Here is a unique book about the world's greatest and most exotic nation - the Japanese. In the XX century, Russia twice went to war with Japan, but this country still remains a mystery to us in the East. Meanwhile, more and more Russian citizens visit Japan either for business purposes or as tourists. To discover Japan for you, to prepare you for a meeting with another civilization that bears little resemblance to our own, is the goal of this book.The study covers a huge period of time from the birth of Japanese statehood to the collapse of Imperial Japan in 1945. The author-the world-famous Japanese historian of the XX century Hani Goro-in his work departs from the official interpretation of events by Japanese historical science, offers his periodization of Japanese history and puts forward a number of bold hypotheses.The book has endured more than a dozen reprints in the Land of the rising sun and has been published many times abroad in Japan. In modern Russia, the new edition of the book is published for the first time. A large number of unique illustrations makes the book a great gift.