How has Japan become a global superpower and what does the future look like for it? There was a time in the 1980s when, if the media were to be believed, the Japanese were set to become the masters of the world and owners of all our companies and intellectual properties. Today, Japan's rapid ascendancy now seems dwarfed by the metoric rise of its neighbour, China.

Here, Jonathan Clements charts the rise of Japan since the end of World War Two. Presenting the country as the Japanese themselves see it, he explains key issues in national reconstruction, the often-overlooked US Occupation, the influence of the Cold War, student unrest, political scandals, and the meteoric rise and sudden fall of the Japanese economy in the late 20th century.

He chronicles changes in women's rights and consumer habits, developments in politics, education and health today, and the shadow of nuclear issues from Hiroshima to Fukushima. He also raises topics rarely covered by the foreign media - Japan's ethnic minorities and burakumin underclass, the influence of organised crime and the hard sell behind "soft" power.