The book combines the research of leading modern Russian Japanese scholars and the work of young authors collected by Alexander Meshcheryakov, a famous Japanese scholar, translator Yasunari Kawabata, Murasaki Shikibu and others. The topics of the articles are Japanese literature from antiquity to the 21st century, Japanese religious and philosophical teachings, the history of scientific knowledge in Japan, Japanese music, painting, engraving and calligraphy, and everyday life. Particular attention is paid to the place of Japan in the big world, the history of understanding its relations with other countries, and above all with Russia. The book includes translations of several monuments of Japanese literature of the 9th-19th centuries. The book is equipped with a large number of illustrations, the design uses elements stylized as old Japanese paper.