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Mark Hudson

24 Hours in Shogun’s Japan

A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There

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Details

Imprint: O'Mara Books

Publication date: 09/04/2026

ISBN: 9781789298550

Subject: Non-Fiction

Category: Science - History - Philosophy

Binding: Hardback

Size: 198 x 129 mm

Extent: 272 pages

Illustration: black and white photography and illustrations embedded

Territorial Rights: World (All Languages)

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Summary:

A day in 1614 Japan, told through 24 unforgettable lives, revealing the drama, danger and daily life of this pivotal era of Japanese history.

In 1614, Japan stood at a crossroads. As the Tokugawa shogunate tightened its grip on power, samurai prepared for war, Christians faced persecution and foreign merchants navigated a rapidly shifting political landscape.

In 24 Hours in Shogun’s Japan, Mark Hudson brings this pivotal moment to life through the eyes of 24 individuals – nobles and farmers, merchants and monks, pirates and poets – each living through one dramatic hour of a single day. From the streets of Kyoto to the slopes of Mount Fuji, this book offers an immersive portrait of this fascinating era of Japanese history.

Also available:
24 Hours in Ancient Rome (9781789291278)
24 Hours in Ancient Egypt (9781789293517)
24 Hours in Ancient Athens (9781789293500)
24 Hours in Ancient China (9781789296488)
24 Hours in the Viking World (9781789295832)

Sales points:

  • The latest entry in the bestselling 24 Hours series, featuring 24 Hours in the Viking World, 24 Hours in Ancient Rome, 24 Hours in Ancient Egypt, 24 Hours in Ancient China and 24 Hours in Ancient Athens, which has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide to date and has been translated into over 15 languages.

  • A uniquely accessible format that offers a vivid and wide-ranging narrative portrait of the Shogun era.

  • Japan is a popular subject across history, media and pop culture – this spiked following the hugely successful FX/Disney adaptation of James Clavell’s Shogun, series two of which is expected to TX in early 2026.

  • Author Dr Mark Hudson is a researcher in the Department of Archaeology at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. He taught archaeology in Japan for more than twenty years and was Professor at the University of West Kyushu and the Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre.

About the Author:

Mark Hudson

Dr Mark Hudson was educated at SOAS (BA), Cambridge (M.Phil) and the Australian National University (PhD). He taught archaeology and anthropology in Japan for more than twenty years and was Professor at the Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre, where he helped design the prize-winning exhibits on Mount Fuji. Mark is currently a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany and a research associate of the Institut d’Asie Orientale in France. His previous publications include Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands and, as co-editor, Volume 1 of the Cambridge World History of Violence.

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