42 Quotes by Kenneth Henshall

In the 20th century, Pearl Harbor was not the first Japanese strike in the Pacific War, nor was America the first western victim. Moreover, America had plans to strike Japan first.

Japan's ancient myths were first recorded in the late 7th century, eventually appearing as the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Things) in 712 and the Nihongi or Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) in 720. They were initiated by Emperor Temmu (r. 673-86), who wanted to legitimise the supremacy of the imperial family by giving it divine origins.

Genetically, in modern Japan 54% of male lines and 66% of female lines show Sino-Korean origins.

Most of experts now believe the first verifiable emperor was Söjin. The Nihon Shoki lists him as the 10th emperor and gives his death as equivalent to 30 BC, whereas the Kojiki gives it as AD 258. In fact, 318 seems most likely.

It was from Korea - specifically priest-scholars from the Korean Kingdom of Paekche - that Buddhism was introduced in the mid 6th century. Its adoption was greatly aided by the practice of writing, which had also been introduced by scholars from Paekche a century earlier.

Though small relative to China's population of more than 60 million, the 5 million or so people in Japan at the end of the 7th century represented a huge figure compared to European populations of the time.

China's influence was seen not only in the design of the city but also in grand buildings such as the Todaiji Temple, the largest wooden building in the world.

It was during the age of Nara that Chinese writing led to the appearance of the first real books produced in Japan, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles of 712 and 720. These were followed shortly afterwards by the first poetry anthologies, the Kaifosu (Fond Recollections of Poetry) of 751 and the Manyusho ( Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) of 759. Some documents were even printed, another Chinese influence.

The use of the male pronoun above is deliberate, for the Chinese preferred their emperors to be male. This was one thing that was not modified in Japan. Although there were half of dozen reigning empresses in very early Japan, from 770 to the present only 2 females were to ascend the Japanese throne, both briefly and both in name only.