Review: Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Amy Stanley

Synopsis
A work of history that explores the life of an unconventional woman during the first half of the 19th century in Edo—the city that would become Tokyo—and a portrait of a great city on the brink of a momentous encounter with the West.

The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother’s. But after three divorces, she ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo.

In the book we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry’s fleet, which transformed Japan. During this pivotal moment in Japanese history, Tsuneno bounces from tenement to tenement, marries a masterless samurai, and eventually enters the service of a famous city magistrate. Tsuneno’s life provides a window into 19th-century Japanese culture—and a rare view of an extraordinary woman who sacrificed her family and her reputation to make a new life for herself, in defiance of social conventions. 

What I thought
This is the story of Tsuneno a woman born in the Japanese countryside in 1801.  Her story is not conventional for that time and she did not accomplish amazing feats, however, stories about any woman during that time are rare.  This book is truly a wonderful look into what a woman’s life in Japan during the early 1800 really was like.  

Tsuneno’s story isn’t a particularly happy one but one that probably wasn’t that uncommon during this time.  Tsuneno was first married off at the age of 12 and was sent home divorced 15 years later.  She was then married off 2 more times by her family and sent home divorced each time.  It appears through the letters that the issue was only that she wasn’t baring children.  And during a time when that was one of a women’s main “duties” through no fault of her own, she was not wanted.  There is only so much a person can take before they have had enough and for Tsuneno that was hearing that they were going to marry her off again this time to an old widow who needed a mother for his children.  Tsuneno decided to take her life into her own hands and go to Edo to try to make a life for herself.  Sadly this did not work out well for her but she was living life on her terms.  

We are lucky that Tsuneno was an avid letter writer and that her family kept every letter or we would never have been able to hear her story.  

I highly enjoyed this look into Tsuneno life.  I feel like I was given a peek into a time in history that I rarely get to see. 

My Rating: /5

Have you read this book? If so what did you think? Tell me in the comments below.