The Bells of Old Tokyo
Travels in Japanese Time
by Anna Sherman
Should I read this?
Recommended by 1 source and appears in About Japan, Travel, and History.
From 1632 until 1854, Japan's rulers restricted contact with foreign countries, a near isolation that fostered a remarkable and unique culture that endures to this day. In her remarkable book, Anna Sherman describes searching for the great bells by which the inhabitants of Edo, later called Tokyo, kept the hours in the shoguns' city.An exploration ...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 1 source and appears in About Japan, Travel, and History.
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“Begins close to Sunja’s life and then stretches across generations to track a Korean family living in Japan, alternating intimate domestic scenes with broader historical pressures. Its useful part is the sustained emotional accumulation: small acts of endurance and sacrifice pile up into a textured portrait of belonging, exile, and family duty. Its main limitation is scope and pacing—repeated setbacks and many named characters can feel relentless, and long historical stretches slow the momentum for readers who want tighter plotting.”
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The Bells of Old Tokyo
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