The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro

Name: The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro
Rating: 3.6 (5 reviews)
ISBN: 9781912864072

By Kanji Hanawa & Meredith McKinney

Publisher Description

A Japanese tale - not about daring ninja or battling samurai - but a hero with a very different penchant. Based on an actual historical figure, the Akutagawa-nominated master short story writer, Kanji Hanawa, takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery, as Lord Asunaro inherits his own Japanese fiefdom and grapples with his role and ultimate legacy. Hanawa provides us with an unusual and entertaining perspective on the psychology of change within Japan when it was still ruled by its men of steel, samurai and shoguns.

As Japan emerges from the conflict-ridden era dominated by infamous warlords into a golden age of plenty, a young lord - heir to a vast domain and incumbent ruler of all he surveys - lives deep within a spiralling castle.

From the pen of Hanawa, this cleverly spun tale features our young Lord Asunaro, a 'warlord' who doesn't fit the brave samurai stereotype, as he faces a modernising world where learning now outvalues military prowess. Carrying the legacy of his bloodline, he is compelled to find his place among the great figures of his ancestors.

Hanawa's charming story, The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro is translated by Meredith McKinney, and takes the reader back to life and leadership in feudal Japan - while also exploring universal themes of legacy, inheritance, expectations, the weight of history and the psychology of change.

Red Circle Minis: Original, Short and Compelling Reads

The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro is part of Red Circle Minis, a series of short captivating books by Japan's finest contemporary writers that brings the narratives and voices of Japan together as never before. Each book is a first edition written specifically for the series and is being published in English first.

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The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro Reviews

3.5

Shan | Treat Yo Shelves

Created almost 4 years ago

Laura Dormer

Created about 4 years ago

““Over near the wall lay a scattering of the books he had read, with beyond them the inexorable towering cliffs of those yet unread, a bulk that never changed.” Rather unflatteringly described as ‘a fool from birth, and lacking all judgement’, the protagonist of Kanji Hanawa’s book, translated here by Meredith McKinney, is feudal lord-in-waiting Asunaro (Lord ‘Someday-soon’). Disregarded by his father (the current lord), we first meet Asunaro as a young man; physically well-built, but lacking the brains of his father, and with little desire to further his own education. As we follow Lord Asunaro through his life, ultimately inheriting his father’s title and lands, we see him grow from an indolent boy to a man with a higher than average love of the ladies – in fact, fathering an estimated 70 children! With a mildly mocking but affectionate tone, the author provides his chronicle of a man he describes as ‘empty-headed’ but ‘mild and amiable’, giving the reader a snapshot of Japan in the late 16th and early 17th centuries (with some interesting comparisons along the way to contemporary Europe, particularly France). Based on a real-life historical figure (although heavily fictionalised, as the author is at pains to point out in his afterword!), this book provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of Japan. This is the second book I’ve read in the Red Circle Minis series, and the subject couldn’t be more different to the dystopian near-future of “Monkey Man”. But what both books have in common is a wonderful and engaging story, and a window on life in Japan. I’d highly recommend this book, and the series, to lovers of well-written, quirky fiction!”

MolliesRecentReads

Created about 4 years ago

Michael Watson

Created over 5 years ago

Anjinsan89

Created over 5 years ago

About Kanji Hanawa

Kanji Hanawa, a former professor of French Literature with an interest in human psychology and complex relationships. Hanawa's narratives expose the pressures and challenges of life in Japan. Hanawa is a master of the short story. He has written several hundred since he published his first collection, Garasu no natsu (Glass Summer) to critical acclaim in 1972. In 1962, after graduating from Tokyo University, where he studied French Literature, he spent a few months in Paris, his only stay in the county to whose literature he has dedicated much of his life.Hanawa is the author of Backlight, which The Japan Times described as 'an important work of social commentary doing what all the greatest short stories do: opening a rabbit hole of thought down which the reader will fall.'

Other books by Kanji Hanawa

Backlight

Kanji Hanawa & Richard Nathan

$5.99

Meredith McKinney

Meredith McKinney has translated numerous works of Japanese literature into English, from the earliest poetry to contemporary fiction. Among them are classics such as The Pillow Book, as well as Natsume Soseki's early modern masterpiece Kokoro, and an anthology of a thousand years of classical Japanese travel writing (Travels with a writing Brush). She lives in the bush outside the small town of Braidwood in New South Wales.