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9780824898021

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This is an extraordinary record of rural life in mid-1930s Japan, quite unlike anything that has yet appeared in English. Yoshida is at once an ordinary farmer, struggling just to get by in the harsh conditions of northeast Japan, but he is also a memorably eloquent diarist of farming life His diligence, dynamism, and innovative spirit shine on every page. Donald Wood's prize-winning translation and his extensive notations, illustrated throughout with Yoshida's own photographs and drawings, bring alive to all readers the daily life of the Yoshida household and its village during a crucial decade in modern Japanese history.--William Kelly, Yale University A true labor of love by a deeply knowledgeable scholar of rural life in the Tōhoku region. Donald Wood's translation beautifully captures the rhythms of daily life in a poor rural community in Akita Prefecture during the 1930s, as described by a young farmer struggling to provide for his family on a marginal plot of rented land. The introduction and notes add valuable context to this unique source. I recommend this book highly to scholars, students, and anyone with in an interest in the rapid transformations of twentieth-century Japanese society. --Simon Partner, Duke University

Author Information

Yoshida Saburō was a small-scale vegetable farmer in northeastern Japan during the 1930s, who kept a one-year daily record of his and his household’s activities and the goings-on of his village. Donald C. Wood is associate professor in the Graduate School of Medicine, Akita University, Japan.

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