History How to study Japanese History

[Zuba]

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.

 

[Mike Cash]

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.

 

[WonkoTheSane]

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.

 

[Lomaster]

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.

 

[Zuba]

Thanks for all the advice! I will look into all the things you all suggested.