My Asakusa: Coming of Age in Pre-War Tokyo

by Sadako Sawamura

Written near the end of Sadako Sawamura's remarkable life, My Asakusa (Watashi co Asakusa) is a charming collection of autobiographical essays by a truly self-made woman.

Recalling Japan at a time of great political turmoil and rapid cultural change, Sawamura shares with us her vignettes of growing up in Asakusaone of the last of the old downtown Shitamachi neighborhoods of incessantly modernizing Tokyoand her keen insight into the characters of those who populated her world.

Author Sadako Sawamura (1908-1996) was by turns a diligent youth who worked her way through a private secondary school as a tutor, a radical university scholarship student, a Communist youth league worker, a prisoner of conscience, and a star of Japanese theater, cinema, and television. She was beloved in Japan for her forthright convictions and her rare independence, which she expressed in interviews and essays. She is also the author of Kai-no-Uta (The Song of a Shell) , which was subsequently produced as a television play.

Genres: Japan, Biography Memoir, Memoir, Japanese Literature, History, Nonfiction, Biography

269 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Ned Treacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovingly-crafted memoir told through a series of nostalgic vignettes, giving highly accessible first-hand insights into Kabuki and geisha culture.

[Tim Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nostalgic and enchanting memoir. An evocative window into old Tokyo, I particularly enjoyed it beacause I was already familiar with the area of Asakusa where hidden areas of the old shitamachi Tokyo can still be found.

[Mallee Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is full of short anecdotes about the author's childhood in Tokyo's Asakusa prior to WWII. Her recollections reflect the chauvinism of her father against the continual hard work of her mother. Sadako's childhood was a happy one despite her mother's need to be frugal and Sadako having to help with household chores as well as take responsibility for her younger brother.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are why I like travelling; finding charming works that give insight into a different culture but don't get marketed world-wide, you need to travel to find them.

[Elfira · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should be an autobiography, but the way she tells shows humility and deep understanding. Humility I find in how she pays attention to the other and chooses to share about them above her thought or opinion. Deep understanding leads to holding no grudge to other, especially her rather selfish father. I think what helped her growing to be a strong woman was the wisdom and compassion shown by her mother.

I read in the introduction that the woman had achieved so many things. She's famous, wealthy, but she wrote none of that. She was not bragging in her book, she shared little things, simple things, daily life perceived sweetly or bitterly but always in honesty.

Reading the book, I can't help thinking that women my generation are generally not that strong anymore in character. We've been spoilt. At least, I feel like I've been spoilt. But also I have to remember that we, women nowadays, have a lot to achieve in areas that are now available for us. That rocks! :P

[Nova... · Rating 3 out of 5]

cerita tentang keseharian hidup seorang wanita di asakusa, salah satu kota di Jepang. penuh dengan pendeskripsian perayaan kebudayaan atau kecerobohan yang pernah ia lakukan di masa kecil. sederhana, tapi indah...=)

[Yomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoir ini seperti disusun dari potongan-potongan memori yang mengapung, dipunguti, dan kemudian disusun berdasarkan urutan kemunculannya. Random. Tidak berdasarkan tahun. Tidak pula berdasarkan tingkat kebahagiaan yang ditimbulkan pada diri pengingatnya.

[kaylanurul · Rating 3 out of 5]

My asakusa tells more on autobiography basis rather than a novel in itself. But the simplicity of the story wins over all, made us readers wanting a puzzle of life in asakusa