What is your favourite period in Japanese history ?

[tzvete]

I choose Nara and Heian It's because of the literature though.

[Giostigma]

I don't know much about Japanese history but the Late Showa era appears like it was a good time to live in.

[Dogen Z]

If you combine all the votes for the Showa era (why is it split up in the poll?), you'd count 34 votes, second only to the Edo era. Maybe it's because of its closeness (people tend to magify the importance of recent events) or maybe its my fondness for the Showa era bars under the tracks at Yurakucho, but I think the Showa era may be one of the most important periods in Japanese history.

And to provide a more personal take on this period, Kaoru Shoji (one of the very, very, few good writers for the Japan Times) has written an interesting aricle about this time.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0090909ks.html

During the many ups and downs of the Showa Era, the fifth decade (1975-1980) — or the '50s — was a relatively good time to grow up. In Tokyo, there were still such things as roji (路地, alleyways), where tiny houses crowded against each other, kids played marbles and adults grew flowers in small earthenware pots. No one bothered to lock their doors, and everyone looked out for each other. On the other hand, sanitary standards on the streets weren't always up to scratch — pipes overflowed after big rainstorms, huge splotches of vomit dotted pavements like avant-garde art installations, carcasses of dead rats and cats often greeted one on the walk to school, and stray dogs with skin disease lurked behind trash cans. Kimochiwarui, demo omoshiroi! (気持ち悪い、でもおもしろい, Yucky, but interesting!)