Sláma i hedvábí - Život na japonském maloměstě před sto lety

The book brings a fascinating story of a diverse group of people about life in Japan in the early twentieth century. Junichi Saga, a doctor by profession, spent fifteen years interviewing the oldest inhabitants of his hometown of Tsuchiura. Men and women of various professions, fishermen, merchants, craftsmen, poor and rich, geishas and members of the yakuza mafia, remember their youth and speak very openly about their lives. The narratives are often overwhelming by their rawness, and at the same time they surprise at how obviously the narrators approach the difficulties of life.