If you are interested about leaning Japanese history in a fun manner, this is a book for you. That is what I thought when I began this book. I do not think it now. Some of the stories are quite boring, others are OK! I simply did not like the tone of the writing. There is a flippant tone, a sarcastic humor that did not appeal to me. Some of the details woven into the stories were totally without interest to me. How a person's shoes fit, for example..... It is just that peculiar details are thrown in, and I couldn't care less about these details. The stories did not make me curious for more, as a good tale should! The only story I really enjoyed was the one about Hiroshige. I liked the illustrations by him too. But that is about it. One more thing I enjoyed, and that is I could picture the beauty of the place where the inn is situated, but that is probably because I have traveled in the area more than that the writing so well depicted it. Here is what I have found about the author and how this book came to be written: http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/special/statler/bio.htm
Check particularly under the headings "Japan" and "Birth of Masterpieces".
Statler mixes stories about Japanese history and guests stopping at the ancient Japanese inn, Minaguchi-ya, on the Tokaido Road. The inn came into being in 1569, along with the birth of the Tokugawa shogunate. The stories begin in 1569 and continue through to 1957. Some are fictional. Statler first visited this inn in 1947, employed in a civil service position with the Army. The book has great black and white illustrations, many by Hiroshige.
