This popular and accessible introduction to Japan offers readers an authoritative yet concise overview of two thousand years of Japanese history. Now fully updated to the present, this edition also includes an array of photographs and illustrations. The first half of the book explores the pre-Meiji era up to 1868. The second half traces domestic and relevant foreign events in the modernizing era launched by the Meiji Restoration. Milton W. Meyer's clear explanations of Japanese traditions, religion, history, economics, politics, and relations with the West provide an invaluable aid for understanding contemporary Japan.