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(★)(In the pages of this important book, the reader will experience the lives of some of the truly remarkable figures in the long and exciting pageant of Japanese history. ´Great Historical Figures of Japan´ is a collection of unique portraits of more than forty men and women -from a great yet little-known sixth-century crown prince to the late novelist and Nobel Prize winner Kawabata Yasunari- who have played crucial roles in their nation´s past. We in the West have tended to regard Japan´s history as beginning with Commodore Perry´s mid-nineteenth-century mission of persuasion to open Japan´s doors to the rest of the world, but in fact it dates back two millennia. The earliest written records tell us that rule by the Imperial House had already spread over most of the country. The House´s ascendancy gave birth to an unsurpassedly refined court society centered in what is now Kyoto, and to brilliant cultural achievements. Power struggles among the aristocracy, however, finally led to civil war and eventually to military control and centuries of feudal government. Japan has had its ages of peace and effective rule as well as those of continuous warfare. Periods of upheaval have been particularly blessed with illustrious statesmen, warriors, and religious men, and every age has had its share of great thinkers, writers, and artists. This book is a guide to the great men and women of every period in Japan´s history. In preparing this book for a Western audience, the editors of ´Great Historical Figures of Japan´ have chosen to rely entirely on non-Japanese scholars to write these essays. They include John W. Hall, Professor of History at Yale University and the author of many well-received works on Japanese history, among them ´Japan : From Prehistory to Modern Times´ ; Marius Jansen, Professor of History at Princeton University and a distinguished scholar of the Meiji Restoration ; and Edward Seidensticker, Professor of Japanese Literature at Columbia University and a renowned translator, most recently of The Tale of Genji. This engaging collection of essays is valuable for two reasons. First, it offers readers a very pleasurable way to familiarize themselves with Japanese history. While each biography is written by an authority in his or her field, the essays are by no means ´scholarly´ or pedantic but very accessible to the general reader. The authors´ enthusiasm in contagious, and the essays delight as well as instruct. Second, it offers readers some answers to that oft-asked questions : Just who are the Japanese? For the statesmen, artists, warriors, and thinkers who are brought to life in this book reveal ´in toto´ virtually every facet of the Japanese character.／ ▼CONTENTS／ ●1.Shotoku Taishi [Legend and Political Intrigue in Ancient Japan](Charles S.Terry)／ ●2.Tenmu Tennoo [An Emperor who Ruled as Well as Reigned](G.Cameron Hurst)／ ●3.Hitomaro, Okura, and Yakamochi [Poets of the Man-yooshuu](Istvan Halla)／ ●4.Kuukai and Saicho [Patriarchs of Heian Buddhism](Allan G.Grapard)／ ●5.Fujiwara no Michinaga [Regent at the Peak of Aristocratic Prosperity](Mildred M.Tahara)／ ●6.Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shoonagon [Eminent Women Writers of the Court](Edward G.Seidensticker)／ ●7.Taira no Kiyomori [The Rise and Fall of a Great Military Clan](Jean-Rene Cholley)／ ●8.Minamoto no Yoritomo and Yoshitsune [Victory in Battle and Family Tragedy](Minoru Shinoda)／ ●9.Hoojoo Masako [Woman of Power Behind the Kamakura Bakufu](Kenneth D.Butler)／ ●10.Shinran and Nichiren [Innovators of Kamakura Buddhism](Pier Del Campana)／ ●11.Kusunoki Masashige [Brigand or Patriot?](Donn F.Draeger)／ ●12.Ashikaga Takauji and Yoshimitsu [Insurgent Warrior to Supreme Hegemon](Kenneth A.Grossberg)／ ●13.Ashikaga Yoshimasa [Preeminent Patron of Higashiyama Culture](H.Paul Varley)／ ●14.Takeda Shingen [Daimyo in an Age of Strife](Carole A.Ryavec)／ ●15.Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu [Unifiers of Japan](Billy J.Cody)／ ●16.Sen no Rikyuu [Tea Master in a Time of War](John Freeman)／ ●17.Takayama Ukon [Fate of a Christian Daimyo](Diego Pacheco)／ ●18.Saikaku, Bashoo, and Chikamatsu [Creators of a New Literature](Chen Shun-Chen)／ ●19.Arai Hakuseki and Motoori Norinaga [Scholars of the Tokugawa Period](Thomas J.Harper)／ ●20.Tamura Okitsugu [Forerunner of the Modern Statesman](John W.Hall)／ ●21.Ryookan [Holy Foolishness](John Stevens)／ ●22.Rai San-yoo [Historian and Master of Chinese Verse](Burton Watson)／ ●23.Miura Meisuke [Leader of Peasant Rebellions](Herbert P.Bix)／ ●24.Sakamoto Ryooma [Young Activist of the Meiji Restoration](Marius B.Jansen)／ ●25.Ookubo Toshimichi [Architect of the Modern State](Masakazu Iwata)／ ●26.Shibusawa Eiichi [From Xenophobe to Business Leader](William D.Hoover)／ ●27.Konoe Fumimaro and Toojoo Hideki [Conflict, Compromise, and Tragedy](Gordon M.Berger)／ ●28.Kawabata Yasunari [Nobel Prize-Winning Novelist](Makoto Ueda)) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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