Global Japanese History and Culture: De-Isolating Japan from Past to Present

Spanning prehistory to the present, concise chapters by established and emerging scholars trace the movement of people, texts, images, beliefs, and commodities in and out of Japan, and beyond.
From ancient trade routes to contemporary pop culture, Japan has always been connected. This book reframes Japan not as an isolated exception, but as an active participant in exchange―absorbing, adapting, and contributing across borders and centuries―and invites readers to see connection, circulation, and hybridity as central to Japan’s past and present. Unexpected case studies sit alongside clear syntheses to show how ‘international’ approaches―comparative, bilateral, cross-border―relate to newer ‘global’ frames that situate Japan within multidirectional networks and entanglements.