A Landscape History of Japan

This book examines the landscape history of Japan. The most marked characteristic has been a tendency towards neat geometric lines drawn across the landscape, with a 'confusion' engendered by an apparent lack of order, hierarchy, and aesthetic. The landscape history approach, as suggested by the contributors of this book, places multiple factors (political, socio-economic, and cultural) in broader context with a cross-sectional analysis. Today, historical geography in Japan appears to be splitting into three approaches: integrated analysis, based on empirical inquiry; specific analysis, based on technological progress and data processing; and the contextual, perceptual, and behavioral perspectives. In practice, the three are progressing simultaneously, as well as interacting with each other. Historical-geographical techniques for reconstructing past landscapes have become popular among the practitioners of these disciplines. Historical geographers cooperate on survey projects of archaeological sites and, in the process, publish municipal histories. This volume is a collaboration that applies cutting-edge approaches to a variety of landscapes - such as urban districts, provincial capitals, and rural towns - and explores new frontiers in historical geography of Japan, covering the 6th century through the 20th century.