Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life [Paperback]

Kikue Yamakawa (Author), Kate Nakai (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0804731497 | ISBN-13: 978-0804731492 | Edition: 1

Based on the recollection of the author’s mother, other relatives, and family records, this is a vivid picture of the everyday life of a samurai household in the last years of the Tokugawa period.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The book is a treasure house of immensely informative material. . . . An important addition to the small body of English-language works on the conditions of late Tokugawa society, told at a very human level.”—Comparative Studies in Society and History

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804731497
• ISBN-13: 978-0804731492
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a realistic and engaging account of samurai life, May 9, 2007

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This review is from: Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life (Paperback)

This is a very realistic and engaging account of samurai life just before the Meji restoration. Samurais are not idealised in this book, but instead their every day life is described. The focus is on women, as it retells history mainly from the view of the author's mother, but as women were completely dependent on men at the time, a lot of the account deals with how men as well as women lived. Topics such as school, dress, dwellings, amusments, family, marriage and divorce are covered, and at the same time the unrest in Mito domain before the restoration. The grandfather of the author had his own school and worked at the Office of Japanese History. He was one of the lower class samurai, but was recognized by the daimyo for his great learning and taught even his children at some point.

If you want to understand Japanese society in the 19th century up to the Restoration, this is an extremly interesting book. Highly recommended!