Every foreign traveler in Japan is delighted by the verdant forest-shrouded mountains that thrust skyward from one end of the island chain to the other. The Japanese themselves are conscious of the lush green of their homeland, which they sometimes refer to as "the green archipelago." Yet, based on its fragile geography and centuries of extremely dense human occupation, Japan today should be an impoverished, slum-ridden, peasant society subsisting on a barren, eroded moonscape characterized by bald mountains and debris-strewn lowlands. In fact, as Conrad Totman argues in this pathbreaking...
Every foreign traveler in Japan is delighted by the verdant forest-shrouded mountains that thrust skyward from one end of the island chain to the othe...
A survey of Japan's early modern period (1568-1868) that blends political, economic, intellectual, literary, and cultural history. It also introduces a fresh ecological perspective, covering natural disasters, resource use, demographics, and river control.
A survey of Japan's early modern period (1568-1868) that blends political, economic, intellectual, literary, and cultural history. It also introduces ...
This is the first study of its kind to trace the history of what was to become one of Japan's major resources and a model of conservation and forestry management. Central to the planning of the Meiji reformers was securing the long-term financial stability of the Imperial household that would not leave it exposed to the whims of future political and economic change. The solution was the goryorin, or imperial forests. Over time, however, the acquired land generated controversy within the framework of law and other imperatives, and was finally abandoned by the Occupation authorities...
This is the first study of its kind to trace the history of what was to become one of Japan's major resources and a model of conservation and forestry...
Quoting from a reader's report "this is an original and compelling synthesis of the environmental history of Korea and Japan." Taking the history of Japan and Korea and their environmental interactions from late Pleistocene down to about 1870 AD, the author makes a convincing case for viewing the two countries together, as a history, particularly when looking at their pre-industrial experiences. Drawing from a rare combination of knowledge of both countries, Conrad Totman reveals the extent of shared timing, substance, and dynamics in the political, social, and economic development of the...
Quoting from a reader's report "this is an original and compelling synthesis of the environmental history of Korea and Japan." Taking the history o...
