Peasant Uprisings in Japan: A Critical Anthology of Peasant Histories

by Anne Walthall (Translator)

Combining translations of five peasant narratives with critical commentary on their provenance and implications for historical study, this book illuminates the life of the peasantry in Tokugawa Japan.

Genres: History, Japanese Literature, Japan

276 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1991

About the author

Anne Walthall is Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine. She is the editor of Servants of the Dynasty: Palace Women in World History and author of The Weak Body of a Useless Woman: Matsuo Taseko and the Meiji Restoration, among others.

Reviews

[Chi Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction essay, with not only the overview of the peasant uprising situation in Tokugawa Japan but also the introduction to literary theory on how to read historical textual document, was very helpful and impressive. Anne Walthall is definitely the authority on peasant uprisings in Japan. She also provides historical context for each of the tale translated in the book, analyzing them there and at the end of the book to give readers a sense of recurring theme in peasant history of peasant uprisings.

However, the tales fall short of being interesting. I understand that literary structure of a history written before the modern period would definitely differ from the current source. Even so, coming from East Asian cultural background, I have seen so many similar tales that the book could not meet my expectations.

I would recommend reading the intro essay. However, whether the tales included in this book appeal to you or not, would depend on your cultural background, and your relationship to the power structure recurring in so many of these histories.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a slim collection of the notable stores of peasant dissent in Tokugawa Japan. I used it for a class on the period and it was informative but not particularly useful outside of providing a counter-narrative to the broad texts we were using. (You won't write your dissertation off just this book.)