 First edition | |
| Author | David Mitchell |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Drama, Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Sceptre |
Publication date | 13 May 2010 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 480 |
| ISBN | 0-340-92156-0 |
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is an historical fiction novel by British author David Mitchell published by Sceptre in 2010. [1] It is set during the Dutch trading concession with Japan in the late 18th-century, during the period of Japanese history known as Sakoku .
The novel begins in the summer of 1799 at the Dutch East India Company trading post Dejima in the harbor of Nagasaki. It tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is spirited away into a sinister mountain temple cult.
In 1799, Japanese midwife Orito Aibagawa helps deliver the baby of Magistrate Shiroyama.
Jacob de Zoet, working as a clerk on a Dutch merchant ship, arrives at the island of Dejima, midway through an ad hoc trial of Daniel Snitker, the acting chief of a factory on the island. Jacob hopes to make his fortune working under Chief Vorstenbosch and the Dutch East India Company to pay for the dowry of his betrothed, Anna. After Snitker is fired for smuggling, Deputy Melchior Van Cleef considers Jacob for the position.
Jacob meets Orito, who, along with being a midwife, is also a talented student and the only female at the medical academy led by Dr. Marinus. Jacob has sneaked a Psalter onto Dejima, and if discovered as a Christian, he will be deported at the least and executed at the worst due to Japan's anti-Christian laws. The interpreter, Ogawa Uzaemon, keeps Jacob's Psalter a secret, and the two form a friendship.
Jacob realizes that Vorstenbosch only outed Snitker to make an example: Vorstenbosch punishes Jacob for not signing a forged document by forcing him to remain on the island for longer than his allotted time.
On New Year's Day, Orito is taken to live at the Mount Shiranui Shrine, run by Abbot Enomoto.
A monk from Enomoto's monastery escapes with a scroll detailing the atrocities at Mount Shiranui: the monks rape the women kept at the Shrine, and the cult sacrifices the babies to attain immortality. The women of the Shrine, however, believe that their children are still alive, living down in the city. The scroll eventually comes into the possession of Jacob.
Unlike the other women, Orito isn't intended to be a mother, but a midwife to help the other women through their pregnancies. Orito eventually discovers a way out and nearly escapes the compound, but her guilt for abandoning the women overpowers her, and she gives herself up to the Shrine.
Before the events of the novel, Ogawa Uzaemon intended to marry Orito, but their circumstances prevented it. He still loves her, however, and hires mercenaries through a friend to mount a rescue mission. When they arrive at the Shrine, however, Uzaemon is betrayed by his team to Enomoto, who kills him.
Captain Penhaligon leads a crew of Englishmen in their attempt to take the trade route with Nagasaki for themselves (in response to the fall of the VOC on New Year's Day). They do this with the help of Daniel Snitker, who in the meantime has escaped Vorstenbosch's custody. As the Dutchmen on Dejima, now led by De Zoet, refuse to submit to the English, the conflict escalates: Penhaligon orders his cannons to fire on Dejima to destroy the last existing Dutch colony, but stops at the last moment to spare De Zoet, whose bravery reminds him of his son who died in a similar manner.
Having earned Shiroyama's respect in the conflict, Jacob gives the magistrate the scroll listing the atrocities of the Shrine of Mount Shiranui. Later, Shiroyama heroically sacrifices himself to kill Enomoto, poisoning their drinks at their game of Go.
Years, later, Jacob marries and has a son with a Japanese woman other than Orito. Orito lives happily, leading the academy the late Marinus founded.
Jacob returns to the Netherlands without his son, remarries, and has another son. On his deathbed, he thinks of Orito.
Mitchell spent four years working on the novel, researching and crafting a vision of Japan at the end of the 18th century. [1] Small details, such as if people used shaving cream or not, could require much time so that a single sentence could take half a day to write. "It was tough," Mitchell said. "It almost finished me off before I finished it off." [1]
The origins of the novel can be found in 1994 when Mitchell was backpacking in western Japan while on a teaching trip. [1] He had been looking for a cheap lunch in Nagasaki and came upon the Dejima museum. "I never did get the lunch that day," Mitchell said, "but I filled a notebook with information about this place I'd never heard of and resolved one day to write about it." [1]
Some of the events depicted in the novel are based on real history, such as HMS Phaeton's visit to the Dutch territory of Dejima and subsequent ritual suicide of Nagasaki Magistrate Matsudaira Yasuhide. [2] The main character, Jacob de Zoet, bears some resemblance to the real-life Hendrik Doeff, who wrote a memoir about his time in Dejima. [3]
Late in the book, "land of a thousand autumns" is described as one of the names used by the Japanese for Japan. [4]
Upon release, it was generally well-received. [5] The book received a 83% from The Lit Review based on thirty-two critic reviews and the consensus of the reviews being, "Mitchell’s new novel should be at minimum short-listed for the Man Booker this year; a wonderful historical fiction full of mystery and romance". [6] Culture Critic gave it an aggregated critic score of 84 percent based on British and American press reviews. [7] On Bookmarks September/October 2010 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(3.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary saying, "Despite some complaints of theatrical plot twists, unwieldy exposition, and weak characters, most critics enjoyed Mitchell’s latest novel, a fairly conventional page-turner that represents quite a detour from his earlier adventures in style and form". [8] Globally, Complete Review saying on the consensus "No consensus, but most quite impressed, certainly by aspects of it". [9]
The novel won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional prize (South Asia and Europe); was long listed for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, was one of Time 's "Best Books of the Year" (No. 4 Fiction), [10] and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. [11] It was shortlisted for the 2011 Walter Scott Prize. [12]
Dejima or Deshima, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima, was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1858). For 220 years, it was the central conduit for foreign trade and cultural exchange with Japan during the isolationist Edo period (1600–1869), and the only Japanese territory open to Westerners.
Nagasaki, officially known as Nagasaki City, is the capital and the largest city of the Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2. Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast.
A fumi-e was a likeness of Jesus or Mary onto which the religious authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan required suspected Christians (Kirishitan) to step, in order to demonstrate that they were not members of the outlawed religion; otherwise they would be tortured or killed.
David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist, television writer, and screenwriter.
Shiranui is a Japanese term given to the optical or supernatural phenomenon similar to will-o'-the-wisp; see shiranui. It is also a name associated with:
HMS Phaeton was a 38-gun, Minerva-class fifth rate of Britain's Royal Navy. This frigate was most noted for her intrusion into Nagasaki harbour in 1808. John Smallshaw built Phaeton in Liverpool between 1780 and 1782. She participated in numerous engagements during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars during which service she captured many prizes. Francis Beaufort, inventor of the Beaufort Wind-Scale, was a lieutenant on Phaeton when he distinguished himself during a successful cutting out expedition. Phaeton sailed to the Pacific in 1805, and returned in 1812. She was finally sold on 26 March 1828.
Hendrik Doeff was the Dutch commissioner in the Dejima trading post in Nagasaki, Japan, during the first years of the 19th century.
Jan Hendrik Donker Curtius was the last Opperhoofd of the Dutch trading post in Japan (1852-1855), located at Dejima an artificial island in the harbor of Nagasaki. To negotiate with the Japanese government for a treaty, he received the title "Dutch Commissioner in Japan" in 1855.
Intrigue in the Bakumatsu – Irohanihoheto is a Japanese original net animation (ONA) series, created by Ryōsuke Takahashi and Sunrise, with character designs by Yusuke Kozaki. The series follows Yojiro Akizuki, the bearer of the legendary Moon Tear Sword, who is on a mission to seal a supernatural object known as the Head of the Conqueror, which has now appeared during the Boshin War. Yojiro will not rest until his mission is fulfilled, no matter what or who gets in his way.
VOC chief traders in Japan were the opperhoofden of the Dutch East India Company in Japan during the Edo period, when Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate.
Gotō, also spelled Gotou or Gotoh, is a Japanese surname. People with the name include:
Japan–Netherlands relations are the bilateral relations between Japan and the Netherlands. Relations between Japan and the Netherlands date back to 1609, when the first formal trade relations were established.
The Edo period of the history of Japan is the setting of many works of popular culture. These include novels, stage plays, films, television shows, animated works, manga, and video games. Major events of the period, such as the Siege of Osaka, Shimabara Rebellion, and the decline and fall of the Tokugawa shogunate figure prominently in many works. Historical and fictional people and groups of the period, including Miyamoto Musashi, Izumo no Okuni, Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, the fictional Isshin Tasuke, Yui Shōsetsu, Matsuo Bashō, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Ōoka Tadasuke, Tōyama Kagemoto, the Forty-seven Ronin, Sakamoto Ryōma, Katsu Kaishū, and the Shinsengumi, as well as the fifteen Tokugawa shoguns were active for much or all of their public lives and are dramatized in works of popular culture. The cultural developments of the times, including kabuki, bunraku, and ukiyo-e, and practices like sankin kōtai and pilgrimages to the Ise Shrine, feature in many works set in Edo Japan.
Kusumoto Ine was a Japanese physician. She was the first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan.
Sceptre is an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, a British publishing house which is a division of Hachette UK.
Kawahara Keiga was a late Edo period Japanese painter of plants, fishes, birds, reptiles, crustaceans, social scenes, landscapes and portraits at the Dutch Factory of Dejima, and at Edo, Kyoto and Nagasaki. His works can be found in museums in Japan and in the Netherlands, among others.
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