12 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 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
You will enjoy this if you love history and travel, and wonder how Japan moved from sword and castle to railway and parliament, seen through the eyes of a witness who lived there.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The land shapes the people
- Tiny farms support a changing economy
- Emperors reign while military families rule
- Opening the country brings political reconstruction
- Constitutional rights remain under imperial authority
- New laws meet established customs
- Art and faith shape daily life
- War strengthens Japan's claim to influence
- Reform comes from the government down
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
A Handbook of Modern Japan 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.
A Handbook of Modern Japan
by Ernest W. Clement · 1903
Perry arrives in Japan in 1853, and the nation later sinks a Russian fleet.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
Picture a country only a little larger than California that holds more than fifty-three million people, shakes with small earthquakes every day, and sells silk to half the world. That is Japan as Ernest W. Clement describes it in the first years of the twentieth century.
A Handbook of Modern Japan at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 35 min5 h 15 min fast, 7 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 94,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1903by Ernest W. Clement
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
A small mountain country with a long reach
Clement begins with the land. The empire covers about 175,000 square miles, only a little more than California, yet it stretches from the frozen Kurile Islands to tropical Formosa. Level ground makes up barely twelve per cent of the whole.
Earthquakes happen daily, though most are too faint to feel. Rivers flood after rains, and typhoons and epidemics add to the dangers. Still, people crowd in. The census of 1909 counted 53,500,000 Japanese, and villages run almost without a break.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
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
- First published
- 1903
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Clement, Ernest W. A Handbook of Modern Japan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-handbook-of-modern-japan.
Clement, E. W. (2026). A handbook of modern Japan. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-handbook-of-modern-japan (Original work published 1903)
Clement, Ernest W. A Handbook of Modern Japan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-handbook-of-modern-japan.
@book{clement2026handbook,
author = {Clement, Ernest W.},
title = {A Handbook of Modern Japan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-handbook-of-modern-japan},
note = {First published 1903}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about A Handbook of Modern Japan
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is A Handbook of Modern Japan about?
It is a broad survey of Japan around 1913. Clement covers geography, industry, trade, customs, history, government, law, women, education, art, religion, and the Russo-Japanese War, so a reader gets a single picture of the country.
When was A Handbook of Modern Japan written?
Clement first published it in 1903 and revised it several times. This ninth edition dates from 1913 and adds chapters on the Russo-Japanese War and Greater Japan, bringing statistics and events close to that year.
What does Clement mean by Japan being the key of Asia?
He means Japan's position off the Asian coast makes it a gateway. Sea routes between America and eastern Asia pass through Japan, and he also believes it can lead and mediate between the East and the West.
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.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
