Books: Japan's millennia-spanning history, told in a nutshell

Some countries have more history than others, in the sense of an unbroken record of significant events. While falling short of China’s three millennia of civilization, Japan has a long and rich national story that stretches back some 2,000 years.

What makes it extraordinary is the country’s resilience in the face of all kinds of adversity, from Mongol invasion to atomic bombing, from devastating earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to an 80% collapse in land and stock prices. In fact, most of the world’s oldest businesses are Japanese. The grand champion of durability is Nishiyama Onsen Hotel, which was founded in 705 and operated by the same family into the 21st century.