The Makioka Sisters.
Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.
New York: Vintage Books (Penguin Random House), 1995.
This translation was first published in 1957.
Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.
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Wikipedia Articles:
- Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886 – 1965).
- Tanizaki, The Makioka Sisters, first published in parts from 1943 to 1948.
The original Japanese title of the novel, Sasameyuki, translates as "Light Snow".
People say that "yuki" (snow) in the title echoes the name of the character Yukiko around whom a major storyline of the novel revolves. - Edward Seidensticker (1921–2007).
- Some historical events mentioned in The Makioka Sisters :
(Note: the politics, militarism, and wars of the period of the novel, 1936-1941, are rarely and mostly only indirectly mentioned.)- Marco Polo Bridge incident, July 1937.
- Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.
- 1938 Hanshin flood, July 1938.
- 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
In Book Two, Chapter 10, in the aftermath of the 1938 flood, the destruction reminds the character Teinosuke "of Tokyo and Yokohama after the great earthquake," referring to the 1923 event in which more than 100,000 people died.
Tanizaki may also have been thinking of the relatively less destructive 1894 Tokyo earthquake which he experienced as a child.
The Wikipedia article for the 1894 event says "The earthquake is also mentioned by author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki in his autobiographical work, Yosho-jidai, in which he described how his family's house collapsed during the earthquake, a traumatic event to which he attributed his lifelong phobia of earthquakes."
- History of Japan:
- History of Japan: Modern Japan.
- Empire of Japan, 1868 – 1947.
- Meiji era, 1868 – 1912.
- Taishō era, 1912 – 1926.
- Shōwa era, 1926 – 1989.
- Japanese literature:
- Tanizaki Prize.
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