The Doctor’s Wife by Sawako Ariyoshi
Japanese Fiction
Original Title: *Hanaoka Seishū no tsuma*
Translators: Wakako Hirinaka and Ann Silver Kostant
Source: Personal copy
I move on to the first of two Japanese classics I have read for this year, January in Japan. The first book is based on the true story of a Japanese doctor who was among the pioneers in using anesthetics in 18th century Japan. Sawako Ariyoshi was highly regarded in her time as a writer, and it’s refreshing to read a book by a female author known for addressing social issues that many other writers have avoided.
This book offers insight into a complex triangle of relationships: husband to wife, mother to son, and mother to daughter-in-law. We see these dynamics unfold through the life of Rae, the daughter-in-law and wife at the centre of the story. The life of Rae she is the daughter-in-law and wife at the centre of this book. Her view of the Mother in Law who she idolized before she married her son.
Naomichi was saying: “I assure you, Western medicine will be coming to our country very soon. It was predicted by my teacher, Iwanaga Bangen, when I was his student in Osaka. I think he was right. Because I learned Western methods with him, I can talk with confidence about Japan’s medical future, as if I were taking its pulse. In Edo, Dr. Yamawaki Toyo initiated the idea of dissecting the bodies of dead prisoners; the present teacher, Sugita Genpaku, has been pursuing certain Dutch methods which depend on a complete examination of a person’s body before a diagnosis is pronounced; this is different from the Chinese approach which relies heavily on the pulse. Ah! The human body is a creative masterpiece. Just look at our fingertips. What a composition of delicate nerve tissue and fluids! …
His use of herbs is a mix of tradtion and want to use a western technique in a way
As I said, the story follows Kae growing up and how Otsugithe, mother of Seishu, is considered a rare beauty, one of the most beautiful women in the provinces. We see Kae admiring this Ambitious woman. So when her family is approached by Otsugi to let Kae marry her son Seishu, it seems perfect until she then sees the other side of her now mother-in-law, her overbearing nature. She shows how they both help Seishu as he starts to try different herbs, such as a herbal Anthisesis. Some of this is hard to read when he uses Animals. On the other hand, it is interesting to see how far back it was that it was starting to be used or tried as a way to perform simple operations. One Seishu is trying is surgery to remove breast cancer. The two women in his life seem struck being rivals and get jealous of one another when he pays attention to the other one. As we see the young Kae try and take over from her mother-in-law in her husband’s life. But both have given up a lot to be at Seishu’s side as he tries to make a breakthrough.
The normal routine resumed the day atter the wedding.
Okatsu and Koriku did the cooking and laundry under their mother’s supervision while the maid cleaned and cared for the younger children. Shimomura Ryoan performed various duties for the doctor since the women and children were not allowed to so much as touch the drawers containing medical supplies.
Little time, however, was required to prepare the simple meals and straighten up the small house, so that most of the daily tasks were quickly completed. Now, the Hanaokas kept some looms on the veranda and a spinning wheel in a nearby storage area.
When their chores were done, the older girls, skilled at weav-ing, went off and worked at the looms without a break until dinner. Their special weave used dyed threads that Kae surmised must have come from the Matsumotos.
The normal world for a female in these times caught some what here
This book had been on my shelves for too long. I loved the interplay between the three main characters as the two women struggle to find their place and meaning in a male world. Add to that the cutting-edge nature of Seishu research and trying to get a herbal anthesis. The Progress he find will bring to help women with Breast Cancer. But this is at the cost of Animals and, in the end, family members as he tries to make a breakthrough. The moral nature of what he has to do to discover how he can save lives using his discovery. It also tackles the role of females in Japanese society at the time it is set. Through the two women’s eyes and how they are treated in a male world. Have you read this or any other book based on a partly true story? Or another book by this writer ?
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