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Japanese Inn
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
September 1st 1982
by University of Hawaii Press
(first published January 1st 1961)
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If you are interested about leaning Japanese history in a fun manner, this is a book for you. That is what I thought when I began this book. I do not think it now. Some of the stories are quite boring, others are OK! I simply did not like the tone of the writing. There is a flippant tone, a sarcastic humor that did not appeal to me. Some of the details woven into the stories were totally without interest to me. How a person's shoes fit, for example..... It is just that peculiar details are throw...more
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By using his experiences as a civil servant during the American occupation of Japan and the accounts from several generations of inn-keepers of the Minaguchi-ya, Oliver Statler wrote this well-written part-fiction/part-nonfiction book, which drives the reader to experience the development of social Japanese society through the history and survival of an ancient Japanese inn from mid-16th century to the 20th century. Through the eyes and the lives of the inn-keepers of the Minaguchi-ya, the autho...more
Discovered a great copy of this book at a friends of the library sale. (How fortuitous for me.) Many of the stories inside are familiar ground for any Japanophile (the rise of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, the subsequent shogunate of the Tokugawas, the career of Will Adams--best known as the inspiration for Clavell's Blackthorn, the revenge of the 47 ronin, etc.) However, what's new is the way Statler weaves into this history the place and personages of the Minaguchi-ya (the Japanese inn of the title....more
If one can say an "hotel" can have a biography this a bio of a Japanese inn named Minaguchi-ya located on the Tokaido Road on Suruga Bay. This is the story of the first through twentieth generation innkeepers, the family Mochizuki.
It is also the history of Japan from the first Shogun through post-WWII. The story of the inn is woven with the stories of its famous and notorious guests and neighbors. Learn about places and people of Japan: Seikenji, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi,Tokugawa Ieyasu...more
It is also the history of Japan from the first Shogun through post-WWII. The story of the inn is woven with the stories of its famous and notorious guests and neighbors. Learn about places and people of Japan: Seikenji, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi,Tokugawa Ieyasu...more
while we didn't get to stop at the real Minaguchi-ya Inn in our travels, it was easy to transpose the depth of history into the landscape of our journey. an excellent supplement to the trip.
Loved the book. Not my typical read. A simple, beautiful story of a 400+ year-old inn. Just a lovely and charming read.
Statler uses stories from the history of an ancient Japanese inn called the Minaguchi-ya to illustrate the colorful history of Japan from 1569 through 1957. A technique strikingly similar to that used by Andric in Bridge On the Drina; perhaps this is a common authors device, a genre for historical novels which I am just discovering. Regardless, the history is fascinating and the author is perceptive and … engaging. I learned a lot, enjoyably. The last chapter is entirely gratuitous, probably wri...more
an interesting and involving look at Japanese history. I learned a lot but didn't feel like I was reading a history book.
Mar 30, 2009
Keith Miller
added it
Japanese Inn by Oliver Statler (1982)
A great introduction to Japan and its history: A fictional story of an actual inn, where actual historical figures were hosted from the 17th century all the way until the 1950s. The fictional part actually becomes quite irrelevant, as the historical setting is kept accurate, and the historical personalities may just as well have been guests at the inn. The building is still there, by the way, though since the 1980 it has been operating as a museum.
The book is a history of Japan from about 1596 to 1957, but it's done from the point of view of the people who ran a real inn along the Tokaido Road. The story is somewhat fictionalized at times. It gives the reader a vivid feel for the times, the people, and the place.
It's much more than the dry dates, names, and events most books give. The book is a good way for anyone interested in the Japanese to learn about their history in an entertaining way.
It's much more than the dry dates, names, and events most books give. The book is a good way for anyone interested in the Japanese to learn about their history in an entertaining way.
Read many years ago but liked this book and the author had a real love for the subject matter. Want to reread.
May 29, 2013
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