Japanese culture has penetrated our modernity deeply enough that we no longer perceive the delivery of sushi for dinner as something exotic. But did you know that the Japanese originally did not eat sushi as a main course, only as an appetizer? We habitually call Japan the Land of the Rising Sun - but how did it get such a name? And what kind of path did the empire as a whole take over its more than thousand-year history? American Nancy Stalker, a professor at the history department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has written more than one book about Japan. But, perhaps, now in front of you is the most detailed and at the same time concise, perfectly structured story about all stages of Japanese history and stages of cultural development in chronological order. This book is academic enough to rely on for a major in Oriental Studies, and is so clearly and vividly written that it will be of interest to any reader who, for one reason or another, is attracted to the Land of the Rising Sun.