If you want to learn liberal arts, buy a "World History Textbook"

I would like to introduce some things that I thought, "Oh, this was a good purchase."

Yamakawa Shuppansha's "Modern World History A" and Hamajima Shoten's "New Detailed World History Illustrated".

When learning liberal arts, world history is something you absolutely cannot avoid.

When you gain knowledge about something, if you trace it back to its origin, it often leads to world history.

Let me give you an example.
I recently bought octopus at the supermarket. At that time, I happened to look at the country of origin.

Do you know which country Japan imports the most octopus from?

The correct answer is a country on the western tip of Africa, Mauritania.

That's imported from quite far away, isn't it? Why is that?

That is because there is a "deep bond" between Mauritania and Japan.

Mauritania gained independence from France in 1960.
It had no industry to support the country, and the people were suffering from poverty.

That was when the Japanese government at the time extended a helping hand.

With the cooperation of the Fisheries Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a man named Masaaki Nakamura persistently taught them how to catch and export octopus, which was Mauritania's strength.

Eventually, octopus fishing became a major industry for the country, and now it accounts for half of the country's income (!?).

Even now, the people of Mauritania are grateful to Japan and Masaaki Nakamura, and it is said that they specially allow Japanese fishing boats into their territorial waters and name their children "

Nakamura" or "Masaaki".

(If you are interested, please also check out the article below.)

It's interesting, isn't it?
You can learn such fascinating liberal arts even from grocery shopping.

But to understand this story more deeply, you'll want to know about things like
"Why did Mauritania gain independence in 1960?"
"Why was it ruled by France?"
"Why did Japan provide support?"
around that area.

This is exactly what world history is.

When learning liberal arts, the root causes often involvecolonial rule,the Industrial Revolution,Christianity, and so on.

And further upstream, there are things likephilosophy,war, andideology.

That is where the aforementioned "Modern World History A" and "New Detailed World History Illustrated" come in handy.
The means to learn about world history comprehensively, visually, and chronologically is valuable.

Rather than buying practical books titled "World History," I think it is better to start by getting these two books.

However,they are not easily available.
These books arehigh school textbooks, after all.

So, how do you get them?

My recommended method is to "buy them on a flea market app".
Mainly people who have graduated from high school are selling them at super low prices.

I can say this with certainty because I read books all the time, but
it is unusual to be able to get a full-color book of this level for 300 yen.
For those who want to learn liberal arts from now on, you won't regret buying them.

I have introduced some things that I am glad I bought.

Sociologist Daizaburo Hashizume, author of "What is Liberal Arts for Humans", states that "liberal arts exist to help us transcend our own narrow boundaries."

World history is perfect for broadening your perspective.
I hope you all try learning some liberal arts as well.
It's fun!

I usually share insights gained from reading.
I would be happy if you followed me here → ◆

See you next time.

#ThingsIGladIBought