The Street of a Thousand Blossoms in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 28, 2012 Beverly rated it really liked it

• It has been a couple of years since I have read a book by this author and I forgot how elegant her language and how riveting her storytelling abilities
• I enjoyed learning about somo wrestling and the Noh mask making traditions – but the details do not overwhelm the storylines
• As usual great character development – very good at getting at the intimate thoughts of the characters
• Moved by how well the author is able to create the fascinating worlds of the characters and their sense of family ...more

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Oct 31, 2009 Sunflower rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-read-2009, library

An epic novel of the effect of history (war and post-war Japan) on the lives of the characters. Although lengthy, it's not a difficult read, with interesting detail about sumo and Noh mask-making. Three stars instead of 4 because it seemed to me at times like a school journal-as if the tale was secondary to the lessons in Japanese culture. Not that I minded that really. Other reviewers have noted that this book is not as engaging as her others, so I will read more of her work. ...more

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Apr 08, 2010 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2010

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms is a beautiful story of regular people living in WW2 Japan, and Japan during the occupation following the Japanese surrender. It's the story of regular people who are trying to survive, and the story of these regular people finding their way in some of Japan's oldest cultural icons - sumo and Noh. This book really took me back to my time in Japan, and my studies in college - it was quite hard to put the book down!

That being said, I wasn't a big fan of the last b ...more

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