Seventeeth Century: Japan bans foreign books and isolates itself from the rest of the world.

Today: Japan is an economic world power, and Tokyo is a cosmopolitan city.

Seventeeth Century: Tokugawa Ieyasu is the most powerful man in Japan and in 1603 is appointed Shogun by the emperor. He establishes his military government in Edo (Tokyo), and Tokugawa shoguns rule Japan for more than 250 years.

Today: Japan has a representative democracy, but its government is dominated by one party— the Liberal Democratic Party.

Seventeeth Century: The Tokugawa shogunate oppresses Western religions.

Today: Western religions are practiced in Japan, which has developed a society tolerant of many belief systems.

Seventeeth Century: Buddhism is practiced throughout Japan, but is little known in the West.

Today: Buddhism is becoming increasingly popular in western countries such as the United States, as an increasing number of people seek an alternative...