Illustrations -- Preface -- Introducing Japan -- THE GEOGRAPHIC SETTING -- THE EFFECTS OF GEOGRAPHY -- HISTORICAL PERIODS AND RECORDS -- PROBLEMS OF UNDERSTANDING -- I TRADITIONAL JAPAN: PREHISTORY TO 1185 -- 1 Ancient Japan (to ca. 400 CE) -- ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERIODS -- CHINESE AND JAPANESE ANNALS -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS (FEMALE RULERS ARE IN ITALICS) -- 2 Yamato Japan (ca. 400-700) -- SOCIETY -- SINIFICATION, THE FIRST PHASE: ASUKA OR SUIKO PERIOD (552-645) -- SINIFICATION, THE SECOND PHASE: HAKUHO (645-710) -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS (PROMINENT YEAR PERIODS APPENDED) -- A JAPANESE MAHAYANA BUDDHIST (DAIJO BUKKYO) PANTHEON -- 3 Nara Japan (710-794) -- POLITICS AND SOCIETY -- RELIGION -- LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE -- THE END OF NARA -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS -- 4 Heian Japan (794-1185) -- POLITICS AND ECONOMICS -- BUDDHISM -- CULTURE -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS -- II FEUDAL JAPAN (1185-1868) -- 5 Kamakura Japan (1185-1333) -- YORITOMO'S LEGACY -- THE HOJO REGENCY -- RELIGION AND CULTURE -- KAMAKURA DECLINE -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS -- KAMAKURA APPOINTED SHOGUNS -- HOJO REGENTS (SHIKKEN) -- 6 Ashikaga Japan (1333-1603) -- STRIFE -- COMMERCE -- CULTURE -- REUNIFICATION -- WESTERN INTRUSION -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS -- ASHIKAGA SHOGUNS -- 7 Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868): Stability -- SOCIETY -- ISOLATION -- EFFECTS OF ISOLATION -- CHRONOLOGY -- JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS AND REIGNS -- TOKUGAWA SHOGUNS -- 8 Tokugawa Japan: Change -- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRENDS -- CULTURE -- INTELLECTUAL TRENDS -- CHRONOLOGY -- 9 Tokugawa Japan: Western Intrusion -- END OF ISOLATION -- WESTERN RIGHTS AND JAPANESE REACTIONS -- THE FINAL DECADE OF TOKUGAWA RULE -- CHRONOLOGY -- III MODERN JAPAN 1868-1945 -- 10 Meiji Japan (1868-1912): Politics.

BACKGROUND -- REALIGNMENTS -- NEW LEADERSHIP -- THE MEIJI CONSTITUTION -- EXTRACONSTITUTIONAL ORGANS -- GOVERNMENT AND PARTY RELATIONS -- CHRONOLOGY -- 11 Meiji Japan: Economics and Society -- ECONOMICS -- SOCIETY -- CHRONOLOGY -- 12 Meiji Japan: Foreign Relations -- BACKGROUND -- JAPAN, KOREA, AND CHINA -- JAPAN, KOREA, AND RUSSIA -- JAPAN, KOREA, AND WORLD POWERS -- CHRONOLOGY -- 13 Imperial Japan: World Power (1912-1922) -- BACKGROUND -- JAPAN AND WORLD WAR I -- THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE -- CHRONOLOGY -- 14 Imperial Japan: Peace and Conflict (1922-1937) -- THE 1920S: DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS -- THE 1920S: FOREIGN POLICIES -- THE MANCHURIAN INCIDENT, 1931-1933 -- THE 1930S: GROWTH OF AUTHORITARIANISM -- CHRONOLOGY -- 15 Imperial Japan: World War II (1937-1945) -- JAPAN, THE AXIS POWERS, AND THE SOVIET UNION -- JAPAN IN EAST ASIA -- JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES -- THE PACIFIC WAR -- CHRONOLOGY -- IV POSTWAR JAPAN (1945 TO PRESENT) -- 16 Occupied Japan (1945-1952) -- NATURE OF THE OCCUPATION -- THE FIRST PERIOD: REFORM -- THE SECOND PERIOD: RECOVERY -- PEACE TREATY NEGOTIATIONS -- PEACE TREATY SETTLEMENT -- CHRONOLOGY -- 17 Contemporary Japan (Since 1952): Domestic Affairs-Politics -- THE POLITICAL SYSTEM -- POLITICS: THE RIGHT -- POLITICS: THE LEFT -- CHRONOLOGY -- 18 Contemporary Japan: Domestic Affairs-Economics and Society -- ECONOMICS -- SOCIETY -- 19 Contemporary Japan: Foreign Affairs -- JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES -- JAPAN AND RUSSIA -- JAPAN AND EAST ASIA -- JAPAN AND OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES -- JAPAN AND THE REST OF THE WORLD -- CHRONOLOGY: JAPAN-UNITED STATES -- CHRONOLOGY: JAPAN-OTHER COUNTRIES -- Appendix: Japanese Prime Ministers -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- About the Author.