The Land We Saw, the Times We Knew: An Anthology of Zuihitsu Writing from Early Modern Japan

Abstract

The land we saw, the times we knew: An anthology of zuihitsu writing from early modern Japan by Gerald Groemer is a virtual encyclopedia of Japanese culture in the Edo period (1603–1868). The anthology is a collection of seven zuihitsu, a genre of literature that does not have an exact equivalent in the West. It is sometimes translated as ‘essay’, but most zuihitsu are much longer than an essay in Western literature. Groemer introduces the reader to this genre by first attempting to pin down a precise meaning of the term zuihitsu. His starting point is the description of the genre as it has been understood by scholars up to now: zuihitsu is a written ‘record of what a writer has seen, heard, felt, understood, experienced, and noted, in the order in which it comes to mind, with no guideline, no plan, and no order’ (2). He then proceeds to bring the reader into the mind of the Japanese zuihitsu writer, who thinks of his work as coming less from his own creativity and more from the writing brush itself. The ‘notion that if only the writing brush were allowed to take the lead, its traces would directly and faithfully reproduce the truth of reality rather than the predispositions and illusion of the writer’ (2). One might say that for the writer of zuihitsu, it is the intuitive mind rather than the rational mind that is the source of the content of the work. The subjects with which zuihitsu deals are not only topics on popular culture. The works are rich in references to Chinese and Classical Japanese literature and history. The copious notes that Groemer provides explain in detail the origin and meaning of the literary allusions and historical and geographical references that allow the reader to become familiar with many of the key concepts of Edo-period religion and philosophy. Unlike many strictly academic textbooks, however, this anthology is as enjoyable to read as it is scholarly and would make an excellent text for a Japanese culture or world literature class for either undergraduate or graduate students. Groemer successfully meets the goals of a successful translator, as he describes this daunting task in the preface of the book: