Amy Stanley's "Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Japanese Woman's Journey Through Her World"

Holly Maholm: I have lived in Japan, and I enjoyed this book for what it is. It captures the challenges of daily life for Japanese people in the three decades just prior to the arrival of the Black Ships. It does a good job of showing us the extreme poverty of the people, which is nothing like current Japan. This is not a novel, and we get very few actual facts - much less any real human emotions - of the primary character. But I would recommend this to understand how far Japan has come since the mid-1800s. Also, if you want to get another picture of Japan during this period, read Memories of Silk and Straw by Dr. Junichi Saga. It's a wonderful picture of ancient and mostly rural Japan.

United States on Nov 05, 2023

Eesha Williams: better than non-fiction if you want to understand the history of Japan

United States on Oct 01, 2023

Kelsie: This is really a great book. I was not looking forward to purchasing this since it was a required book for one of my university courses, however it turned out to be not only educational but entertaining as well. It did not feel like a book for a class as it is something I would read on my own as well. Tsuneno had a really unique life and it was fascinating to see how the author ties in one individual's life to some of the historical events outside of her circle. Yes, the author does make some assumptions which is nearly unavoidable when dealing with narrative history (especially women's history which is even less developed) but she gives good explanations within the context of the time period.

United States on Jul 19, 2023

永瀬真希子: 時代背景を考えると、主役の女性やこの家族は当時では異質な存在なんだろうと想像できる。又、作者の日本に対する知識不足を感じるフレーズが端々に感じられた。

Japan on Aug 07, 2022

tess: This is a great biography of an ordinary woman. I've very little knowledge of Japanese history, much less social development, but the footnotes are first class, and technically work well on the kindle, and your heart goes out to Tsuneno, a younger sister, much married and much divorced who in her middle years set off to live in Edo, the city that became Tokyo. A preserved family archive enables us to follow the footsteps of her life, and i for one thoroughly enjoyed it.

United Kingdom on Jul 15, 2021

markr: tells the story of Tsuneno, a young woman born in 1804 into a priestly family, but who ached to make her own way in the big city of Edo, now known as Tokyo.

In her letters home Tsuneno painted a vivid picture of Japan in the first half of the 19th century, just before American might forced an opening up to the outside word. In these pages we have the artist Hokusaki, stars of Kabuki theatre, magistrates, samurai, and shop keepers. We learn what people ate, what they wore, what they did to earn a living and to survive, and quite a lot along the way of how the world of the Shoguns operated.

The tale of Tsuneno's life is touching and fascinating. She emerges from these pages as of course she was - a real living person with hopes, dreams, fears, weaknesses and strengths, just like us. The times were very different, but the human condition is eternal, and the author has evoked old Edo, and the life of Tsuneno and her family brilliantly.

This is one of the best books of history writing that I have read in a very long time, and in my view it throughly deserves all the acclaim and nomination for prizes that it has received. The many many notes at the end of the book...

United Kingdom on Jul 14, 2021

S. Lelarge: A timeless tale of a young woman from the country who tries to make it in the big city: the city was Edo, the year 1836.
A wonderful account of the life in the Shogun's city with a very contemporary feel. Enthralling.

United Kingdom on Dec 31, 2020

Dr Jane: There are some passages which are hard going, but I read it to the end. I thought that it was a bit like reading Out of Africa in the original writings.

United Kingdom on Dec 18, 2020

H. Anderson: Amy Stanley's "Stranger in the Shogun's City" is one of those rare scholarly books that appeals to general readers, and you don't have to know anything about Japan to find it fascinating. Though I majored in Japanese history, I found much to learn from Stanley's biography of Tsuneno Izawa (1803-1853), the rebellious daughter of a priestly family from Echigo, a province in the Japan Alps. The fact that Tsuneno, after three failed marriages, escaped rural life and made a new life in Edo (now Tokyo) would have been noteworthy thirty years ago, but the fact that she did so during Tokugawa Era (1600-1868), when Japan was under centralized feudal rule, is remarkable. Stanley brings Tsuneneo's world to life: Echigo (now Niigata Prefecture), where her life revolved around Buddhist rituals, farming and the seasons, at least two of which brought snow so heavy that the region was cut off; and Edo, the vibrant, glittering capital that drew her like a magnet. By the time Tsuneno reached Edo in 1832, it was not only the largest city in the world but probably the most exciting, boasting not only theater, restaurants and nightlife but imported food and goods from all over Japan and beyond. That...

United States on Aug 24, 2020

Bobby D.: A few years ago historian Jill Lepore wrote “Book of Ages, The life of Jane Franklin.” This about Benjamin Franklin’s little known brilliant sister. The point of Lepore’s book was the importance of telling history through many voices, not just great men. This is the viewpoint I thought of when reading historian Amy Stanley’s book about Tokyo in the early 1800’s; this before the American’s showed up on Japan’s doorstep, and when the city’s name was Edo. A city seemingly built of wooden sticks susceptible to fire and the most exciting place to live in the country.
Stanley discovered an archive of letters written by a rural Japanese woman named Tsuneno who was born in 1804. The letters were between her and her Buddhist family, written in a difficult to translate text. The book follows Tsuneno’s life’s journey where at age 35 she walks to some 200 miles to Edo. From that point in the narrative, Stanley provides a duel biography of Tsuneno and Edo. Tsuneno died in 1853 at age 49 just as Admiral Perry’s arrived to “open” Japan from isolation and gave a push to the end of Shogun rule.
Tsuneno was born into a Buddhist temple priests family. At age 12 her...

United States on Aug 11, 2020