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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How does Japan tell the story of its own beginnings—and the powers that shape its past?
Japan: From the Japanese Government History offers a compact journey through many centuries, under the editorship of Kan'ichi Asakawa. It begins with traditions about the land and its ruling house, then follows the imperial court, ideas arriving from the Asian mainland, and the rise of warrior rule.
Asakawa writes for Western readers seeking to understand Japan through its own official account of the past. Writing, Buddhism, and models of government cross the sea from China and Korea. Powerful families take on the practical work of governing. Later, pressure from Western powers brings Japan's long limits on foreign contact into question.
What you’ll discover
- A nation's origin stories Explore traditions of the land and ruling house, preserved at the imperial court.
- Ideas across the sea Follow writing, Buddhism, and models of government as they reshape early Japanese court life.
- Warriors beside the throne Watch powerful families and armed followers take over the practical work of governing.
- Pressure from the wider world Trace Japan's nineteenth-century opening after long limits on contact with other countries.
- An official historical perspective Consider how Japan's official account presents its past, from founding traditions to foreign pressures.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like sweeping national histories and want one clear path from the age of the gods to the Meiji constitution.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Myth gives the throne its claim
- Mainland learning changes the court
- Reform puts the state into writing
- Warriors take the power courts lose
- A weak center leaves rival powers
- Unification brings peace through control
- Foreign pressure exposes the shogunate
- Meiji reform builds a new state
- The throne remains as rulers change
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Japan: From the Japanese Government History in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Japan: From the Japanese Government History
A goddess hides in a cave, a shogun falls, and Japan builds a parliament in one government-written history.
Challenging5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What happens when a government decides to tell its own country's story? In 1893 Japan did exactly that.
Japan: From the Japanese Government History at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 30 min6 h 45 min fast, 10 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 121,100 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Myth gives the empire its first claim
The book opens with the Age of the Deities. The gods Izanagi and Izanami create the islands of Japan and give birth to the goddess Amaterasu and the gods Tsukiyomi and Susanoo.
Susanoo behaves so wildly that his sister Amaterasu shuts herself in a cave. Darkness covers the world until the other deities coax her out. Then she sends her grandson Ninigi to rule Japan for as long as heaven and earth endure. She gives him a jewel, a mirror and a sword, and these relics pass from emperor to emperor.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 12 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 10 h 10 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Japan: From the Japanese Government History. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/japan-from-the-japanese-government-history.
Japan: From the Japanese government history. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/japan-from-the-japanese-government-history
Japan: From the Japanese Government History. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/japan-from-the-japanese-government-history.
@book{anonymous2026japan,
title = {Japan: From the Japanese Government History},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/japan-from-the-japanese-government-history}
}
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What is Japan: From the Japanese Government History about?
It follows Japan from its creation myths and first emperor to the Meiji constitution and the Russo-Japanese War. It covers courts, shoguns, foreign contact, the fall of Edo rule and the rise of a modern state.
Who wrote the Japanese Government History and who was K. Asakawa?
A team of Japanese scholars compiled the original in 1893 for the Chicago exposition. Kanichi Asakawa, who taught Japanese civilization at Yale, revised it and wrote the final part on events after 1893.
Is the history of ancient Japan in this book true?
The early chapters rely on the Kojiki and Nihongi, compiled in 712 and 720 from oral tradition. The editor notes that accounts before the fifth century allow wide latitude in events and dates.
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