This book presents a range of work that seeks to move beyond stereotypes to reveal the diversity and complexities of rural life in Japan from 1900 to the present.

This is a selection of the best plays of Chikamatsu, one of the greatest Japanese dramatists. The introduction provides a survey of the history of Japanese drama which will assist the reader in better understanding the plays.

The last 120 years have seen great social change and development in Japan. In the early 1870s Japan was still a third world country - a newly unified island nation with a highly agrarian economy and an insecure and weak government. By 1914 Japan has progressed towards the beginnings of an industrial economy, it had established a small empire for itself and the government had gained full and effective control over the entire country. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, Japan is an economic giant, with a massive export economy and considerable clout in the international world community....