Description

ontemporary Japan is a land of extremes. But then, arguably, it has always been that way. After centuries of bloodshed and so-cial upheaval as warlords struggled to gain control of the nation, the country was shut tight from 1600 to 1867 under a policy of sakoku or 'national seclusion'. The arrival of Commodore Perry's 'black ships' in 1853 set the insular nation a-jitter with speculation about the changing world out-side its locked doors. By 1868 the doors had been flung open, an emperor was restored to his throne and the Japanese rushed to greet an incoming tide of Western technology and ideas that would turn their traditional world upside down.

Keywords