Christopher Harding Books

From the acclaimed author of Japan Story, this is the history of Japan, distilled into the stories of twenty remarkable individuals.The vivid and entertaining portraits in Chris Harding's enormously enjoyable new book take the reader from the earliest written accounts of Japan right through to the life of the current empress, Masako. We encounter shamans and warlords, poets and revolutionaries, scientists, artists and adventurers - each offering insights of their own into this extraordinary place.For anyone new to Japan, this book is the ideal introduction. For anyone already deeply involved with it, this is a book filled with surprises and pleasures.

This is a fresh and surprising account of Japan's culture from the 'opening up' of the country in the mid-nineteenth century to the present. 'How much I admired it, what a lot I learned from it and, above all, how very much I enjoyed it ... Masterly.' Neil MacGregor It is told through the eyes of people who greeted this change not with the confidence and grasping ambition of Japan's modernizers and nationalists, but with resistance, conflict, distress. We encounter writers of dramas, ghost stories and crime novels where modernity itself is the tragedy, the ghoul and the bad guy; surrealist and avant-garde artists sketching their escape; rebel kamikaze pilots and the put-upon urban poor; hypnotists and gangsters; men in desperate search of the eternal feminine and feminists in search of something more than state-sanctioned subservience; Buddhists without morals; Marxist terror groups; couches full to bursting with the psychological fall-out of breakneck modernization. These people all sprang from the soil of modern Japan, but their personalities and projects failed to fit. They were 'dark blossoms': both East-West hybrids and home-grown varieties that wreathed, probed and sometimes penetrated the new structures of mainstream Japan.

Exploring Japan's rapid modernization, this book offers a vivid and poignant historical narrative. It delves into the complexities and challenges faced during this transformative period, highlighting both the advancements and the struggles that accompanied them. Through a lyrical writing style, the author brings to life the intricate tapestry of events that shaped modern Japan, providing readers with a deep understanding of its past and the impact of its swift changes.

Exploring the intricate relationship between Asia and the West, this engaging history delves into centuries of cultural exchange marked by fascination and misunderstanding. From ancient Greek accounts to the influences of Marco Polo, the narrative highlights how Asia has shaped European and North American culture despite periods of conflict and colonial rule. Through stories of notable figures and events, it captures the complexities of admiration and misinterpretation, celebrating the profound impact of Asia on Western civilization across time and geography.

The book explores the integration of human rights ideology into economic and commercial policy, highlighting its potential to drive legal reforms. It examines how the principles of basic human rights can be applied within the realm of commercial law, influencing business practices and corporate behavior. Through this analysis, it sheds light on the evolving relationship between public law and economic activities, emphasizing the importance of human rights in shaping modern economic frameworks.

The book explores the concept of agency within criminal liability by analyzing three types of organizations: corporate entities, governments, and criminal groups. It delves into the roles played by individuals versus organizations and examines how criminal responsibility is assigned among these diverse actors. Through this examination, it aims to provide insights into the complexities of accountability in various organizational contexts.

From the time of the ancient Greeks onwards the West's relationship with Asia consisted for the most part of outrageous tales of strange beasts and monsters, of silk and spices shipped over vast distances and an uneasy sense of unknowable empires fantastically far away. By the twentieth century much of Asia might have come under Western rule after centuries of warfare, but its intellectual, artistic and spiritual influence was fighting back. The Light of Asia is a wonderfully varied and entertaining history of the many ways in which Asia has shaped European and North American culture over centuries of tangled, dynamic encounters, and the central importance of this vexed, often confused relationship. From Marco Polo onwards Asia has been both a source of genuine fascination and equally genuine failures of comprehension. China, India and Japan were all acknowledged to be both great civilizations and in crude ways seen as superseded by the West. From Chicago to Calcutta, and from antiquity to the new millennium, this is a rich, involving story of misunderstandings and sincere connection, of inspiration and falsehood, of geniuses, adventurers and con-men. Christopher Harding's captivating gallery of people and places celebrates Asia's impact on the West in all its variety.