Shimazaki: Before the Dawn Paper

By Tōson Shimazaki

Book Overview

"Although Before the Dawn is the story of the author's family and of the Meiji restoration, it is much more than that; the aftermath of the events that form its context have fundamentally altered the nature of the world we live in. Its author was a man of sophistication and erudition even though he was not given to virtuoso displays of either quality. He created this novel out of his personal and artistic needs, and out of his sense of the need of Japan and the world community to know the story he tells in it. Japan has been richly served by the original. But Toson had a worldwide as well as a Japanese audience in mind when he wrote Before the Dawn. This translation has been done in the hope of contributing to that undertaking.

"Before the Dawn looks back on the adventure, turmoil, and tragedy of the mid-nineteenth century with a clear and unsentimental vision, but it speaks of those times in tones of tact, humility, and deference. It is a celebration of the humanity of its characters and the richness, complexity, and diversity of the lives they lived during the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate and the first two decades of the Meiji era. For all the weight of its historical concerns, it maintains its lyrical tone even when the subject is external threat, internal political turmoil, the grinding hardship of maintaining the old post system, or the bitter disappointments that the new age brought so many of those who had worked hardest and sacrificed most to bring it into being. It has been followed not only by scholarly studies but also by an immense outpouring of historical fiction, family and local histories, and other publications drawing on the rich store of old diaries and official records preserved throughout the country. These later works often illuminate the period from points of view that were not accessible to any of Toson's characters, but Before the Dawn remains the standard against which all others are measured." --from the Introduction

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082481164X
• ISBN13: 9780824811648
• Release Date: July 1988
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
• Length: 816 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

I can't believe I read the whole thing

This is an immense book, nearly 800 densely printed pages which, if you're not careful, will fall apart well before you're finished. Still, its story--of how a single family experienced the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the onset of the Meiji Restoration--is consistently gripping and informative. The Aoyama family, holding key positions in its post-station village of Magome on the Kiso Road, a major Edo-period thoroughfare, gradually declines in status as the tide of history rushes past on the important highway, and the author uses its story, especially that of Aoyama Hanzo (based on Shimazaki's father), to bring to life the tumultuous times it lived through in mid-19th century Japan. The detailed account of village life and political circumstances sometimes becomes tedious, but Shimazaki does make quite clear the nature of the events that shaped the time, and one learns a vast amount from his historical narrative. The characters and dialogue tend toward flatness, and there is some unnecessary repetitiveness, but the epic sweep ensnares the reader and keeps him going, even when he feels as travelers of the time must have felt as they slogged on from village to village along the Kiso. The translator's introduction and glossary go far to helping the reader navigate some of the less familiar names, events, and places. There are a couple of useful maps, but more would have been helpful as the narrative cites so many places and fiefdoms.

Along the Kiso Road

Shimazaki Toson's novel, BEFORE THE DAWN, is a masterpiece of literary history. Depicting life in the countryside along the Kiso Road during the end of the Tokugawa Era and into the early Meiji Era, Shimazaki's epic novel slowly (sometimes too slowly) depicts how the momentous internal and external changes of Japan during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s affected rural Japanese. Based upon research of his father, his grandfather, and their families, Shimazaki presents the reader with an inside-out perspective of how major nineteenth century changes affected real people.