Japan

Jean-Pierre Lehmann explores Japan's transition from isolation to internationalisation.

Gordon Daniels on the sustained bombardement of the Japanese mainland, prior to the use of the Atomic bombs.

Japan had two great infatuations with the West: in the 1870s and during the American occupation of 1945-52. Forsaking traditional isolationism, Japan welcomed Western ideas and customs with open arms, and according to Jean-Pierre Lehmann, what resulted was not an ersatz Western culture but one that retained a distinct national identity