This book was chosen by BOA as one of the best books read in 2020. For the complete list see Our Reviewers Pick their Top Books for 2020.
Mini-Review by Amy Chavez
The author, Miyamoto Tsuneichi, is author of many ethnographical books on Japanese society, but this is the only one I know of that has been translated into English (transl. Jeffrey Irish). Miyamoto is a well-known scholar and author in Japan. The Forgotten Japanese is a necessary read for anyone interested in Japanese lifestyles in the countryside from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From the book description, I was under the impression the book was about the author’s travels through Japan. It is that, but there is voluminous detail about countryside living, including statistics and chapter studies on certain villages. But Miyamoto writes in an engaging way so as not to focus too much on statistics or theory. Most of the book is oral story-telling from the villagers themselves.
In The Forgotten Japanese, we learn about Black Hoe laborers, the origin of distrust of outsiders, honke-bunkei, ujigami local gods, fox spirits, rural samurai, the shift from tenant farming and land reforms of 1946, sericulture, the Tempō Famine of 1833-1836, women’s himaya sheds, and much, much more. It’s a treasure trove of information about life in Japan just before WWII.
This is a keeper for the book shelves as I am sure I will refer back to it often.
About the Author
Tsuneichi Miyamoto (1907–1981), a leading Japanese folklore scholar and rural advocate, walked 160,000 kilometers to conduct interviews and collect the songs, stories, and images of a dying way of life. He was an advocate of social and economic invigoration of rural Japan. This collection of photos, vignettes, and life stories from pre- and postwar rural Japan is the first English translation of his modern Japanese classic. From blowfish to landslides, Miyamoto’s stories come to life in Jeffrey Irish’s fluid translation.
About the Translator
Jeffrey Irish is a scholar and translator who has long been immersed in life in rural Japan. A contributing editor to the Kyoto Journal, Irish has been a columnist for a Japanese newspaper and is the author of the Japanese-language books Prewar Kagoshima and Island Life. In 2010 he was elected “mayor” of his 28-person village.