Koumes World - The Life Work of a Samurai Woman Before After Meiji Restoration

Kawai Koume (1804-1889) was an accomplished poet and painter and a wife, mother, and grandmother in a lower-ranking samurai family in a provincial castle town. Through her eyes and words, Simon Partner opens a window on social, economic, and cultural life amid some of the most dramatic periods of Japan's transformative nineteenth century.

List of contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Kawai Family Tree
Monetary Values
Chronology
Introduction
1. Growing Up in Kishū Domain
2. A Year of Calamities
3. In the Shadow of the Black Ships
4. Work and Family
5. War and Revolution
6. The Artist’s Life
7. Across the Divide
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the author

Simon Partner is professor of history at Duke University. He is the author of three previous books that chronicle modern Japanese history through the lives of ordinary people such as farmers, shopkeepers, and housewives, including most recently The Merchant’s Tale: Yokohama and the Transformation of Japan (Columbia, 2018).

Summary

Kawai Koume (1804–1889) was an accomplished poet and painter and a wife, mother, and grandmother in a lower-ranking samurai family in a provincial castle town. Through her eyes and words, Simon Partner opens a window on social, economic, and cultural life amid some of the most dramatic periods of Japan’s transformative nineteenth century.

Product details

• Authors: Simon Partner, Partner Simon
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 12.12.2023
• EAN: 9780231211857
• ISBN: 978-0-231-21185-7
• No. of pages: 312
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Japan, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, Japanese, HISTORY / Asia / Japan, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 19th Century, LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / Japanese, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Asian History, history; biography& autobiography