An Introduction to the History of Japan

An Introduction to the History of Japan is by Katsuro Hara. A statement of objects says that the military achievements of Japan in the last twenty years have done much to make the world appreciate and acknowledge the intrinsic worth of the Japanese nation. The text speaks of a first and a second experiment in Chinese civilisation, the second linked to the Yuen dynasty founded by the Mongols, when China sent many Buddhist missionaries successively to Japan.

The text calls the change of the seat of the military government a matter of great moment in the history of the country, and gives as one reason that the supporters of the Ashikaga were not limited to the warriors of the eastern provinces. The text says Takauji owed his ultimate success rather to the soldiers from the western provinces, so that Kyoto suited far better as the centre of his new military régime than Kamakura. The writer says our experience in modern party government is still very meagre, and that after the constitution came many organic laws, the civil and penal code, and so forth, in order of proclamation.