Silk Roads exhibition: Review In Historia Magazine
Lesley Downer, the author of The Shortest History of Japan, reviews the Silk Roads exhibition at the British Museum, open until February, 2025. […]
News & Events
Tour dates, public lectures and other news
Lesley Downer on Poetry in Japan’s Deep North – Personal Landscapes Podcast
Speaking about about Matsuo Basho’s haiku, mountain ascetics and Japan’s undiscovered north. […]
Talk at The Japan Society on 21st October
Not all shoguns and samurai. On Monday October 21st, I will be speaking to the Japan Society on some of the extraordinary women who populate Japanese history, starting with Himiko the Shaman Queen. […]
Travel in Old Japan: In Unseen Histories
In this piece Lesley Downer, an expert of Japanese culture and history and the author of The Shortest History of Japan and On the Narrow Road to the Deep North, explains how an advanced society sought to move without wheels.[…]
How Empresses Shaped Japan – Books on Asia Podcast 37
Lesley discusses her just-released The Shortest History of Japan: From Mythical Origins to Pop Culture Powerhouse, which provides a concise yet detailed account of Japanese history. […]
From the world’s first pots to Cool Japan: In Book Brunch
Lesley Downer on how she has told Japan’s history – in 50,000 words. […]
Japan’s Court Ladies, Warrior Women and Courtesans: In Historia Magazine
Lesley Downer, the author of The Shortest History of Japan, looks at different roles taken by women during that country’s long history: court ladies, warrior women and courtesans. She shows how, through the ages, they have found ways to use their skills to make their voices heard.[…]
A Master Class: In The Camden New Journal
Historian and journalist Lesley Downer’s new book, The Shortest History of Japan, has allowed the South End Green-based writer to bring together a lifetime of study. […]
Kyoto: Japan’s Imperial City- Echoes of History Podcast
Hugely enjoyed delving deep into Kyoto life in the glittering Momoyama period … Hideyoshi’s tea parties and cherry blossom parties and much else. Please have a listen! […]
HUGE NEWS! THE SHORTEST HISTORY OF JAPAN – out in Australia on June 4th and the US on July 31st
The exciting, engrossing and thrilling story of the whole of Japanese history – 16,500 years in a few pages, from 14,500 BC (world’s first pottery) to yesterday, to make you think, ‘Wow, Japanese history is really exciting!’ […]