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"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
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
William E. Naff, the distinguished scholar of Japanese literature
widely known and highly regarded for his eloquent translations of
the writings of Shimazaki Tōson (1872-1943), spent the last years
of his life writing a full-length biography of Tōson. Virtually
completed at the time of his death. The Kiso Road provides a rich
and colorful account of this canonic novelist who, along with
Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai, formed the triumvirate of writers
regarded as giants in Meiji Japan, all three of whom helped
establish the parameters of modern Japanese literature. Professor
Naff's biography skillfully places Tōson in the context of his
times and discusses every aspect of his career and personal life,
as well as introducing in detail a number of his important but as
yet untranslated works. Tōson's long life, his many connections
with other important Japanese artists and intellectuals, his
sojourn in France during World War I, and his later visit to South
America, permit a biography of depth and detail that serves as a
kind of cultural history of Japan during an often turbulent period.
The Kiso Road, as approachable and exciting as any novel, with
Tōson himself as its complex protagonist, is arguably the most
thorough account of any modern Japanese writer presently available
in English.
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