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9781498511988

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This book is reminiscent of Maxim Gorky's 1902 novel The Lower Depths, about a group of down-and-outs on the banks of the Volga, and of the 1956 film On the Bowery, about the New York skid row. It may surprise readers to find that prosperous Japanese cities also have such places, and even more so that they are home to men of learning. One such was Kimitsu, the subject of this book, whom I was privileged to meet on a visit with Tom Gill to the Yokohama 'skid row' in September 1994. In the course of that meeting Kimitsu grilled me on the 1938 Munich agreement, the 1956 Suez crisis, the music of Bartok and post-war European politics: a truly extraordinary character, wonderfully described in this book. -- Arthur Stockwin, University of Oxford Gill's evocative descriptions give detail and depth to our often over generalized view of the Japanese underclass. This book challenges our understanding about the lived experiences of individuals living in low-income areas, and privileges their views about their lives and on wider Japanese society and history. Kimitsu's story as told to Gill vividly captures the atmosphere of the yoseba, which is one of isolation and connection, humor and sadness, and vital humanity. -- Carolyn Stevens, Monash University

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Tom Gill is professor of social anthropology at the Faculty of International Studies of Meiji Gakuin University, Yokohama.

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