Travelers of a Hundred Ages - by Donald Keene (Paperback)

About the Book

At once an intimate account of the diarists' lives and a testimony to the greater struggles and advances of Japanese culture, this book illuminates the hidden and largely unknown worlds of imperial courts, Buddhist monasteries, country inns, and merchants' houses.

Book Synopsis

Donald Keene, hailed in the New York Times Book Review as "the century's leading expert on Japanese literature," presents here a collection of premodern Japanese diaries that is both a literary history of this genre and a source of insight into Japanese life of the last thousand years. Ranging from objective to confessional, selections such as "The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu" and "Diaries of Seventeenth-Century Courtiers" offer unparalleled glimpses into the lives of diverse writers from the Kamakura dynastic period to the Tokugawa period. Illuminating the hidden and largely unknown worlds of imperial courts, Buddhist monasteries, country inns, and merchants' houses, Travelers of a Hundred Ages is an intimate account of the diarists' lives and a testimony to the struggles and advances of Japanese culture.

From the Back Cover

Donald Keene, hailed in the New York Times Book Review as "the century's leading expert on Japanese literature", presents here a collection of premodern Japanese diaries that is both a literary history of this genre and a source of insight into Japanese life of the last thousand years. Ranging from objective to confessional, selections such as "The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu" and "Diaries of Seventeenth-Century Courtiers" offer unparalleled glimpses into the lives of diverse writers from the Kamakura dynastic period to the Tokugawa period. Illuminating the hidden and largely unknown worlds of imperial courts, Buddhist monasteries, country inns, and merchants' houses, Travelers of a Hundred Ages is an intimate account of the diarists' lives and a testimony to the struggles and advances of Japanese culture.

Review Quotes

A chief interpreter of Japanese culture to the West... shows his breadth of knowledge and unflagging curiosity.-- "LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW"

An engaging book.-- "Boston Globe"

This is a book to keep at one's side and visit from time to time.-- "NEW YORKER"

About the Author

Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University.