Japan

What was it like to be a 'boiled octopus' in the silk mills of Japan before the First World War? Janet Hunter looks at the life and conditions of the women who bore the brunt of Japan's rapid industrialisation.

From isolation to Great Power status: Richard Perren explains how a mania for Westernisation led to Japan's transformation at the turn of the century.

Irrational chauvinists or fearful protectionists? Gordon Daniels looks at the new research and arguments reshaping our view of Japan's rulers before and after Pearl Harbour.

The Japanese Emperor Hirohito, introduced by Richard Storry.

Richard Sims looks at Japanese fascism in the 1930s.

Jean-Pierre Lehmann explores Japan's transition from isolation to internationalisation.

Gordon Daniels on the sustained bombardement of the Japanese mainland, prior to the use of the Atomic bombs.

Japan had two great infatuations with the West: in the 1870s and during the American occupation of 1945-52. Forsaking traditional isolationism, Japan welcomed Western ideas and customs with open arms, and according to Jean-Pierre Lehmann, what resulted was not an ersatz Western culture but one that retained a distinct national identity