Kotan Chronicles: Selected Poems 1928-1943

In Kotan Chronicles, Japanese author and activist Genzō Sarashina shares his experience as a second-generation settler in Hokkaido during the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his poems document his encounters with the Ainu, the indigenous people of the island, in an era where the traditional world of the kotan, or Ainu village, was slowly disappearing. Sarashina’s distinctive voice probes the ambiguities of the interaction between the Ainu and the Japanese, while depicting both the beauty of Hokkaido’s landscape and the back-breaking work required of settlers and Ainu alike to survive there in an era of economic hardship. Kotan Chronicles constitutes an exceptional witness of its times.

Literature & Fiction

Sarashina, Genzō

Poetry

Isobar Press

Kotan Chronicles takes the reader into the lives of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, and their interaction with Japanese settlers in the 1920s and 1930s, a period when the traditional world of the kotan, or Ainu village, was being destroyed by the rapid development of the island. With a distinctive and powerful artistic voice, the poems of Genzō Sarashina probe this extraordinary cultural encounter in Japan’s far north, depicting both the beauty of the Hokkaido landscape and the back-breaking work required to survive there in an era of economic hardship. Kotan Chronicles constitutes an exceptional witness of its times. 

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Books by Sarashina, Genzō

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sarashina, Genzō. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Kotan Chronicles: Selected Poems 1928-1943

Kotan Chronicles: Selected Poems 1928-1943