Japanese Inn. By Oliver Statler.
This book tells the story of Minaguchi-ya, a (real) inn on the road between Kyoto and Tokyo, the old capital and the new. It ranges from 1569 to the 1950s. Each chapter tells about the inn from the perspective of the then-current owners, over the generations. From these, you get some glimpse of what’s going in Japan as a whole.
The stories are well-told, and nicely illustrated with old block prints and paintings. I enjoyed it a lot.