New Book Announcement: Vaporis, Samurai. A Biography in Twelve Lives

[vap...@umbc.edu]

I'm pleased to announce the pre-publication marketing release of my new book, Samurai. A Biography in Twelve Lives, now available for pre-order from Oxford University Press: https://lnkd.in/e3VSgKP5

Description

The samurai are often viewed monolithically as fearsome warriors, driven by a fixed code-the Bushido-and bent on dying in service to a lord, or daimyo. However, the Tokugawa Era, the long period of peace (1600 to 1868) after the Shogunate had centralized control in Japan, forced them to adjust. While many samurai continued to uphold martial values, others became bureaucrats, teachers, scholars, artists, and even entrepreneurs.

In Samurai: A Biography in Twelve Lives, Constantine Nomikos Vaporis uses the lives of individual samurai during the Tokugawa Period to illuminate and explore this transformation. Twelve biographical portraits, ranging from that of legendary figures like Asano Naganori, to Niijima Yae, one of the few women to achieve warrior renown, illustrate the diversity of experience. Vaporis offers a riveting and comprehensive picture of their evolving identities. As he shows, samurai navigated the societal changes brought on by the "Great Peace" by balancing their warrior heritage with the demands of peacetime service, grappling with financial hardship and reinterpreting loyalty in a shifting political landscape.

Vaporis provides a hauntingly humane portrayal of these historical figures while offering readers a deeper understanding of Japan's early modern era.

Table of Contents
1. Yamauchi Katsutoyo (1545-1605)--The Rise of a Daimyo
2. Kumazawa Banzan (1619-91)--System Challenger
3. Asano Naganori (1667-1701), Oishi Kuranosuke (1659-1703), and the Ako Incident
4. Tani Tannai (1729-97)--A Samurai and His "Debt Hell"
5. Odano Naotake (1750-80) & Kakizaki Hakyo (1764-1826)--Samurai and the Arts
6. Toyama Heima (1775-1829) & His Son Tamuro (1796-1861)--Samurai & the World of Goods
7. Mori Masana (1803-73)--The Journey of a Fourth Son
8. Yoshida Shoin (1830-59)--Revolutionary Ideologue
9. Niijima Yae (1845-1932)--Gunslinging Daughter of an Aizu Samurai
10. Epilogue: The End of the Samurai

 

[Oyler, Elizabeth]

Dear PMJS members,

I am in the process of updating the membership list for the Classical Japanese Special Interest Group, which has met annually at AATJ.  We are hoping to add some additional opportunities for scholarly exchange and bungo camaraderie.  If you did not already receive an email today from me about the mailing list, I do not have you listed as a member.  If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please drop me an email at eao...@pitt.edu.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Oyler 

Associate Professor and Chair

Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures

University of Pittsburgh

おごれる人も久しからず唯春の夜の夢のごとし
たけき者も遂にほろびぬ偏に風の前の塵に同じ

 

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