JAPANESE HISTORY

GENERAL
Beasley W.G
The Japan Experience - a Short History of Japan
Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1999
0 297 64308 8
Although the style looks academic stay with it, as this is one of the best books I have found on the history of Japan.  It pulls together all the threads and helps you understand why events developed as they did.  It was the first book to give me a clear picture of the confusing events between Perry's visits and the beginning of the Meiji period.

Berry Mary Elizabeth
The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto
University of California Press 1994
0-520-08170-6
Detailed but dry account of the effects of the Onin war and the Sengoku jidai on life in Kyoto, slightly relieved by contemporary extracts.

Borgen Robert
Sugawara Michizane and the Early Heian Court
Harvard University Press 1986
0-674-85415-2
Michizane was a famous scholar and administrator who is worshipped as Tenjin Sama. This is a very scholarly work piecing together all that is known of the historical character.

Bryant Anthony J
The Samurai
Warriors of Medieval Japan 940-1600
Osprey Publishing 1989
0-85045-897-8
Some historical background, but concentrates mainly on descriptions of armour and weapons with appropriate illustrations.

Busch Noel F
A Concise History of Japan
Cassell & Co ltd 1973
0-304-29235-4

Chisholm Jane
World History Dates
Usborne
0-86020-954-7

Dening Walter
The Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
J L Thompson & Co, Kobe/Kegan Paul, Trench Trubner & Co London 1930
Detailed yet very readable history of Hideyoshi's rise to power and the subsequent Tokugawa takeover.

Duus Masayo
Tokyo Rose - Orphan of the Pacific
Kodansha International 1979
0-87011-354-2
The true story of Iwa Toguri, a Japanese American stranded in Japan in WWII who broadcast to American troops and was later tried for treason in the USA as the mythical "Tokyo Rose". It is a horrifying exposure of how an individual was accused, tried and sentenced (she served 6 years) as a sacrifice to political pressures with scant regard for justice.

Fewster & Gorton Stuart & Tony
Japan:
from Shogun to Superstate
Paul Norbury Publications 1988
0 904404 676
Traces the development of modern Japan from the ending of the Shogunate to the present day. Written as a textbook, the style is rather dry, but it packs in a lot of facts.

 
Griffis William Elliot
The Mikado's Empire
Harper & Bros Publishers NY & London 1900
2 vols. Vol I of this justly famous work is a history of Japan and is interesting because it is drawn from Japanese sources. Vol II begins with the author's own experiences as a teacher in Japan, and the way of life at the time (1870-1875) is very vividly depicted. Later chapters describe social and political institutions and contain a great deal of first hand information on the upheaval following the Meiji restoration.

Hardwick Michael
Discovery of Japan
Hamlyn 1970
600 002799
Excellent concise well illustrated history.

Hoare J E
Japan's Treaty Ports and Foreign Settlements
The Uninvited Guests 1858-1899
Japan Library/Curzon Press 1994
1-873410-26-3
Exhaustive, scholarly and drily factual detailed account of ports like Yokohama. Would benefit from some anecdotes to lighten the tone.

Horsley & Buckley William & Roger
Nippon New Superpower
Japan since 1945
BBC Books 1990
0 563 20875 9
Accompanies BBC series

Johns Leslie W
Japan: Reminiscences and Realities
Stanley Paul & Co Ltd 1938?
Japan pre WWII

Kaneko & Gerstle Anne & Andrew
Kyoto
A Celebration of 1200 years of History
Japan Research Centre, SOAS 1995
Four learned essays presented to a symposium in London on 27/6/94 to celebrate the 1200th anniversary of the founding of the city

Leonard Jonathon Morton
Early Japan
in series Great Ages of Man
Time Life Books UK edition 1970, reprinted 1976
A readable history of the period up to 1853, well illustrated throughout with photographs of historical places and appropriate works of art.

Mason & Caiger R H P & J G
A History of Japan
Charles E Tuttle Company 1992
0-8048-1496-1

Mayer (ed) S L
The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan
1894-1945
Bison Books 1988
0 86124 142 8
Large format book, profusely illustrated with photographs and maps of the campaigns in Japan's expansionist days and subsequent defeat.

McCullough Helen Craig
The Taiheiki
A Chronicle of Medieval Japan
Charles E Tuttle Company 1979
0-8048-1322-1
War tales from 13th and 14th centuries by various authors, translated and introduced by H C McCullough.

Morris Ivan
The Nobility of Failure
Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan
Secker & Warburg 1975
436 28809 5
Selection of famous historical figures noted more for their downfall and tragic end than for any positive achievements. Helps to shed light on aspects of Japanese character not understood in the West.

Morris J Malcolm
The Wise Bamboo
Michael Joseph London 1954
The author was a lieutenant in the US Army who was assigned to take charge of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo as a billet for senior officers in the Occupation forces, and remained there for six years. He says the book is "presented for amusement only" and indeed contains a lot of amusing anecdotes which illustrate aspects of American, Japanese and Army life.

Morris John
Traveller from Tokyo
The Cresset Press London 1943
The author was in Japan from 1938 to 1942 and in a unique position to record the effect of militarism and the outbreak of war on Japanese society. His book, published before the atom bomb had become a reality, contains interesting advice on how the Allies should deal with Japan. While he loved the Japanese people and their way of life he concluded that the militarists had to be decisively crushed and the country led back into the international fold during a period of occupation. Anyone who ventures an opinion on the conduct of the war should first read this book.

Notehelfer F G
American Samurai
Captain LL James and Japan
Princeton University Press NJ
0-691-05443-6
Not as swashbuckling as the title suggests, in fact a rather dry biography of the Captain, with much of his early life in America (including his Army career and the Civil War). The middle section tells how he ran a school in Kumamoto, where his scientific ideas and eccentric brand of Christianity had a significant influence on important thinkers in the Meiji period. He ended his life in America, in controversy, bitterness and poverty. He may have been unbalanced or and important link in the development of Japan; the author not surprisingly tends to the latter view.

Nouët Noël
The Shogun's City
A History of Tokyo
Paul Norbury Publications 1990
0-904404-61-7
Translated from the French original by John & Michèle Mills, the author intended this book to be an emakimono or picture scroll of events, rather than a scholarly work. He therefore included items of gossip and scandal which an academic historian would have omitted but the result is a lively and entertaining work. Did you know that Tokugawa Ieyasu bit his nails on the battlefield? Highly recommended.

Pacific War Research Society
Japan's Longest Day
CORGI Books 1969
552 08097 7
The story of Japan's struggle to surrender August 1945

Reischauer Edwin O
Japan - the Story of a Nation
Charles E Tuttle Co 1977
0221-000410-4615

Seidensticker Edward
Low City, High City
Tokyo from Edo to the Earthquake 1867-1923
Penguin 1985
Rambling, sometimes confusing, but in this way the book accurately reflects the development of Tokyo, which even today is said to be more a collection of villages than a metropolis. There are plenetiful anecdotes to make this book a pleasant read for anyone with an interest in the history of the city.

Seidensticker Edward
Tokyo Rising
The City since the Great Earthquake
Alfred A Knopf NY 1990
0-394-54360-2
A continuation from Low City, High City showing the growth of modern Tokyo.

Smith Bradley
Japan - A History in Art
Weidenfeld & Nicolson London 1964
Each period of Japanese history up to the Meiji era is briefly covered in easily digestible text and lavishly illustrated with pictures of contemporary works of art. A delightful way to absorb history.

Statler Oliver
Japanese Inn
Picador (Pan Books) 1985
0-330-28560-2
Story of an inn on the Tokaido from its beginnings in the 17th century to the modern day. The author imagines the inn being visited by historical figures who would have travelled along the Tokaido. Very readable and full of atmosphere.

Turnbull S R
The Samurai
A Military History
George Philip 1987
0 540 01171 1
Well illustrated, with anecdotes as well as campaign histories, the author tells the story of the Samurai against the background of the social and political history of Japan. More solid material than in Turnbull's "The Book of the Samurai".

For details of Stephen Turnbull's latest work look at http://freespace.virgin.net/stephen.turnbull/publications.htm

Turnbull Stephen
Battles of the Samurai
Arms and Armour Press 1992
1-85409-161-1

Turnbull Stephen R
The Book of the Samurai
The Warrior Class of Japan
Book Club Associates
(by arrangement with Bison Books) 1985
A large format book, well illustrated, giving the history of the Samurai from earliest times and their decline in the 19th century. Readable - recommended for anyone with an interest in this military tradition.

Various
Transactions of the Japan Society
Vol 9 1909-1911
Oxford University Press 1912
The volumes of the Society contain papers by members on aspects of Japanese history and culture. This volume, for example, contains articles on ghosts, mountaineering, fossils, railways, festivals, Price Ito, roof styles, the game of Go, and the mon - the Japanese clan badge which has played a role similar to that of heraldry in Western history.

Early Travellers & Writers

 Alcock Sir Rutherford
The Capital of the Tycoon
A narrative of three years residence in Japan
Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green 1863
Heavy Victorian style but a fascinating insight into the first British ambassador's trials and tribulations with a good picture of Japanese life and society at the time. In two volumes - the second contains more of his reflections on the problems of diplomacy.

Barr Pat
The Coming of the Barbarians
A story of Western Settlement in Japan 1853-1870
Readers Union - Macmillan 1968

Barr Pat
The Deer Cry Pavilion
A Story of Westerners in Japan 1868-1905
Penguin 1988
0-14-009578-0
Continues from her earlier The Coming of the Barbarians covering the Meiji period.

Barrow (Introduction) Terence
Manners and Customs of the Japanese in the 19th Century
from the accounts of Dutch Residents and from the German work of Dr Phillip Franz von Siebold
Charles E Tuttle & Co 1973
0-8048-1081-8
The old-fashioned style of the narrative makes awkward reading but it contains interesting insights from people who saw the old Japan at first hand

Bird Isabella
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
Virago Travellers 1984
0-86068-422-9
Account of travels in northern Japan by author in 1878, completely unsentimental in its approach, and shows the contrast between the Westernised areas and the remote country districts. Fascinating reading.

Black John R
Young Japan
Yokohama and Yedo 1858-79
Oxford University Press 1968
Facsimile in 2 volumes of the book by one of the first Western journalists into Japan. Tells the story of the opening of Japan in a balanced way - very useful for understanding the feelings of the Japanese at the time.

Blaker Richard
The Needle-Watcher
William Heinemann Ltd 1934
Story of Will Adams, first Englishman to set foot in Japan. More accurate version of the events which form the basis of James Clavell's "Shogun".

Bodart Bailey & Massarella Beatrice M & Derek
The Furthest Goal
Engelbert Kaempfer's Encounter with Tokugawa Japan
Japan Library 1995
1-873410-37-9
A series of erudite essays underlining the importance of Kaempfer's work.

Chamberlain Basil Hall
Things Japanese
Being Notes on Various Subjects connected with Japan for the use of Travellers and Others
Charles E Tuttle Co 1971
0-8048-0713-2
Gives a good picture of early 20th century Japan. (We have the Fourth (Revised and Enlarged) edition published by John Murray in 1902.)

Cooper (ed) Michael
They came to Japan
An Anthology of European Reports on Japan 1543-1640
Thames & Hudson London 1965
The extracts from early writers on Japan are grouped under subject headings. Most are short, some extremely so, and give the book a patchy feel. However this is an excellent way to acquire information from early visitors to Japan, either as an end in itself or as a precursor to tracking down their full works.

Cooper (translator/editor) Michael S J
This Island of Japon
Joao Rodrigues' Account of 16th Century Japan
Kodansha International 1973
0-87011-194-9
Rodrigues went to Japan as a child in 1577 and made his way among the Jesuits. He acted as interpreter for Toyotomi Hideyoshi and also had dealings with Tokugawa Ieyasu and his son Hidetada. When relations with foreigners deteriorated he was expelled from Japan in 1610. His book is a detailed account of Japanese life, with special emphasis on the minutiae of polite behaviour. Fascinating reading for the serious student.

Corr William
Adams the Pilot
The Life and Times of Captain William Adams: 1564-1620
Japan Library 1995
1-873410-44-1
More about 'Times' than 'Life', understandable since little detail is known.   Written in a disjointed manner, which keeps you looking back to see what a paragraph is referring to, but if you can live with this, it contains as much information as can be gleaned from original sources - such as the fact that 'Will Adams'  was probably a Victorian mistaking of a common abbreviation and that during his lifetime he would have been called 'William Adams' or 'Captain Adams'.

Cosenza (ed) Mario Emilio
The Complete Journal of Townsend Harris
Charles E Tuttle Company 1959
The personal diaries of the man who established the first proper commercial treaty following the opening of Japan by Perry. Alone and unsupported in an alien, often hostile environment, he managed by sheer force of personality to obtain favourable terms, overcoming illness and depression. The book gives a vivid impression of his situation and an important insight into early relations with Japan.

Faulds Henry
Nine Years in Nipon
Sketches of Japanese Life & Manners
Alexander Gardner 1887
The author was a medical missionary in the 1880's which gave him access to a wide spectrum of Japanese life and society, about which he writes in a vivid and entertaining style.

Fraser Mary Crawford
A Diplomat's Wife in Japan
Sketches at the Turn of the Century
Weatherhill 1982
0-8348-0172-8
Edited by Hugh Cortazzi, this is an abridgement of a 2 volume work published by Hutchinson & Co in 1899 and gives a vivid account of life in Meiji Japan by the wife of the head of the British Legation in Tokyo.

Hawks Francis L
Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan
abridged by Sidney Wallach
MacDonald London 1954
An abridged version of the official journal of Perry's voyage to Japan which directly resulted in the opening of the country after its long isolation under the Tokugawa Shoguns. This was the event which had the most far-reaching effects in the shaping of modern Japan and the book would be worth reading for its historical value alone. However the style is quite readable and the accounts of negotiations with the Japanese reveal fascinating aspects of life at the time. You should bear in mind that this account was written under Perry's close direction and gives his version of events. All journals kept by members of the expedition were supposed to be handed in, but some were secretly retained and apparently show less glowing reports of Perry's actions. Nevertheless his enormous achievement should not be under-estimated and this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Japanese history.

Heco Joseph
The Narrative of a Japanese
Ed J Murdoch
American Publishing Association San Francisco and Yokohama Printing & Publishing Co Ltd No date but circa 1895
Born in 1837 in Japan (which was still sealed off from the world), in 1850 Joseph Heco was on a junk which was dismasted and drifted until the crew was rescued by an American sailing ship bound for California. Eventually he returned to Japan as an interpreter for the US Consulate. He therefore gives on the spot reports of the dramatic events in the years following the opening of Japan. If you can find a copy of this rare book it complements very well the information provided in the journal of Francis Hall (edited by Notehelfer), since it has more understanding of the Japanese perspective.

Heusken Henry
Japan Journal 1855-1861
Trans J C van der Corput & Robert A Wilson
Rutgers University Press 1964
Heusken was interpreter and secretary to Townsend Harris, first US Ambassador to Japan. His enthusiasm for the country show clearly in the Journal, which is all the more poignant from knowing that he was assassinated there in 1861. He is buried in a simple grave in the weed-filled cemetery section of Korinji temple in the Azabu district of modern Tokyo.

Hosking Veronica
A Trace of Pride
A Biography of the First Shipbuilder in Yokohama
P & A Cutforth, Peterborough 1991
0 9517896 00
The story of Henry Cook who first went to Japan in the time of Perry and worked in the early days of the Yokohama settlement, told by a descendant in story form. Easy to read and informative.

Jones H L
Live Machines
Hired Foreigners and Meiji Japan
University of British Columbia Press 1980
0 7748-0115-8
Full of facts and statistics about the foreigners who were employed to create the industrial and cultural revolution to bring Japan up to par with the West, but the style is academic, making for very dry reading.

Kaempfer Engelbert
The History of Japan
in three volumes
Glasgow University Press for James Maclehose & Sons 1904-6
Kaempfer was in Japan from 1690 to 1692, a period when the country was closed to the West except for a small Dutch trading post at Nagasaki. As a physician he travelled twice to the Shogun's court at Edo with the annual Dutch delegation. The style of writing is archaic and does not make for easy reading. Kaempfer's spelling of Japanese names and places also requires some knowledge of Japan supported by inspired guesswork. Some of his "facts" are suspect, being based on hearsay (of necessity, as the Dutch were virtually imprisoned on Deshima Island and only allowed out on special occasions). Nevertheless, the three volumes have a first hand account of Japan in a period when it was otherwise inaccessible, and within the limitations of his circumstances Kaempfer gives a scientific and balanced picture of the society. It is also valuable for his eye-witness account of the court, and remarkable in showing the humiliations the Dutch were prepared to suffer for the sake of trade. He includes sketches and maps of his journeys to Edo (Tokyo). For anyone interested in the period and prepared to cope with the old-fashioned style this is a most rewarding study.

Kaneko Hisazaku
Manjiro
The Man who Discovered America
Not shown Not shown
Story of a Japanese fisherman, shipwrecked, rescued and taken to America, who made his way back to Japan in time for Perry's arrival; he participated in the efforts to open up Japan.

Loti Pierre
Japan (Madame Chrysanthème)
T Werner Laurie Ltd, London
Translated from French by Laura Ensor, with 200 illustrations by Rossi and Myrbach. Although this titler should correctly be under "Works of Fiction" it is based very largely on fact, telling the story of Loti's time in Japan and his temporary "marriage" to a Japanese woman, O-Kiku. It is in fact the true version of the "Madame Butterfly" story, although it shows that there was less romance in real life than in operas!

Notehelfer (ed) F G
Japan through American Eyes
The Journal of Francis Hall, Kanagawa and Yokohama 1859-1866
Princeton University Press
0-691-03181-9
A diary, supplemented by articles which he sent to US newspapers, by one of the earliest traders in Japan. The daily entries give evry full descriptions of the sights and sounds of Japanese life and create a very vivid picture of the times. It is a very substantial book but well rewards reading, showing the feelings of early foreigners in Japan, often at personal risk, but with a love for the country and people.

Pedlar Neil
The Imported Pioneers
Westerners who helped build modern Japan
Japan Library Ltd 1990
0-904404-51-X
Stories of the teachers, engineers etc who went to Meiji Japan to introduce Western technology and ideas.

Rogers P G
The First Englishman in Japan
The story of Will Adams
The Harvill Press London 1956
A factual account of Will Adams life in Japan, simply related, and a good counter to the romantic tales about him (eg James Clavell's "Shogun"). Useful too for its information on the failure of the attempts of the East India Company to set up trade with Japan

Satow Sir Ernest
A Diplomat in Japan
Oxford University Press 1968
From 1862 to 1869 the author was a member of the British delegation in Japan. Although relatively junior in status, he gives an interesting view of the diplomatic involvement by the Western powers in the events which led up to the overthrow of the Shogunate. As a first person narrative it affords interesting glimpses of Japanese society at the time. BBC TV showed a short series under the same title but the TV version incorporated material from other sources and was very cursory in its coverage of the politics involved.

Sladen & Lorimer Douglas & Norma
More Queer Things About Japan
Anthony Traherne & Co Ltd London 1904
Includes the letters of Will Adams 1611-17

Tames Richard
Servant of the Shogun
Paul Norbury Publications 1981/1983
0 904404 39 0
The story of Will Adams told by using extracts from his own letters and other contemporary documents. A brief but factual account.

Wise Michael
Travellers' Tales of Old Japan
Times Books International 1985
9971-65-199-8
Compilation of stories by travellers to Japan between 1854 and 1929 together with contemporary illustrations. Fascinating reading.

SOCIAL

 Aoki & Dardess, Michiko Y & Margaret B
As the Japanese See It
Past and Present
The University Press of Hawaii 1981
0-8248-0759-6
A wide and varied collection of extracts which give insights into the Japanese mind and way of life.

Dalby Liza Crihfield
Geisha
University of California Press 1983
0-520-04742-7
The author studied Geisha for an anthropology degree and worked as one for a year. Written in a lively style with plenty of anecdotes and illustrations it also succeeds in including a solid amount of factual information, although its historical aspects are limited in periods before the 20th century.

De Becker J E
The Nightless City
History of the Yoshiwara Yukwaku
Charles E Tuttle Company 1971 (5th ed)
0-8048-0877-5
Detailed and fascinating study of the Yoshiwara and the lives of the courtesans, which form the background to much of the Edo period culture. Important for study of social history or of Ukiyo-e prints.

Dore Ronald
Shinohata
A Portrait of a Japanese Village
Allen Lane (Penguin Books Ltd) 1978
0 7139 11506
Although written by a social scientist, the humour and wealth of anecdotes mean that this is not simply a text book but a delightful and evocative portrait of a small rural community.

Downer Lesley
The Brothers
The Saga of the Richest Family in Japan
Chatto & Windus 1994
0 7011 5373 3
Surprisingly gripping narration of the history of the family behind the Seibu empire which owns a substantial percentage of Japan

Dunn Charles J
Everyday Life in Traditional Japan
(1600-1850)
Charles E Tuttle Company 1972
0-8048-1384-1
Description of the lives of people in the different social classes during the Tokugawa period. Includes drawings by Laurence Broderick.

Elison & Smith George & Bardwell L
Warlords, Artists & Commoners
Japan in the Sixteenth Century
The University Press of Hawaii 1981
0-8248-0692-1
Collection of scholarly essays on various facets of the Azuchi-Momoyama period

Fields George
From Bonsai to Levi's
When West meets East: An Insider's Surprising Account of How the Japanese Live
Futura 1985
0 7088 2730 6
Mainly based on marketing experiences it points up the major differences between Japanese and Western culture.

Fisher Charles A
Three times a guest
Recollections of Japan and the Japanese 1942-1969
Cassell 1979
0 304 30316 X
The author was first a prisoner of war of the Japanese but then twice visited the country. From first hand experiences he tries to explain the culture.

Frederic Louis
Daily Life in Japan at the time of the Samurai, 1185-1603
George Allen & Unwin Ltd 1972
004 952006 7
Translated by Eileen M Lowe. Gives a vivid picture of life in that period and shows the differences between the lifestyles of the different social classes.

Hane Mikiso
Peasants, Rebels and Outcastes
The underside of Modern Japan
Scolar Press London 1982
0-85967-670-6
Although generally academic in tone there is enough anecdotal material to bring to life a picture of the poorer classes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It sheds a different light on Japan's growth from the usual historical versions, and is similar to reading Dickens on England's Industrial Revolution.

Katsu Kokichi
Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai
Tran: Teruko Craig
University of Arizona Press 1988
0-8165-1035-0
Lively story of roguish samurai in modern English gives entertaining view of life in the late Edo period.

Leupp Gary P
Servants, Shophands and Labourers in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan
Princeton University Press 1992
0-691-03139-8
Rather dry and heavily based on statistics, but does give an insight into the lifestyles of the urban working class of the Edo period not found elsewhere.

Longstreet Stephen & Ethel
Yoshiwara
The Pleasure Quarters of Old Tokyo
Yenbooks (Charles E Tuttle Co Ltd) 1988
0-8048-1599-2
Interesting insights into Yoshiwara life and entertaining anecdotes, but the lack of source references makes it impossible to follow up or check most of the statements, some of which appear suspect. Needs to be read in conjunction with De Becker's book.

McClain James L
Kanazawa
A Seventeenth-Century Japanese Castle Town
Yale University Press 1982
0 300 02736 2
Throws a lot of light on the life of the town dwellers and their relationship with the daimyo.

Mitford A B
Tales of Old Japan
Charles E Tuttle & Co 1966
0-8048-1160-1
First published in 1871, this collection of stories by A B Mitford (Lord Redesdale) gives a vivid picture not just of ancient Japan, but of the Japan of the mid-19th century as well.

Morley John David
Pictures from the Water Trade
An Englishman in Japan
André Deutsch 1985
0-233-97703-1
Excellent and very readable account of experiences of a young man living in Japan. Contains a lot of interesting comment and also bits of Japanese language.

Morris Ivan
The World of the Shining Prince
Court Life in Ancient Japan
Oxford University Press 1964
Excellent and very readable description of the Heian period

Najita Tetsuo
Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan
The Kaitokudo Merchant Academy of Osaka
Univ of Chicago Press 1987
0 226 56804 0
Rather dry account of the academy set up to educate from a commercial standpoint - great deal of early economic philosophy; for specialists only!

Saga Junichi
Memories of Silk and Straw
A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan
Kodansha 1990 (pbk)
0-87011-988-5
Delightful picture of pre-war Japanese village told in reminiscences of elderly inhabitants

Sakai, Haraguchi, Sakihara, Yamada & Matsui Robert K, Torao, Mitsugu, Kazuko & Masato
The status system and social organisation of Satsuma
A translation of Sumon tefuda aratame jomoku
Univ of Tokyo Press 1975
??? UTP 3021-27070-5149
The regulations governing the samurai in part of Kyushu before the Meiji period. On the pretext of the Bakufu's religious edicts all but the top classes were made to wear wooden i/d tags. Dry reading but little known info.

Seigle Cecilia Segawa
Yoshiwara
The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan
University of Hawaii Press Honolulu 1993
0-8248-1488-6
Very detailed history of the rise and fall of the Yoshiwara, citing original sources, but with enough anecdotes to make it readable. Very good appendices and some B&W illustrations.

Sugimoto Etsu Inagaki
A Daughter of the Samurai
Charles E Tuttle 1966
0-8048-0136-3
Autobiography of a Japanese woman from a samurai family who grew up shortly after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and later went to America. Gives a vivid picture of the Japan of the time, its traditions and customs, and also shows America from the viewpoint of someone from a very different culture. A most enjoyable book.

Yamamura Kozo
A Study of Samurai Income and Entrepreneurship
Quantitative Analyses of Economic and Social Aspects of the Samurai in Tokugawa and Meiji Japan
Harvard University Press 1974
674-85322-5
If you can get past the title and some of the drier tables and economic calculations this book contains a lot of glimpses into the personal lives of the hatamoto class in the Edo and Meiji periods.

Yamata Kikou
Three Geishas
Translated by Emma Craufurd
Cassell & Co 1956
Stories of famous geisha, including Townsend Harris' Okichi. Possibly not historically accurate but gives a feel for the culture and is easy to read.

 EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS
Banta & Taylor Melissa & Susan
A Timely Encounter
Nineteenth-Century Photographs of Japan
Peabody Museum Press, Cambridge MA 1988
0-87365-810-8
Slim volume with good range of pictures and detailed commentary on the work of the earliest photographers in Japan.

Beato, von Stillfried & Loti Felice, Baron Raimund & Pierre
Once upon a time
Visions of Old Japan
Friendly Press USA 1986
0-914919-07-5
Photographs from the collection of the Société de Géographie in Paris, housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale. Taken from 1863-1877 and hand tinted by Charles Wirgman these are not only rare pictures of Old Japan, but beautiful works of art in thier own right. Well worth a look.

Japan Photographers Association
A Century of Japanese Photography
Hutchinson 1981
0 09 1455006
Originally published in Japan by Heibonsha as Nihon Shashin Shi, 1840-1945, then translated by Random House Inc in 1980. The book consists of a solid introduction followed by 500 photographs illustrating the political and social history of the period, as well as the development of photographic techniques.

Manthorpe (ed) Victoria
The Japan Diaries of Richard Gordon Smith
Viking/Rainbird 1986
0-670-81485-7
From 1898-1907 RGS spent a considerable amount of time in Japan and kept diaries which were profusely illustrated with paintings and photographs. This edition has remained close to the original, averaging two illustrations per page. RGS was a typical Victorian Englishman, and many of his prejudices show through. However it is clear that he genuinely loved Japan and the diaries give an excellent view of life at the turn of the century in a very readable and entertaining form.

Tames Richard
Encounters with Japan
Alan Sutton Publishing 1991
0 7509 0003 2
A history of Western contacts with Japan, in the form of copious anecdotes illustrated by beautiful sepia photographs. A lovely book, giving some interesting insights into Japanese history and Western attitudes.

Winkel Margarita
Souvenirs from Japan
Japanese photography at the turn of the century
Bamboo Publishing Ltd - London 1991
1-870076-58-3 (paper) 1-870076-18-4 (cloth)
Excellent series of 19th century photographs from the Schilling collection.

Worswick (Ed) Clark
JAPAN - Photographs 1854-1905
Hamish Hamilton 1980
0 241 10435 1
120 photographs mainly in sepia but with 16 hand-coloured - this book gives an attractive presentation of the traditional ways of Japan just as the Meiji enlightenment was bringing them to an end. Includes a good introduction, historical notes, technical details, and examples of the work of the main photographers of the day.