Introduction: Writing Japanese history -- The birth of the Yamato State, 14,500 BCE-710 CE -- The Courtly Age, 710-1185 -- The rise of Samurai rule, 1185-1336 -- Medieval Japan and the warring states period, 1336-1573 -- Japan's encounter with Europe, 1543-1640 -- Unifying the realm, 1560-1603 -- Early modern Japan, 1600-1800 -- The rise of imperial nationalism, 1770-1854 -- Meiji enlightenment, 1868-1912 -- Meiji's discontents, 1868-1920 -- The birth of Japan's imperial state, 1800-1910 -- Empire and imperial democracy, 1905-1931 -- The Pacific War, 1931-1945 -- Japan's post-war history, 1945-present -- Natural disasters and the edge of history.