![Inventing Japan [Modern Library Chronicles] audiobook cover art](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51efoHgX5HL._SL500_.jpg)
-
Inventing Japan [Modern Library Chronicles]
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 07-15-05
- Language: English
- Publisher: Recorded Books
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $23.95
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 947
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 822
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 819
What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Highly recommended
- By Mike Keith on 08-08-16
-
A Tokyo Romance
- By: Ian Buruma
- Narrated by: Ian Buruma
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
When Ian Buruma arrived in Tokyo in 1975, Japan was little more than an idea in his mind, a fantasy of a distant land. A sensitive misfit in the world of his upper middle class youth, what he longed for wasn't so much the exotic as the raw, unfiltered humanity he had experienced in Japanese theater performances and films, witnessed in Amsterdam and Paris.
-
Killing Commendatore
- A Novel
- By: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 28 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
In Killing Commendatore, a 30-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious 13-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Masterpiece and A Good Novel To Start
- By Elif Kaya on 10-18-18
-
A Brief History of the Samurai
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 149
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 134
From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well narrated
- By Joseph on 12-30-14
-
The Republic for Which It Stands
- The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896
- By: Richard White
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 34 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
At the end of the Civil War the leaders and citizens of the victorious North envisioned the country's future as a free-labor republic, with a homogenous citizenry, both black and white. The South and West were to be reconstructed in the image of the North. Thirty years later Americans occupied an unimagined world. The unity that the Civil War supposedly secured had proved ephemeral. The country was larger, richer, and more extensive but also more diverse.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THIS IS WHAT HISTORY IS ABOUT!
- By Magyar on 07-06-18
-
The World's Greatest Cities: The History of Tokyo
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Richard Glass
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2
After a series of conflicts among feudal lords, the new city of Edo became and remained Japan's beating heart, and in the 17th century Edo gave birth to a vibrant, new urban culture marked by woodblock prints, the kabuki theater, and haiku poetry. By the 18th century, with its ranks swelled thanks to a flood of provincial daimyo, along with their households, clients, and retainers, Edo had become the most populous urban area in the world, a title Tokyo still can lay claim to today.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Between Academic and Lay
- By riyad on 09-05-16
-
The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 947
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 822
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 819
What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Highly recommended
- By Mike Keith on 08-08-16
-
A Tokyo Romance
- By: Ian Buruma
- Narrated by: Ian Buruma
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
When Ian Buruma arrived in Tokyo in 1975, Japan was little more than an idea in his mind, a fantasy of a distant land. A sensitive misfit in the world of his upper middle class youth, what he longed for wasn't so much the exotic as the raw, unfiltered humanity he had experienced in Japanese theater performances and films, witnessed in Amsterdam and Paris.
-
Killing Commendatore
- A Novel
- By: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 28 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
In Killing Commendatore, a 30-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious 13-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Masterpiece and A Good Novel To Start
- By Elif Kaya on 10-18-18
-
A Brief History of the Samurai
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 149
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 134
From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well narrated
- By Joseph on 12-30-14
-
The Republic for Which It Stands
- The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896
- By: Richard White
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 34 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
At the end of the Civil War the leaders and citizens of the victorious North envisioned the country's future as a free-labor republic, with a homogenous citizenry, both black and white. The South and West were to be reconstructed in the image of the North. Thirty years later Americans occupied an unimagined world. The unity that the Civil War supposedly secured had proved ephemeral. The country was larger, richer, and more extensive but also more diverse.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THIS IS WHAT HISTORY IS ABOUT!
- By Magyar on 07-06-18
-
The World's Greatest Cities: The History of Tokyo
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Richard Glass
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2
After a series of conflicts among feudal lords, the new city of Edo became and remained Japan's beating heart, and in the 17th century Edo gave birth to a vibrant, new urban culture marked by woodblock prints, the kabuki theater, and haiku poetry. By the 18th century, with its ranks swelled thanks to a flood of provincial daimyo, along with their households, clients, and retainers, Edo had become the most populous urban area in the world, a title Tokyo still can lay claim to today.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Between Academic and Lay
- By riyad on 09-05-16
-
Kokoro
- By: Natsume Soseki
- Narrated by: Matt Shea
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 132
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 122
The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Heart Of Things, Relationships & Feelings
- By Sara on 04-27-15
-
Embracing Defeat
- By: John W. Dower
- Narrated by: Edward Lewis
- Length: 21 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 248
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 152
This illuminating study explores the ways in which the shattering defeat of the Japanese in World War II, followed by over six years of American military occupation, affected every level of Japanese society. The author describes the countless ways in which the Japanese met the challenge of "starting over", from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes, fears, and activities of ordinary men and women in every walk of life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Pulitzer Prize Winner!
- By KF on 10-09-07
-
Japan - Culture Smart!
- The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
- By: Paul Norbury
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Japan is at a crossroads. The postwar economic miracle that brought it unprecedented development and prosperity is over. Since the publication of the first Culture Smart! guide, it has been overtaken by China as the world's second-largest economy. The balance of power in Asia has shifted and new players are entering the field. No one can predict how Japan will rise to the challenge, or what effect the changes will have on how people live, think, and behave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
helpful and accurate
- By Anonymous User on 01-18-18
-
Bending Adversity
- Japan and the Art of Survival
- By: David Pilling
- Narrated by: Tim Andes Pabon
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
In Bending Adversity, Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great story, but the narrator was distracting
- By Amazon Customer on 05-31-16
-
In Praise of Shadows
- By: Junichiro Tanizaki
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women, and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright, and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavorably with the moody and natural light of the East.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting pov
- By Mary on 05-26-18
-
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Edmund Morris
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 26 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,146
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,871
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,871
Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic," The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September 14th, 2001, marked the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent book, excellent narrator.
- By Chris M on 11-11-10
-
Snow Country
- By: Yasunari Kawabata
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 74
The story of the doomed love affair of a wealthy sophisticate, Shimamura, and the geisha Komako, at a mountain hotspring resort in western Japan, one of the snowiest regions on earth.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Tragedy...
- By Douglas on 04-24-16
-
Bushido: The Soul of Japan
- By: Israel Bouseman, Inazo Nitobe
- Narrated by: Diana Gardiner
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Bushido. This one word contains a wealth of meaning. Honor and grace, strength and compassion, loyalty and vengeance. Bushido is the warrior code of the samurai, a standard of conduct and an unwritten guide for right behavior and attitude. It is the core principle of ethics in Japan, an ideal that extends into every aspect of life and character.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good book - unneeded lengthy foreword
- By Ivan ivanic on 04-19-18
-
The Search for Modern China
- By: Jonathan D. Spence
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 98
The history of China is as rich and strange as that of any country on earth. Yet for many, China’s history remains unknown, or known only through the stylized images that generations in the West have cherished or reviled as truth. With his command of character and event - the product of 30 years of research and reflection in the field - Spence dispels those myths in a powerful narrative. Over four centuries of Chinese history, Spence fashions the astonishing story of the effort to achieve a modern China.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Read, Difficult Chinese
- By Patricia on 01-02-13
-
The Overstory
- By: Richard Powers
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 22 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 458
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 425
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 424
The Overstory unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fable that range from antebellum New York to the late 20th-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. An air force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits 100 years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Astonishingly powerful writing.
- By Alexandria on 04-18-18
-
The Russian Revolution
- A New History
- By: Sean McMeekin
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 236
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 211
Historian Sean McMeekin traces the events that ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation. Taking advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist regime in the middle of World War I, the Bolsheviks staged a hostile takeover of the Russian Imperial Army, promoting mutinies and mass desertions of men in order to fulfill Lenin's program of turning the "imperialist war" into civil war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book on the Russian Revolution
- By IRP on 09-02-17
-
Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom
- China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
- By: Stephen R. Platt
- Narrated by: Angela Lin
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 72
Stephen R. Platt is widely respected for his incisive nonfiction, particularly in regard to his knowledge and understanding of China. With Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Platt details the absorbing narrative of the Taiping Rebellion, which resulted in the loss of 20 million lives. Occurring in the 1850s, this is the story of a cultural movement characterized by intriguing personages such as influential military strategist Zeng Guofan and brilliant Taiping leader Hong Rengan.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
InTOLerable Reader
- By Adam on 07-07-12
Publisher's Summary
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars27
-
4 Stars41
-
3 Stars29
-
2 Stars3
-
1 Stars3
Performance
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars11
-
4 Stars28
-
3 Stars12
-
2 Stars4
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars18
-
4 Stars20
-
3 Stars16
-
2 Stars2
-
1 Stars0
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- John Pavliga
- Berkeley, CA USA
- 06-13-06
Excellent Primer on Modern Japan
I could have used this audiobook a couple years ago when I took Japanese Politics in college. This covered all of the important developments, social phenomena, etc., that went into the making of modern Japan. The chronology starts at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and describes clearly the Meiji Restoration, Taisho Democracy, Showa and the militarist war government so that you get a very good sense of how one period flowed into the next to make Japan what it is today -- essentially a one-party corporate state managed by the LDP. The roles of left and right radicals, gangsters, fixers and the American occupation authorities are all discussed. If I'd had this in school, I could have gotten an A+.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Konstantin
- State College, PA, United States
- 04-09-16
Not much left in my head after listening
Would you listen to Inventing Japan [Modern Library Chronicles] again? Why?
Maybe
Any additional comments?
I guess, I am not a fan of these kind of fast-paced overviews of the historical events: too many names, too much information. Not much left in my head after the listen.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- John
- 09-01-18
okay, but not well organized
okay, but not well organized ...it did have some interesting points. but was just ok
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Noah
- New York, New York
- 03-10-14
The epic story of Imperial era Japan
If you could sum up Inventing Japan [Modern Library Chronicles] in three words, what would they be?
Japan is cool.
What did you like best about this story?
This is one of those histories that reads like a story. Eminently listenable.
What aspect of Nelson Runger’s performance would you have changed?
The narrator simply did not know how to pronounce Japanese words correctly.
Any additional comments?
For people looking for a quick introduction to modern Japanese history, look no further.