A Short History of Tokyo

2020-07-06 History

Author : Jonathan Clements
Release : 2020-07-06
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 009/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis A Short History of Tokyo by : Jonathan Clements

Download or read book A Short History of Tokyo written by Jonathan Clements. This book was released on 2020-07-06. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tokyo, which in Japanese means the “Eastern Capital,” has only enjoyed that name and status for 150 years. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the city that is now Tokyo was a sprawling fishing town by the bay named Edo. Earlier still, in the Middle Ages, it was Edojuku, an outpost overlooking farmlands. And thousands of years ago, its mudflats and marshes were home to elephants, deer, and marine life. In this compact history, Jonathan Clements traces Tokyo’s fascinating story from the first forest clearances and the samurai wars to the hedonistic “floating world” of the last years of the Shogunate. He illuminates the Tokyo of the twentieth century with its destruction and redevelopment, boom and bust without forgoing the thousand years of history that have led to the Eastern Capital as we know it. Tokyo is so entwined with the history of Japan that it can be hard to separate them, and A Short History of Tokyo tells both the story of the city itself and offers insight into Tokyo’s position at the nexus of power and people that has made the city crucial to the events of the whole country.

The Book of Tokyo

2015-06-12 Fiction

Author : Hideo Furukawa
Release : 2015-06-12
Genre : Fiction
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Book of Tokyo by : Hideo Furukawa

Download or read book The Book of Tokyo written by Hideo Furukawa. This book was released on 2015-06-12. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A shape-shifter arrives at Tokyo harbour in human form, set to embark on an unstoppable rampage through the city’s train network… A young woman is accompanied home one night by a reclusive student, and finds herself lured into a flat full of eerie Egyptian artefacts… A man suspects his young wife’s obsession with picnicking every weekend in the city’s parks hides a darker motive… At first, Tokyo appears in these stories as it does to many outsiders: a city of bewildering scale, awe-inspiring modernity, peculiar rules, unknowable secrets and, to some extent, danger. Characters observe their fellow citizens from afar, hesitant to stray from their daily routines to engage with them. But Tokyo being the city it is, random encounters inevitably take place – a naïve book collector, mistaken for a French speaker, is drawn into a world he never knew existed; a woman seeking psychiatric help finds herself in a taxi with an older man wanting to share his own peculiar revelations; a depressed divorcee accepts an unexpected lunch invitation to try Thai food for the very first time… The result in each story is a small but crucial change in perspective, a sampling of the unexpected yet simple pleasure of other people’s company. As one character puts it, ‘The world is full of delicious things, you know.’

History of Tokyo 1867-1989

2019-04-09 History

Author : Edward Seidensticker
Release : 2019-04-09
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 050/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis History of Tokyo 1867-1989 by : Edward Seidensticker

Download or read book History of Tokyo 1867-1989 written by Edward Seidensticker. This book was released on 2019-04-09. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a freaking great book and I highly recommend it…if you are passionate about the history of 'the world's greatest city,' this book is something you must have in your collection." --JapanThis.com Edward Seidensticker's A History of Tokyo 1867-1989 tells the fascinating story of Tokyo's transformation from the Shogun's capital in an isolated Japan to the largest and the most modern city in the world. With the same scholarship and sparkling style that won him admiration as the foremost translator of great works of Japanese literature, Seidensticker offers the reader his brilliant vision of an entire society suddenly wrenched from an ancient feudal past into the modern world in a few short decades, and the enormous stresses and strains that this brought with it. Originally published as two volumes, Seidensticker's masterful work is now available in a handy, single paperback volume. Whether you're a history buff or Tokyo-bound traveler looking to learn more, this insightful book offers a fascinating look at how the Tokyo that we know came to be. This edition contains an introduction by Donald Richie, the acknowledged expert on Japanese culture who was a close personal friend of the author, and a preface by geographer Paul Waley that puts the book into perspective for modern readers.

Brief History of Japan

2017-08-01 History

Author : Jonathan Clements
Release : 2017-08-01
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 340/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Brief History of Japan by : Jonathan Clements

Download or read book Brief History of Japan written by Jonathan Clements. This book was released on 2017-08-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating history tells the story of the people of Japan, from ancient teenage priest-queens to teeming hordes of salarymen, a nation that once sought to conquer China, yet also shut itself away for two centuries in self-imposed seclusion. First revealed to Westerners in the chronicles of Marco Polo, Japan was a legendary faraway land defended by a fearsome Kamikaze storm and ruled by a divine sovereign. It was the terminus of the Silk Road, the furthest end of the known world, a fertile source of inspiration for European artists, and an enduring symbol of the mysterious East. In recent times, it has become a powerhouse of global industry, a nexus of popular culture, and a harbinger of post-industrial decline. With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests. Among the chapters in this Japanese history book are: The Way of the Gods: Prehistoric and Mythical Japan A Game of Thrones: Minamoto vs. Taira Time Warp: 200 Years of Isolation The Stench of Butter: Restoration and Modernization The New Breed: The Japanese Miracle

Edo, the City that Became Tokyo

2003 Travel

Author : Akira Naito
Release : 2003
Genre : Travel
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 573/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Edo, the City that Became Tokyo by : Akira Naito

Download or read book Edo, the City that Became Tokyo written by Akira Naito. This book was released on 2003. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated account of the growth and development of Japan's capital cityrom the 16th to the end of the 19th centuries, this text gives a full anducid account of the development of Japan's premier urban landscape. Itsighly visual approach encompasses historical maps which detail theevelopment of the city.;In addition to information on architecturalevelopment, the book also provides details concerning technologies,ifestyles and social structures.

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