World (Glenn D. Hook). PARTV THEMES IN JAPANESE HISTORY. 20 Women and Sexuality in Premodern Japan (Hitomi Tonomura). 21 Gender and Sexuality in Modern Japan (Sally A. Hastings). 22 Class and Social Stratification (Ian Neary). 23 Japan in Asia (Leo Ching). 24 Center and Periphery in Japanese Historical Studies (Michael Lewis). 25 Modernity, Water, and the Environment in Japan (Gavan McCormack). 26 Popular Culture (E. Taylor Atkins). 27 Rural Japan and Agriculture (Eric C. Rath). 28 Business and Labor (Charles Weathers). 29 Authority and the Individual (J. Victor Koschmann). 30 National Identity and Nationalism (Kevin M. Doak). Consolidated Bibliography. Index.