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Junʾichi Saga
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Memories of Silk and Straw: A Sel-Portrait of Small-Town Japan Kindle Edition

by Junichi Saga (Author), Shinya Yamaguchi (Editor), Garry O. Evans (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 72 ratings
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First published in Japanese in 1981, then translated into English and released by Kodansha International in 1986. Rendered out of print when the publisher ceased to exist in 2011. Re-published as an e-book in 2015.

Voted Best Book of the Year by Japan's foreign press, a collective autobiography based on interviews taped by a provincial doctor.

"A fascinating group of people-geisha, gangster, shop-keeper, seamstress, farmer, fisherman, carter, midwife - all speaking candidly about their lives."
-San Francisco Examiner

"The finest book on the realities of Japanese traditional life to have been published in English for a very long time - if ever."
-Alan Booth, author of The Roads to Sata

"A sensitive portrait of a Japan known to too few in the Western world."
-Choice

"A book to savor, a book to learn from."
-Ronald Dore, Harvard University

"Fascinating, plainspoken, and uninhibited."
-The Magazine
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    371 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    June 24, 2015
  5. File size
    16585 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

The finest book on ... traditional life to have been published in English for a very long time - if ever." -Alan Booth, author of The Roads to Sata

"A sensitive portrait of a Japan known to too few in the Western world." -Choice

"Fascinating, plainspoken, and uninhibited." -The Magazine

About the Author

JUNICHI SAGA, is a graduate of Keio University in medicine, with a practice in Tsuchiura, Ibaragi Prefecture-the focus of this book. He began taping his older patients' reminiscences about fifteen years ago when he realized what a wealth of information their memories contained. Though this is his first book to appear in English, he has published numerous works of local history and ecology, as well as several novels. He won the NHK Prize for a documentary work on the Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. He has published numerous works of local history and ecology, two of which are available in English: Memories of Wind and Waves and Confessions of a Yakuza

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B010EIUG7E
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 24, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 16585 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 371 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

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Junʾichi Saga

Junʾichi Saga

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Holly Maholm
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful history!
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2023
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What a wonderful book this is. It is a collection of first-hand accounts of ordinary Japanese living in the general period 1875 to 1950. What a different world it was. If you love Japan you will want to get this book and discover what Japan was like before anime and media and the internet. Well worth the time and money to get this book.
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Linda Austin - MoonbridgeBooks
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing stories!
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
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Thank goodness these stories of life in old Japan were saved!
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retrofinder
5.0 out of 5 stars Love Dr. Saga. Another lovely glimpse into old world Japan.
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2014
Verified Purchase
My only regret of Dr. Saga is that he did not write more books. They are beautiful. I love this book. Chapters are short and sweet but filled with wonderful descriptive stories. Just right for someone who does not get extended periods of time to read (working mom here). I would highly recommend this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Kateeliz33
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read about everyday people
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2016
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Maybe not a suspenseful page turner I found this book to be an intriguing look into to the lives and memories of everyday people, some were funny some were sad some just represented the simple daily life and others the relentless hard work of much of the working class rural Japan.
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K. Straley
5.0 out of 5 stars well written and interesting.
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2006
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A collection of interviews with people who tell stories of their lives in a small japanese village from about 1890 to 1930. Arranged by occupation, all are very interesting. One of the most intriguing aspects of the book is the commonality the stories share with my own American relatives (as to the hardships of farm life, what people did for fun, etc.). The book even occasionally slips into a "when I was a kid we had to walk two miles uphill in the snow" sort of mode, but this makes many of the stories all the more touching.
10 people found this helpful
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Bridie
5.0 out of 5 stars Visiting a lovely place and people.
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2017
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Beautiful paintings and very well written.
Loved the book, a real treasure, well worth the price.
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DS
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent personal stories
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2012
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Intriguing, personal stories that illustrate pre-war Japan from the point of view of peasants and tradesmen. Illustrates the deep poverty that the vast majority lived under. Strongly recommended.
One person found this helpful
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Dan B
5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome look into a bygone time in Japan
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2014
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An awesome look into a bygone time in Japan. I've read this many times over and it never gets old.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars A great book for those that are enchanted with
Reviewed in India on June 26, 2017
Verified Purchase
Imagine visiting a rural village in Japan in say, 1901 or 1911, and being surrounded by the septuagenarians residing in the village, that take turns every evening to share a memory, a custom.. a slice of their life with you; with no rules on what/how they can and cannot share.
For fifteen years starting in 1970, Dr Junichi Saga recorded voices of the oldest residents of a village, north of Tokyo, that does not even exist today - myriad oral histories of geishas, a yakuza, tofu-maker, rice-cracker maker, fishermen, horsemeat butcher, midwife, executioner, reed thatcher, okusan (translates to 'housewife that stays at the back of the house'!), charcoal burner, blacksmith on the life and times of a period that spans from the post Meji period to pre-World War II. These stories were transcribed and subsequently translated into English. A single story may seem incomplete or even abstract to a reader expecting to read a structured book; yet collectively; they present rare insights into the social & cultural fabric - some that continue into modern Japan. Despite their hardship, their strong sense of pride in following traditional cultures within the chores of their daily lives gives you a sense of why and how modern Japan is what it is.
A great book for those that are enchanted with, and eager to understand contemporary Japan. I recommend that you pace it out while reading it, about a story or two each day instead of the ‘rapid read at one go’ option.
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Yokohama local
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Japan on January 2, 2022
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This book isn’t easy to find. The condition stated was accurate and compared to the price of better condition books, it was reasonably priced. Getting this book allowed me to gift the one I had in nearly new condition and still have one for myself.
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Books on Asia
5.0 out of 5 stars An inside look at old Japan
Reviewed in Japan on October 27, 2018
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This book came recommended by someone else and we were not disappointed. It's a beautiful account of the lives of people in a small Japanese town who lived from 1900 till after WWII. The stories, told by the locals to the town doctor give us much insight onto the everyday lives of Japanese people living under the Imperial system. A rare kind of book, it allows the many residents of the town to tell the story of Japan rather than the outsider reporting the events. This book is a treasure and Dr. Saga has done a great service to Japan by preserving these memories. We're looking forward to reading the second book: Memories of Wind and Waves, by the same author.
2 people found this helpful
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HelenaN
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting for Japan enthusiasts
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2013
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This book, a collection of recollections of a doctor's patients in rural Japan, is interesting rather than unmissable, but is a good buy for anyone interested in pre Second World War Japan. The stories are anecdotes rather than having a beginning, middle and an end, but are an eye-opener for those unfamiliar with the fact that until post-War, the Japanese nation could not adequately feed or clothe its people. Rural life, with unpaved roads and even the sight of a horse a rarity, was tough - people walked miles with heavy loads on their backs; fishermen worked all winter in nothing but a loincloth; endentured prostitutes plied their desperate trade in the brothel doorways. Nevertheless, despite the harshness, you detect a longing among some of the older folk for a time when life was quieter and simpler, and the countryside had not been despoiled by buildings and roadways in Japan's modernisation miracle.
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