12 h 46 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a nation look like as it rebuilds its government while daily life carries older customs?
In A Handbook of Modern Japan, Ernest W. Clement guides you through a country changing at startling speed. His 1903 account brings geography, history, government, religion, schooling, language, and art together. The islands provide the starting point for a wider look at Japanese society at the turn of the twentieth century.
Clement writes as an American teacher and Christian missionary who lives and works in Japan. He traces the shift from feudal rule to a modern state, then turns toward faith, education, and the home. His account offers a foreign resident’s view of a transforming nation, with period assumptions that readers should keep in mind.
What you’ll discover
- The land beneath society Begin with Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, the main islands that ground this account.
- From shoguns to state Follow Japan’s movement from military rulers governing in the emperor’s name toward a modern state.
- Faith and the classroom Explore Clement’s treatment of religion and schooling, including Shinto reverence for spirits and the imperial line.
- Across the household threshold Step into homes with floor mats, sliding screens, and shoes left at the door.
- An outsider’s period view Read Japanese life through a resident observer’s eyes, while weighing the limits of his perspective.
Who will love it
For readers who love history and travel, students of the Meiji era, and anyone curious about how Japan was seen from outside in 1903.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The land and people shape Japanese life
- Old Japan gave way to a new state
- Faith and schooling form the national mind
- Daily customs show a nation in transition
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A Handbook of Modern Japan
by Ernest W. Clement · 1903
A foreign resident reveals Meiji Japan as it rebuilds its state while holding to loyalty and tradition.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
A Handbook of Modern Japan is a guide to Japan at the turn of the twentieth century. It was written by Ernest W.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The land and people shape Japanese life
A handbook of this kind starts with the ground under the reader's feet. Japan is a chain of islands, and the four main ones are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Mountains cover much of the land, so farmland is scarce and people live close together.
The islands also carry the marks of a restless earth. Volcanoes rise across the country, and Mount Fuji is the best known of them. Earthquakes are a fact of life, and this helps explain why traditional houses were built of wood and light materials. A reader learns that the geography touches the diet, the housing, the trade and even the habits of mind of the people.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1903
- Language
- English
- Level
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What is A Handbook of Modern Japan about?
It is a guide to Japan around 1903. Clement covers the land, history, government, religion, education, language, art and everyday customs, giving Western readers a broad picture of a country that was modernizing fast.
Who was Ernest W. Clement?
Clement was an American educator and Baptist missionary who lived and worked in Japan for many years. His long residence gave him close knowledge of the country, which he shared in books and articles for English-speaking readers.
When was A Handbook of Modern Japan written?
It first appeared in 1903, during the Meiji era. It is nonfiction, written by a foreign resident, and it records Japan as it looked just as the country was becoming a rising power.
The author
Ernest W. Clement
1860–1941 · American missionary and Japan scholar
Ernest W. Clement (1860–1941) was an American missionary who lived and worked in Japan. He wrote in English about Japanese history and society. His books included A Handbook of Modern Japan, published in 1903. He lived during the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century.
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