Peasant Uprisings in Japan: A Critical Anthology of Peasant Histories by Anne Walthall

Peasant Uprisings in Japan: A Critical Anthology of Peasant Histories Reviews

• 
  Chi Pham

  The introduction essay, with not only the overview of the peasant uprising situation in Tokugawa Japan but also the introduction to literary theory on how to read historical textual document, was very helpful and impressive. Anne Walthall is definitely the authority on peasant uprisings in Japan. She also provides historical context for each of the tale translated in the book, analyzing them there and at the end of the book to give readers a sense of recurring theme in peasant history of peasant uprisings.
  
  However, the tales fall short of being interesting. I understand that literary structure of a history written before the modern period would definitely differ from the current source. Even so, coming from East Asian cultural background, I have seen so many similar tales that the book could not meet my expectations.
  
  I would recommend reading the intro essay. However, whether the tales included in this book appeal to you or not, would depend on your cultural background, and your relationship to the power structure recurring in so many of these histories.
• 
  Robert

  this is a slim collection of the notable stores of peasant dissent in Tokugawa Japan. I used it for a class on the period and it was informative but not particularly useful outside of providing a counter-narrative to the broad texts we were using. (You won't write your dissertation off just this book.)