japanese literature

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Author: Ariyoshi Sawako

  • The twilight years

  • The River Ki

    Powerful enough to sweep away people on its banks and placid enough to carry along with its flow a sumptuous wedding procession, the River Ki dominates the lives of the people who live in its fertile valley and imparts a vital strength to the three women–mother, daughter, and granddaughter–around whom this novel is built. It…

  • Kabuki dancer

    A fictionalized biography of Okuni, the 17th Century Japanese temple dancer who invented the Kabuki theatre. The novel chronicles her love life and the public’s reaction to her innovations, such as cross-dressing, reaction which tended to vary with the political climate of the day.

  • The doctor’s wife

    This is a novelization of the life and struggles of the first doctor in the world to perform successfuly surgery for breast cancer. The professional battle to overcome the scourge of breast cancer is mirrored by the surgeon’s tempestuous duels with his domineering female family members.