For more than two decades controversies about history have dominated political and public discourse in East Asia, focusing on the history of the region and, in particular, the development of modern Japan against the backdrop of global imperialism and colonialism. The construction of history and memory in East Asia has been dominated by national concerns and the perspective of the modern nation state - including the framing of issues pertaining to premodern and ancient history. Since the 1980s, however, historians have emphasized the interconnectedness and entanglement of the regions of premodern East Asia which do not fit into the framework of modern nation states. Taking into account some of the latest research by Japanese historians, contributions to this volume illustrate in rich detail Japan's engagement with East Asia (and vice versa) from the 9th to the 19th century.