<div>The renowned Japanese scholar &ldquo;brings us as close to the inner life of the Meiji emperor as we are ever likely to get&rdquo; (The New York Times Book Review). When Emperor Meiji began his rule in 1867, Japan was a splintered empire dominated by the shogun and the daimyos, cut off from the outside world, staunchly antiforeign, and committed to the traditions of the past. Before long, the shogun surrendered to the emperor, a new constitution was adopted, and Japan emerged as a modern, industrialized state. Despite the length of his reign, little has been written about the strangely obscured figure of Meiji himself, the first emperor ever to meet a European. But now, Donald Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid and sometimes violent change during this pivotal period in Japan&rsquo;s history. In this vivid and engrossing biography, we move with the emperor through his early, traditional education; join in the formal processions that acquainted the young emperor with his country and its people; observe his behavior in court, his marriage, and his relationships with various consorts; and follow his maturation into a &ldquo;Confucian&rdquo; sovereign dedicated to simplicity, frugality, and hard work. Later, during Japan&rsquo;s wars with China and Russia, we witness Meiji&rsquo;s struggle to reconcile his personal commitment to peace and his nation&rsquo;s increasingly militarized experience of modernization. Emperor of Japan conveys in sparkling prose the complexity of the man and offers an unrivaled portrait of Japan in a period of unique interest. &ldquo;Utterly brilliant . . . the best history in English of the emergence of modern Japan.&rdquo;&mdash;Los Angeles Times</div>

Buy From US

Kobo

Google

Barnes & Noble

Apple

Amazon

Emperor of Japan

<div>&ldquo;Few memoirs have the concision, modesty, and charm that mark this late-life work by . . . America&rsquo;s most renowned scholar and interpreter of Japan.&rdquo;&mdash;Foreword Reviews In this eloquent and wholly absorbing memoir, the renowned scholar Donald Keene shares more than half a century of his extraordinary adventures as a student of Japan. Keene begins with an account of his bittersweet childhood in New York; then he describes his initial encounters with Asia and Europe and the way in which World War II complicated that experience. He captures the sights, scents, and sounds of Japan as they first enveloped him, and talks of the unique travels and well-known intellectuals who later shaped the contours of his academic career. Keene traces the movement of his passions with delicacy and subtlety, deftly weaving his love for Japan into a larger narrative about identity and home and the circumstances that led a Westerner to find solace in a country on the opposite side of the world. Chronicles of My Life is not only a fascinating tale of two cultures colliding, but also a thrilling account of the emotions and experiences that connect us all, regardless of our individual origins. &ldquo;Lovingly illustrated by the artist Akira Yamaguchi, the book limns a life inseparably linked to its dominant passion . . . The history is fascinating, and the literary life Keene has doggedly carved out of it, remarkable.&rdquo;&mdash;Time, Asia Edition &ldquo;Keene&rsquo;s book soars, largely because of his intriguing, highly personal account of the literary milieu of Japan, particularly its drama, whether on stage or screen . . . [An] engaging and eloquent memoir.&rdquo;&mdash;Times Literary Supplement</div>

Chronicles of My Life

<div>A landmark collection of five periods of literature from the Land of the Rising Sun. The sweep of Japanese literature in all its great variety was made available to Western readers for the first time in this anthology. Every genre and style, from the celebrated No plays to the poetry and novels of the seventeenth century, find a place in this book. An introduction by Donald Keene places the selections in their proper historical context, allowing the readers to enjoy the book both as literature and as a guide to the cultural history of Japan. Selections include &ldquo;Man&rsquo;yoshu&rdquo; or &ldquo;Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves&rdquo; from the ancient period; &ldquo;Kokinshu&rdquo; or &ldquo;Collection of Ancient and Modern Poetry,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Tosa Diary&rdquo; of Ki no Tsurayuki, &ldquo;Yugao&rdquo; from &ldquo;The Tale of Genji&rdquo; of Murasaki Shikibu, and &ldquo;The Pillow Book&rdquo; of Sei Shonagon from the Heian Period; &ldquo;The Tale of the Heike&rdquo; from the Kamakura Period; Plan of the No Stage, &ldquo;Birds of Sorrow&rdquo; of Seami Motokiyo, and &ldquo;Three Poets at Minase&rdquo; from the Muromachi Period; and selections from Basho, including &ldquo;The Narrow Road of Oku,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Love Suicides at Sonezaki&rdquo; by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and Waka and haiku of the Tokugawa Period.</div>

Anthology of Japanese Literature

<div>A collection of plays, essays, poetry, and reportage compiled by &ldquo;the 20th-century&rsquo;s premier scholar of Japanese literature&rdquo; (Slate). Modern Japanese Literature is Donald Keene&rsquo;s critically acclaimed companion volume to his landmark Anthology of Japanese Literature. Now considered the standard canon of modern Japanese writing translated into English, Modern Japanese Literature includes concise introductions to the writers, as well as a historical introduction by Professor Keene. Includes: &ldquo;Growing Up&rdquo; by Higuchi Ichiyo, a lyrical story of pre-adolescence in the nineties; Natsume Soseki&rsquo;s story of &ldquo;Botchan,&rdquo; an ill-starred and ineffectual Huck Finn; Nagai Kafu&rsquo;s &ldquo;The River Sumida;&rdquo; Yokomitsu Riitchi&rsquo;s Kafkaesque &ldquo;Time;&rdquo; Kawabata Yasunari&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Mole;&rdquo; &ldquo;The Firefly Hunt;&rdquo; a glimpse into Tanizaki Junichiro&rsquo;s masterpiece &ldquo;Thin Snow;&rdquo; and the postwar work of such writers as Dazai Osamu and Mishima Yukio.</div>

Donald Keene
Follow this author

Books By Donald Keene (4 Books)

Emperor of Japan

Chronicles of My Life

Anthology of Japanese Literature

Modern Japanese Literature

Get weekly updates and deals from Early Bird Books

More from

Corporate

© 2024 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Donald KeeneFollow this author

Books By Donald Keene (4 Books)

Emperor of Japan

Chronicles of My Life

Anthology of Japanese Literature

Modern Japanese Literature

RELATED POSTS ABOUT DONALD KEENE

Get weekly updates and deals from Early Bird Books

More from

Corporate

© 2024 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Donald Keene
Follow this author