For students hoping to grasp the political  and cultural underpinnings of Japan prior to the Meiji Restoration, Conrad Totman’s Japan Before Perry: A Short History is an excellent starting point.  This work deals mainly with abstract elements, focusing on aesthetic primary sources like early warrior tales, No theater, and popular treatises.  Surprising, very little is concretely discussed in terms of historical events.  Major battles are only vaguely described.  The rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate, its transition into power, is almost completely ignored.  Instead focus is placed on the socio-political trends leading to that epoch.

If battle maps, military maneuvers, and concise descriptions of daily life in early Japan are what you are after, then Japan Before Perry would not leave you satisfied.  However, if one is interested in understanding the dynamics between early Japan’s classes: aristocratic, warrior, peasant, and merchant – then this is a great introduction while remaining relatively concise.