Disc 1. Japan: a globally engaged island nation
Understanding Japan through ancient myths
The emergence of the Ritsuryō state
Aspects of the Japanese language
Disc 2. The rise of the samurai
Pure land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism
Samurai culture in the Ashikaga period
Japan at home and abroad, 1300-1600
Japan's isolation in the Tokugawa period
Japanese theater: Noh and Kabuki
Disc 3. The important of Japanese gardens
The meaning of Bushidō in a time of peace
Japanese poetry: the road to Haiku
Hokusai and the art of wood-block prints
Three visions of prewar Japan
Disc 4. War without a master plan: Japan, 1931-1945
Kurosawa and Ozu: two giants of film
The making of contemporary Japan.
