Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan

“Taiko is simply too good to ignore…Packed with action, intrigue and heartbreak…[it] proves conclusively that Americans aren’t the only ones who root for the underdog.” —Detroit Free Press“Something for everyone—history, romance, acts of great loyalty and treachery, monumental battle scenes…highly recommended.” —San Francisco Chronicle“Eiji Yoshikawa’s epic is the real thing, the insider’s guide to one of the most periods in Japanese history.” —New York Newsday“A unique opportunity for Western readers to explore a time, a man and the creation of modern Japan from a genuinely Japanese perspective.” —The Washington Times“A vibrant tale of heroic deeds and black villainy that brings to life distant times and people” —Library Journal

EIJI YOSHIKAWA was born in 1892 near Tokyo. Beginning his literary career at the age of twenty-two, he continued to work as a journalist while writing novels that reached a large and appreciative readership. At the time of his death in 1962, he was one of Japan’s most popular novelists. His memoirs have been translated as Fragments of a Past.

WILLIAM SCOTT WILSON, the translator, was born in 1944 and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College in 1966, he was invited by a friend to join a three-month kayak trip up the coast of Japan from Shimonoseki to Tokyo. This eye-opening journey, beautifully documented in National Geographic, spurred Wilson’s fascination with the culture and history of Japan.

After receiving a B.A. degree in political science from Dartmouth, Wilson earned a second B.A. in Japanese language and literature from the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in Monterey, California, then undertook extensive research on Edo-period (1603-1868) philosophy at the Aichi Prefectural University, in Nagoya, Japan.

Wilson completed his first translation, Hagakure, while living in an old farmhouse deep in the Japanese countryside. Hagakure saw publication in 1979, the same year Wilson completed an M.A. in Japanese language and literature at the University of Washington. Wilson’s other translations include The Book of Five Rings, The Life-Giving Sword, The Unfettered Mind, the Eiji Yoshikawa novel Taiko, and Ideals of the Samurai, which has been used as a college textbook on Japanese history and thought. Two decades after its initial publication, Hagakure was prominently featured in the Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog.

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