good book?

[solypsist]

so I'm desperate to find a decent readable book on feudal Japan. I picked up Clavell's lousy book out of impulse and it was..well, pretty much what could be expected.
anything? the more entertaining the better. you have the game, so you know what I'm looking for.

thanks

[FwSeal]

Just about the only book in english that might be what you are looking for is Eiji Yoshikawa's 'Taiko'. This novel, published in the US by Kodansha, covers the rise of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and spans from around 1545 to 1583. 'Taiko' also gives time to Takeda Shingen, Imagawa Yoshimoto, and, of course, Oda Nobunaga (as well as the many famous names Hideyoshi came into contact with during his career). The battles of Nagashino, Anegawa, Nagakute, Okehazama, and Takamatsu (and many others) are all there. The nice thing about 'Taiko' is that it is by a Japanese author well-versed in the history he is depicting.
Yoshikawa also wrote the better known 'Musashi' and the long out of print 'Tale of the Heike', a novel based on the life of Taira Kiyomori (of the 12th Century).

I can suggest many books of reference there are on Japan or even sites.

Try the samurai archives:
http://www.techjapanese.com/%7Esamurai/index.html

------------------
Honour to Clan Kenchikuka.

Visit my resource centre at:

http://terazawa_tokugawa.tripod.com/terazawatokugawa

[Dwimmerlaik]

I will agree with FWSeal there, the Yoshikawa book is an excellent intro.

[solypsist]

Well I just got back from the library and have the book. I flipped through it (and am doing so right now again) and it looks pretty good.
Thanks.

[The Black Ship]

We'll see you in a few days Soly, once I started Taiko I couldn't put it down http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

The Musashi series read like dime store novels, but are a fun and quick read too http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

[FwSeal]

It actually took me a few years to realize how true to events Yoshikawa kept 'Taiko'. Aside from the dialogue, most of the story is true - or, at least, faithful to the most commonly accepted idea of the day (no one really knows for sure, for example, what Hideyoshi was up to prior to 1570 but Yoshikawa presents what many Japanese accept as fact - or want most to believe).
Best of all, there are many names and events in Taiko one won't see in any western samurai history books (such as they are...).

[HattoriKun]

The Musashi series - I think there were 4 or 5 books - is very entertaining and highly recommended. Not too much about the Sengoku Jidai battles except in the very beginning which starts out on the battlefield of Sekigahara (aftermath). There were also some famous people of the period thrown in, like one of the Hojos.

[Anssi Hakkinen]

I'm sorry to dig up this ridiculously old thread, but I have to vent my elation. And this might even be useful to some of you, too.

I read Eiji Yoshikawa's "Musashi", and considered it very entertaining - a good read, by any standards. Because of the recommendations presented above, I started looking for a copy of "Taikô" - and ran into a solid wall. There isn't a single copy in the Helsinki City Library. I rummaged through the biggest bookstores in Helsinki and had to write the book's and the author's name on a little piece of paper twice (the clerks just can't spell Japanese). The result: nothing. Apparently, there isn't a single copy of Taikô on sale anywhere in Finland.

I finally gave up, and looked it up at Amazon.com. And - Namu Amida Butsu! - I found this:

Taikô@Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/4770026099/o/qid=976499757/sr=2-1/102-1272466-1116961)

It seems that Taikô is being reprinted, in all its glory. Full hardcover, nearly a thousand pages, due to be released next month (January 2001). The translation seems to be the original one, but I haven't seen anyone complain about it, so I don't care.

Well, what more can I say. The council is pleased. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

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"The right use of the sword is that it should subdue the barbarians while lying gleaming in its scabbard. If it leaves its sheath it cannot be said to be used rightly."
- Tokugawa Ieyasu: Legacy

[This message has been edited by Anssi Hakkinen (edited 12-11-2000).]

[The Black Ship]

All I can say is you'll love it Anssi, it was a great read http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif I don't know if it's the most accurate historically, but who cares when the story is gripping in it's own right!

[hach]

sorry soly

can't disagree more.
pure fiction 'but shogun is my fave book of all time.(and i've read an awful lot of books)

pure fiction'but what a story.
read it 5 times now.

hach

[Word-san]

One of my favorite samurai books is "The Ronin: A Novel Based on a Zen Myth" by the gaijin William Dale Jennings. It truly captures the bushido spirit, and contains some very clever and funny Zen/samurai humor as well. A thoroughly enjoyable, and short, read.

Have any of you read Mishima Yukio's short story, "Patriotism"? It is a sickeningly graphic account of a young couple's suicide pact. I actually grew queasy while reading it and had to lie down, and I have a pretty strong stomach. But it goes a long way toward showing Mishima's own fascination with seppuku, as well as traditional Japanese notions of an honorable death.

[Ieyasu]

Mishima's short, "Patriotism" is an amazing work in its descriptive passing in the ceremonial deed of seppukku. It is quite visceral, as Idaho has pointed out. It seems much of the historical culture of Japan could be deemed "visceral", lol.

I haven't read "Taiko" yet (though there is quite a wondrous little sushi joint in Southern California called Taiko, should anyone be in the neighborhood, lol)... and after reading this thread, I MUST get it.

Thanks for sharing. I will wait for the reprint in January to be released.

Oh, btw, does anyone know of any English works on the whole "47 Ronin" story? That's another one I would love to read.