Japan Encyclopedia

by Louis Frédéric

Book Overview

Richly detailed yet concise, this encyclopaedia covers the full range of Japanese history, culture and civilisation, from the dawn of its prehistory to modern times, providing information on every aspect of Japanese society and its institutions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674017536
• ISBN13: 9780674017535
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Length: 1102 Pages
• Weight: 3.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Not bad for a one-volume encyclopedia

I picked up a copy of this book a few years ago and generally keep it around. This book was translated from French, and could probably do with a better translation. I do wonder whether Frederec actually wrote all of the articles, whether he edited the work, or merely lent his name to it. The short articles are for the most part fairly accessible and resonably accurate. The problem is that they are not all accurate. On the other hand, I have found inaccuracies in many other places including museum exhibits. Consequently, if you are a beginner or simply want a handy reference, this is a pretty good book to buy. However, the individual articles are not attested for authorship nor are they annotated for source. Yes! You can do better than this book. However, if you are in a position to do so, then you probably read Japanese and are using Japanese sources for much of your work. I am probably giving it one star more than I really should, but I beleive that its current average is too low. This book fills a niche between popular treatments and authoratative scholary treatments. If one keeps this in mind, then it can be quite useful.