I Understood Japan. From Dragons to Pokemon

Alexander Raevsky – a historian of Japan, candidate of psychological sciences, associate professor at Tohoku University in Japan. He graduated from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University, defended his candidate dissertation on the religious sect Aum Shinrikyo. In 2019, he moved to Japan, where he still lives and works. Japan, without a doubt, is one of the most mysterious and amazing countries on Earth, having gifted the world so many unique cultural phenomena that it is hard to count. Geographically being East, yet mentally leaning towards the West, it hangs somewhere in the middle and is capable of surprising any foreigner. This book is for those who feel the charm of Japan, are intrigued, and would like to learn more about it. Here, academic knowledge about the history and culture of the country is combined with the author’s personal experience. The seriousness of the content is combined with an engaging narrative style and ease of exposition. On the pages of this book, you will find: – the main milestones of Japanese history – from the samurai wars to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; – the roots of the phenomenon of manga and anime, as well as classical cinema in Japan; – amazing facts about the national cuisine of the Japanese and their tastes; – finally, an attempt to piece together all the details of this puzzle to understand the mysterious Japanese soul. Understanding Japan, of course, is quite challenging, but this book is written to help all those willing to take the first step in this direction.