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History How to study Japanese History

Zuba

Sempai
16 Aug 2016
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Hello, all!

I was thinking about studying about Japanese history, but I am not sure where to begin. By that I mean what resources or books should I start with? I pretty much want to start from the beginning and work toward the modern day.
 
I would suggest starting from some aspect of history in which you have a particular interest first and then let that lead you off on side paths rather than just going at it chronologically from the mists of antiquity to the present day.
 
Hello, all!

I was thinking about studying about Japanese history, but I am not sure where to begin. By that I mean what resources or books should I start with? I pretty much want to start from the beginning and work toward the modern day.
Here are a few free courses from Tokyo University:

UTokyoX - Free Courses from The University of Tokyo | edX

I enjoyed what I learned from the Visualizing Japan series so far.
 
The way that worked for me was simply to open https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Paleolithic and start reading. Then on the right side of the article there is "periods" tab. So after getting a gist of japanese paleolithic period i simply clicked "show" and learned about every other period in a nutshell, chronologically.

After finishing Heisei period in such manner, i went to Japan Foundation's Moscow branch and looked out for some books on Meiji Restoration and post-WWII recovery (the periods being too important to rely solely on wikipedia, and ones i were interested the most at the time)

Now whenever i feel like brushing up my knowledge of Japan's history, or go deeper into particular timeline - i open the above-mentioned list of periods on wikipedia, pick one, then pick a specific subject dating back to that particular period. Like Heian period -> Genpei war, and then look for some documentaries (or docudramas) on the subject, as well as books and other material.
 
Thanks for all the advice! I will look into all the things you all suggested.
 
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