From The Heritage of Japanese Civilization by A.M. Craig (2001)
The world's first novel was written in Japan. Although 1,000 years old, The Tale of Genji is still taught in high schools and is considered the greatest work of Japanese fiction. It's as quintessentially Japanese as cherry blossoms and samurai. (p.26)Textbook cover - The word kamikaze has an unexpected origin. Literally translated as "divine wind", it was the typhoon that helped repel Kublai Khan's colossal invasion of Japan in 1281. Reminds one of the famous "Protestant wind." (pp.38-39)
- What an interesting historical connection between Nazi fascism and Japanese militarism: the prewar Japanese constitution, which gave nearly unlimited powers to the emperor, was adapted from the Prussian constitution. In the 1880s, the Japanese went shopping for a new constitution and essentially brought back the ultraconservative German model (along with a few German scholars to help work out the details). (p.104)
