The History Textbook Project: Novels, Japan
One of the most decisive events in Japanese history was the 1853 arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry with four warships, which forced the shogunate to open Japan to Western commerce. The shogunate ruled in Tokyo, while the emperor in Kyoto played just a ceremonial role. Thus ended the shogunate and 250 years of peace. After the chaos came the Meiji Restoration (1868) and Japan emerged as a modern country. This is the theme of four Samurai stories by Ryotaro Shiba, translated into English as Drunk as a Lord.
Most Americans know nothing about the 1853 humbling of Japan by the US, and even educates people have only a vague idea of it. It is seared into the Japanese mind, and the book will give Americans not only information about the period but also an idea of how the Japanese feel about it. The author is immensely popular in Japan, but it is too early to say how enduring his fame will be. The historical novels of Walter Scott, Fenimore Cooper, Erckmann-Chatrian, and Galdós are little read today. What will be the fate of Ryotaro Shiba? What Mexican novels are there about the 1848 war with the US, which was a shock for the Mexicans comparable with the US arrival in Japan in 1853?
Ronald Hilton - 2/11/02
The history textbook project concentrates on history textbooks, which form young minds and imprint on them a version of history which seldom changes later. However, we should also consider historical novels, which adults read, and movies which they see, sometimes on TV. The movies and TV are a recent phenomenon, but for a long time in virtually every country, novelists have popularized history. In Japan, the prime example is Shiba Ryotaro (1923-1996). With the encourage of the well-known Japan scholar Donald Keene, his novels are being translated into English, the word order of his name being reversed. He has had an immense success, and next to his home near Osaka, a memorial museum has been built, featuring bookshelves 11 meters (!!) high. I hope insurance covers the assistants who get books from the top shelves.
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