Alexander Rayevsky is a Japanese historian, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, associate professor at Tohoku University (Japan). Graduated from the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Lomonosov Moscow State University, defended his PhD thesis 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, which has given the world so many original cultural phenomena that it is impossible to count. Geographically being the East, and mentally gravitating to the West, it hovered somewhere in the middle and is able to surprise any foreigner.This book is for those who feel the charm of Japan, are intrigued and would like to learn more about it. It combines academic knowledge about the history and culture of the country, as well as the personal experience of the author. The seriousness of the content is combined with a fascinating narrative language and ease of presentation. The pages of this book are waiting for you:– the main milestones of Japanese history — from the Samurai wars to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; – the roots of the phenomenon of manga and anime, as well as classic Japanese cinema; – amazing facts about the national cuisine of the Japanese and their tastes; – finally, an attempt to collect all the details of this puzzle to understand the mysterious Japanese soul.To understand Japan, of course, is very difficult, but this book is written in order to help everyone who wants to take the first step in this direction.