Before the Dawn"Although Before the Dawn is the story of the author’s family and of the Meiji restoration, it is much more than that; the aftermath of the events that form its context have fundamentally altered the nature of the world we live in. Its author was a man of sophistication and erudition even though he was not given to virtuoso displays of either quality. He created this novel out of his personal and artistic needs, and out of his sense of the need of Japan and the world community to know the story he tells in it. Japan has been richly served by the original. But Toson had a worldwide as well as a Japanese audience in mind when he wrote Before the Dawn. This translation has been done in the hope of contributing to that undertaking. |
From inside the book
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... heard of recently is the Namamugi incident . " “ We've already heard about that . We must have gone through there on our way to Yokosuka . " Namamugi was in Musashi province , near Yokohama . It was reported from Edo that an Englishman ...
... heard that prominent samurai from various han are being recruited by Kyoto and being promised a stipend of ten thou- sand koku of rice apiece . Is that true ? " " I've heard that , too . " " It's all because of this reform in alternate ...
... heard from the police inspector , there was a desire in the shogunate to restore alter- nate attendance , which had now been suspended for two years . The commis- sioners had heard that the post stations had suffered grievously on the ...