Review

"...the book contains much valuable information..." Journal of Japanese Studies

"The editor is to be congratulated on having made available in English essays on a wide spectrum of important aspects of Japan's ancient past. Students of Japanese history and culture will find much to learn from these most informative essays, which represent the latest western and Japanese scholarship." Canadian Journal of History

"This is an important and useful contribution to the generalizing literature on early Japan...a solid, well-executed reference volume on Japanese history from earliest times to the late eighth century. Specialists in Japanese history or scholars of any field of study who focus on the ancient period will certainly want to add it to their shelves, but I warmly recommend it as a high-level introduction to the period for non-Japan specialists, as well." Karl F. Friday, JESHO

"In the final analysis, Ancient Japan has opened up the early history of the archipelago in unprecedented fashion, and we now have a stable base from which to launch further research. For that, the editor, the contributors, the translators, and the staff of the Cambridge University Press who worked to make this book plausible deserve our hearty thanks." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

Product Description

Japan's ancient age was a period of radical and political change during which a Chinese-style empire emerged. This volume of The Cambridge History of Japan spans the beginnings of human existence to the end of the eighth century, focusing on the thousand years between 300 B.C. and 784, the end of the fabulous Nara period. The volume explores this period in four stages: (1) The Yayoi period (to about 250 A.D.) when small kingdoms and kingdom federations accumulated enough power to dispatch diplomatic missions to Korea and China; (2) the Yamato period (to 587) when priestly rulers, having gained economic and military power, conquered most of Japan; (3) the Century of Reform (to 710) when Japanese leaders, pressed by China's expanding T'ang empire, set out to build a strong Chinese-style empire of their own; (4) the Nara period (to 784) when spectacular literary, artistic, architectural, and religious advances were made.