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The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
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Product Description
“Just remember,” Yoshio said quietly to his grandsons. “Every day of your lives, you must always be sure what you’re fighting for.”
It is Tokyo in 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms, two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents, who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows unusual skill at the national obsession of sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating hard-carved masks for actors in the Noh theater.
Across town, a renowned sumo master, Sho Tanaka, lives with his wife and their two young daughters: the delicate, daydreaming Aki and her independent sister, Haru. Life seems full of promise as Kenji begins an informal apprenticeship with the most famous mask-maker in Japan and Hiroshi receives a coveted invitation to train with Tanaka. But then Pearl Harbor changes everything. As the ripples of war spread to both families’ quiet neighborhoods, all of the generations must put their dreams on hold---and then find their way in a new Japan.
In an exquisitely moving story that spans almost thirty years, Gail Tsukiyama draws us irresistibly into the world of the brothers and the women who love them. It is a world of tradition and change, of heartbreaking loss and surprising hope, and of the impact of events beyond their control on ordinary, decent men and women. Above all, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms is a masterpiece about love and family from a glorious storyteller at the height of her powers.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #15660 in Books
- Published on: 2007-09-04
- Released on: 2007-09-04
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 432 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In her ambitious sixth novel (Dreaming Water; The Samurai's Garden), Tsukiyama tackles life in Japan before, during and after WWII. The story follows brothers Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto through the devastation of war and the hardships of postwar reconstruction. Orphaned when their parents were killed in a boating accident, the boys are raised by their grandparents in Tokyo. In 1939, Hiroshi is 11 and dreams of becoming a sumo champion, and soon Kenji will discover his own passion, to become a master maker of Noh masks. Their grandparents, Yoshio and Fumiko Wada, are vividly rendered; the war years and early postwar years, centered in their home on the street of the novel's title, are powerfully portrayed. Hiroshi and Kenji reach pinnacles of success in their chosen fields as well as in love, and while Tsukiyama's close attention to historical and geographical detail enriches the narrative, she isn't as successful when describing Hiroshi's wrestling career; the matches all begin to blur together. The lingering effects of war, on the other hand, are clear, and these, combined with a nation's search for pride and hope after surrender comprise the novel's oversized heart. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
A true coming-of-age story, THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS follows Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto, orphaned brothers in the tumultuous period before, during, and after WWII in Japan. As the boys face hunger, cruelty, and the death of friends, their innocence is lost--replaced with their honor and pride as grown men. Through the eyes of the boys, Japan is destroyed and rebuilt. Stephen Park narrates with grace, smoothly delivering the many Japanese names and dialogue. While not overtly acting, he gives life to each character, capturing strong Hiroshi and artistic Kenji. A cast of colorful secondary characters gives depth to the novel, creating a rich portrayal of life in mid-century Japan. J.G.K. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Tsukiyama is a mesmerizing storyteller who focuses on family, tradition, and the solace of nature and art. Of both Chinese and Japanese descent, she has explored the history and culture of both lands, here imagining life in Japan during its most catastrophic time as experienced by the orphaned brothers Hiroshi and Kenji. Raised by their loving grandparents in Yanaka, a residential area of Tokyo, they are opposites. Big, strong, and confident, Hiroshi believes he is destined to be a sumo wrestler. Slight, quiet, and artistic, Kenji discovers his love for mask making and Noh theater by accident. They each secure mentors, but just as the good brothers embark on their demanding apprenticeships, war breaks out. Tsukiyama's spare prose reflects the clean-lined, distilled-to-the-essence aesthetic of Japanese art as she writes appreciatively and informatively about the arts of sumo and Noh, and piercingly about the horrific deprivations and tyranny of war, the firebombing of Tokyo, the American occupation, and the rapid evolution of modern Japan. As her endearing characters attempt to adjust to the new while preserving the old, Tsukiyama evokes a classic vision of a blasted world returning to life. Tsukiyama's historically detailed and plot-driven story of resilience, discipline, loyalty, and right action is popular fiction at its most intelligent, appealing, and rewarding. Seaman, Donna
Customer Reviews
A beautiful yet sad story
I love this writers work. This was a very wonderful story but very sad. I enjoy the poetic way Gail Tsukiyama writes and have enjoyed all of her work. I gave this one 4 stars because it dragged in parts and I wanted to hear more about the No masks and theatre. The writing style kept me turning the pages.
Educational, But Hard to Get Through
Our CHATTER Reading Group reads literary works of fiction and nonfiction. Based largely on the 4.5-star rating other Amazon.com readers had given it, we read and discussed "Street of a Thousand Blossoms". Knowing that everyone else had rated this book on average 4.5 stars, it was difficult for us to go against the grain. We even discussed WHY others might have liked it so much. Certainly, it was interesting to consider Japan during the WWII period and realize that the "enemy" of the U.S. is a country made up of people just like us and that they suffered.
Also, if asked ahead of time, "How would you like to read a book about Sumo Wrestling?", we certainly would have said, "No, thanks." Yet, it was also extremely interesting to read about this sport, admittedly previously unknown to us. The same goes for Noh Mask Artistry. I researched and shared photographs of masks and information about how they are made with the group. We also shared a sumo wrestling video. So, again, this book gets points for its educational aspects, which lead to a very interesting book club discussion.
Our group thought it was necessary to include our opinion of the book as a warning to the uninformed reader who might think, "this must be a real page-turner with reviews like that!" The writing style felt predictable and left us wondering about a few things (such as, why include that bit about Aki catching the caretaker in the middle of the night - what was the purpose of that?) After a slow beginning, the book did pick up a little. But, quite frankly, if it had not been a reading group book, it would have been hard for us to get all the way to the end before giving up (some members didn't even make it that far).
This book was voted an average of 3 stars by the 6 reading group members who finished reading it.
Wrestling Made Beautiful By Tsukiyama
Street of A Thousand Blossoms is an epic work spanning the pre and post war years in Japan. History comes to life through the everyday struggles of ordinary people trying to cope with the destruction,deprivation and misery of war.The topics of sumo wrestling and mask making at first did not appeal to me ,but in the deft hands of Tsukiyama I was drawn in and won over.It occurred to me that these two topics offer wonderful analogies to the many themes running though the novel. Sumo wrestling represents strength and honor...... attributes of the main characters......Hiroshi, Haru,Kenji and the nurturing grandparents, Yoshio and Fumiko.......... Mask making provides a cover for the realities of war........as well as a cover for the truths that are so difficult to cope with in the main characters......the mangled hand of Haru , the unrealized true nature of the mask maker, Yoshiwara,the heartbreaking guilt of Aki,and the unattainable love of Haru for Hiroshi.......Tsukiyama has a way of telling a story that draws you in and holds you there and forever changes the way you think afterwards.
