This volume, edited by Joan Piggott (University of Southern California, Los Angeles), includes fourteen essays, originally written in Japanese and here interpreted in English. It introduces readers to a broader array of historical and archaeological research on center-periphery relations than has ever before been available to English readers. Each essay has been translated, annotated, and introduced by a specialist who selected it for its invaluable contribution to his or her own work, and who here renders it into English for a non-specialist audience.The book features thirteen newly created maps, and also includes an exhaustive list of sources (including Chinese characters). Together with its readable and well-annotated text, extensive glossary, rich bibliography, and comprehensive index, these combined tools make for a valuable resource to scholars and students interested in premodern Japan.
Researchers whose work has been interpreted include Tsude Hiroshi, Kobayashi Yukio, Hara Hidesabur , Inoue Tatsuo, Takahashi Tomio, Takeda Sachiko, Hotate Michihisa, Morita Tei, Sasaki Muneo, Toda Yoshimi, Miyazaki Yasumitsu, Motoki Yasuo, Ishimoda Sh , and Koyama Yasunori. Scholar-interpreters include Mikael Adolphson, Michiko Aoki, Bruce Batten, Walter Edwards, Karl Friday, Jan Goodwin, Gustav Heldt, and Joan Piggott.