| Book Review | Oral History Review, 31.1

BOOK REVIEWS

MEMORIES OF WIND AND WAVES: A SELF-PORTRAIT OF LAKESIDE JAPAN. By Jun'ichi Saga; translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter; illustrated by Susumu Saga. Tokyo. New York: Kodansha International, 2002. 258 pp. Hardbound $24.00.

This anthology consists of thirty oral histories that document lives of people who lived and worked near Lake Kasumigaura in the Ibaraki prefecture, 40 miles northeast of Tokyo. They provide a record of everyday life in a traditional rural culture in a region of Japan that experienced few changes over several hundred years under Tokugawa shogunate rule (1600–1868) and during the modern prewar period before World War II. The title refers to the focus on daily life on and around the rivers and lakes of the region in the early years of the twentieth century. The informants interviewed for this collection were all over 85 years old when they were interviewed. Many describe a rich material culture they say no longer exists in the region. The author notes in the preface there have been many changes since World War II, including paving of the roads used to transport goods from the lake to towns and a major academic research center was developed in the area of small villages described in the interviews.

The anthology complements an earlier anthology of oral histories by Jun'ichi Saga, Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan (Kodansha International, 1987, first published in 1981 under the title, Tsuchiura no sato). Some of the interviewees appear in both books. In each case, interviews are more extensive in this anthology and provide additional insight. Since the author organizes the interviews thematically into sections that identify unique aspects of each interviewee's daily life, the book provides an important body of evidence of the culture of takase riverboat captains and families, fishermen, and women of Lake Kasumigaura, and of village and town life, that is not readily available in other sources, certainly not in English.

The transcription, editing and organization of oral interviews, carried out by Dr. Saga, who also recorded the interviews, provides readers easy access into this traditional culture. The book is enhanced with illustrations by Susumu Saga, the author's father, who was also a doctor. These historically accurate drawings communicate the spirit of the past, a subject to which Susumu Saga brings special knowledge because he grew up in the town of Tsuchiura in the Lake Kasumigaura area, where he worked as a medical doctor.

Translations add to interpretive complexities of language. The translator of the interviews, Professor Juliet W. Carpenter of Doshisha Women's College, worked with the particular dialects represented among interviewees in the region. This reviewer is not in a position to assess the accuracy of the translations. The translations manage to retain an individual perspective for each recorded voice. The translator's preface and the author's preface add insight into methods and challenges. The scholarly value of the book would benefit from the inclusion of an index, however.

The preface includes a description of the author's methodology, especially his plan to tape-record interviewees in their homes over a period of time. Dr. Saga describes his close relation with the interviewees, "In winter we would sit companionably for hours on end around the kotatsu, eating tangerines, engrossed in conversation; at other times, like a prosecutor gathering evidence, I would pose question after question, sharing with my informants the joy of seeing a long-forgotten world spring back to life before our eyes" (13). It is not specified whether the interview material is available to researchers in an archive.

A frequent theme in these interviews is the difficulty of rural life, marked by long days of hard work and poverty. Not all interviewees describe lives of poverty, and many emphasize self-sufficiency in multi-generational family businesses. Social and economic themes are juxtaposed with another theme, a beautiful natural environment that changed in the second half of the twentieth century. The interviewees describe in detail the rivers and lakes, villages and towns where they grew up and worked, and also their clothing, food, songs, and festivals. More than one interviewee makes reference to the rapid pace of change in their lifetime and the loss of a traditional, simpler rural life as the price of increased affluence after World War II.

The selection of interviews represents many different viewpoints regarding life in the region. One story, that of Mrs. Hama Suzuki, focuses on gender roles and family life. She describes her life as a teenager who ran away at the age of seventeen to the city so she could enjoy city life and find well-paid work. Because her parents were poor, she saved her pay and sent it home to her family. A year later, her brother came for her and brought her back for an arranged marriage to a river boat captain she did not know. Stories like these from interviews with people who make their living by fishing provide insights not only into specialized types of fishing farming, but also illuminate such issues as gender roles in a rural prewar Japanese setting. Interviews about village life include descriptions of established family trades and community life. The detail with which interviewees describe their lives and work suggests that Dr. Saga asked specific questions, though his questions are not recorded.

The interviews cover a period when Japan was industrializing and modernizing transportation and communication. One interviewee, Mr. Naruse, states that the development of railroads at the end of the nineteenth century "dealt a fatal blow to water trade" (152). For the most part, there is little mention in the interviews of such changes in Japan during this time. It is not easy to determine what impact major national and international events had on daily life in this region during the period of time covered, or if questions on these topics were not asked or were not the focus of the anthology.

This anthology makes excellent use of oral history material to chronicle a way of life that no longer exists in this region in modern Japan. Each recorded voice heard in this collective narrative contributes important information to the scholarly record.


Linda McCann
Doheny Library University of Southern California

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