The Tosa Diary reveals the life of a traveler in tenth-century Japan whose journey lasted 55 days on a ship from Tosa, where Ki no Tsurayuki served as governor, to Kyoto.

Ritual myth and superstition meet with bare feet and folk custom. Strong emotions and conflict are seen surging in Japan’s antiquity. Few historical documents are as “human” as the Nihongi.

Almost four decades after the original publication of this celebrated book John Hersey went back to Hiroshima in search of the people whose stories he had told.

A classic, short history of Japan, this book has been brought up-to-date by Marius Jansen, now our most distinguished interpreter of Japanese history.

The Diary recorded by Lady Murasaki (c. 973-c. 1020), author of The Tale of Genji, is an intimate picture of her life as tutor and companion to the young Empress Shoshi.

Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, “a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened—muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, ...

Memoir of the author's experience fighting in too of thebattles of the South Pacific during World War II.

“One of the best books ever about Japanese society . . . [A] thoughtful, nuanced study of the Japanese character.”—U.S. News & World Report “A classic book because of its intellectual and stylistic lucidity .

Meticulously researched and utterly engaging, this book is proof that the history of twentieth-century Japan cannot be understood apart from the life of its most remarkable and enduring leader.

"These primary source documents comprise the largest part of this volume.