{"product_id":"2026200015174-secondhand-japan-the-story-of-a-nation","title":"Japan: The Story Of A Nation","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the mist-shrouded slopes of Mount Fuji to the neon-lit corridors of modern Tokyo, Japan: The Story of a Nation presents one of the most authoritative and compelling chronicles of Japanese civilisation ever written by a Western scholar. Edwin O. Reischauer — Harvard professor, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, and lifelong student of East Asian history — traces Japan's remarkable journey from its ancient mythological origins, through the rigid hierarchies of the feudal age, the seismic shocks of the Meiji Restoration, and into the turbulent upheavals of the twentieth century. With the precision of a diplomat and the narrative grace of a seasoned storyteller, he illuminates how a small island nation transformed itself — twice — into a world power, and what that transformation cost in human and cultural terms.\n\nReischauer argues with quiet authority that understanding Japan is not merely an academic exercise but a geopolitical necessity, and his prose carries the weight of a man who negotiated that understanding at the highest levels of government. The text masterfully weaves together political history, cultural anthropology, and economic analysis, illustrating how Shinto tradition, Confucian ethics, and Buddhist philosophy shaped a society of extraordinary internal coherence and external inscrutability. Originally published as Japan: Past and Present, this revised and expanded edition remains an essential compass for anyone seeking to understand the forces that forged one of the world's most fascinating nations — and the question it leaves unanswered is whether that nation's story has truly found its final chapter.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203187613915,"sku":"2026200015174-SECONDHAND","price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/01aed988-6911-4f88-bebb-a5fb41ce4cf7.png?v=1788145266","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200015174-secondhand-japan-the-story-of-a-nation","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}