In the sweltering summer of 1894 Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu knelt before the Japanese emperor Meiji to report that Japan's "long nightmare" was over at last. After forty years of humiliation, Japan was ridding itself of the hateful "Unequal Treaties." These treaties had been imposed upon a politically divided and militarily weakened nation by powerful mercantilist Western nations in mid-century. The treaties had hindered Japan's economic development because of discriminatory tariff restrictions, they had poisoned Japan's foreign relations, and they had truncated its legal sovereignty by virtue of extraterritoriality. The final six months of negotiations are carefully examined, employing Mutsu's extensive personal and official correspondence as well as telegrams and secret British and Japanese documents.

As she describes the youth culture of Japan, Merry White draws comparisons with the interests and activities pursued by teenagers in the United States and the contrasting attitudes of adults in Japan and the U.S. towards adolescence. The result is both engrossing and enlightening.

Louis G. Perez revisits Japan's turbulent past and recent events in the past decade and 21st Century in this revised and fully expanded second edition of The History of Japan, a must-have for all high school and public libraries. This essential resource provides readers with a comprehensive look at Japan's long and rich history, examining its politics, culture, philosophy, and religious beliefs throughout the ages. Also included are up-to-date discussions of political situations, environmental issues, and even a glimpse into the cultural lives of the Japanese today. Students will learn who the Japanese are today, and how the past has shaped their contemporary society. An updated timeline, appendices, and glossary, along with an illustrative bibliographical essay that includes both print and electronic sources, round out this valuable reference tool. Roughly the same size as the state of California, the island nation of Japan is one of the world's most densely populated nations-not to mention an economic powerhouse and a mecca of advanced technology. But the Land of the Rising Sun did not always lead the world with its success in the automobile industry, innovative electronics, and powerful stock market. Louis G. Perez revisits Japan's turbulent past and recent events in the past decade and 21st Century in this revised and fully expanded second edition of The History of Japan, a must-have for all high school and public libraries. This essential resource provides readers with a comprehensive look at Japan's long and rich history, examining its politics, culture, philosophy, and religious beliefs throughout the ages. Also included are up-to-date discussions of political situations, environmental issues, and even a glimpse into the cultural lives of the Japanese today. Students will learn who the Japanese are today, and how the past has shaped their contemporary society. An updated timeline, appendices, and glossary, along with an illustrative bibliographical essay that includes both print and electronic sources, round out this valuable reference tool.

This is an updated edition of Conrad Totman's authoritative history of Japan from c.8000 BC to the present day. The first edition was widely praised for combining sophistication and accessibility. Covers a wide range of subjects, including geology, climate, agriculture, government and politics, culture, literature, media, foreign relations, imperialism, and industrialism. Updated to include an epilogue on Japan today and tomorrow. Now includes more on women in history and more on international relations. Bibliographical listings have been updated and enlarged. Part of The Blackwell History of the World Series The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.

Increasingly world religious traditions present not just an intellectual or apologetic challenge to Christians but a daily encounter, a source of religious practices, and even live religious options. How are Christians to relate to these traditions and the neighbors and friends who live by them? This lively and engaging book is a great resource for faithful wrestling with the new realities. Led by theologian John B. Cobb Jr. and historian Ward M. McAfee, the Progressive Christians Uniting has distilled the historical and existential import of both Abrahamic and other traditions and stressed the differences among traditions and the richness they can afford Christian self-understanding. Includes study materials.

This volume has richly enhanced General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold's reputation as the father of today's United States Air Force. Major General John W. Huston, himself an Army Air Forces combat veteran of the war, has edited each of Arnold's World War II diaries and placed them in their historical context while explaining the problems Hap faced and evaluating the results of his travels. General Huston, a professional historian, has taught at both the US Air Force Academy and the US Naval Academy. A former Chief of the Office of Air Force History and an experienced researcher both here and abroad in the personal and official papers of the war's leaders, he has been careful to let Hap speak for himself. The result is an account of the four-year odyssey that took Arnold to every continent but one as he took part in deliberations that involved Allied leaders in major diplomacy/strategy meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, Charles de Gaulle, and Chiang Kai-shek. At those meetings, Hap recorded the comments of the various participants. His 12 diaries contain his own thoughts, which range from being lost over the Himalayas to comforting the wounded as they were airlifted from the Normandy beaches. He experienced an air raid in London and viewed the carnage in recently liberated Manila. Arnold recorded his honest impressions, from private meetings with King George VI in Buckingham Palace to eating from mess kits with his combat crews in the North African desert - all while perceptively commenting on the many issues involved and assessing the people, the culture, and the surroundings. This volume offers the best assessment we have of Hap as he survived four wartime heart attacks and continued to work tirelessly for proper recognition of airpower. It will also continue my emphasis while Chief of Staff of the US Air Force on encouraging professional reading through making historical accounts available to personnel of the finest air force in the world, a success achieved in large part because of Hap Arnold. Ronald R. Fogleman General, United States Air Force, Retired