Shortly after the end of the devastating war, a book on English conversation came out and became the first postwar best-seller in Japan. Published on Sept. 15, 1945, just one month after the ...

The story of Japan began with a dance, writes Lesley Downer, in her brisk and aptly titled book. Amaterasu, the mythical progenitor of Japan’s imperial line 2,600 years ago, was lured from her ...