{"product_id":"musuis-story-the-autobiography-of-a-tokugawa-samurai-9780816512560","title":"Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Katsu Kokichi | Teruko Craig\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: University of Arizona Press\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: University of Arizona Press\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: General\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA series of picaresque adventures\u003c\/b\u003e set against the backdrop of a Japan still closed off from the rest of the world, \u003ci\u003eMusui's Story\u003c\/i\u003e recounts the escapades of samurai Katsu Kokichi. As it depicts Katsu stealing, brawling, indulging in the pleasure quarters, and getting the better of authorities, it also provides a refreshing perspective on Japanese society, customs, economy, and human relationships. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From childhood, Katsu was given to mischief. He ran away from home, once at thirteen, making his way as a beggar on the great trunk road between Edo and Kyoto, and again at twenty, posing as the emissary of a feudal lord. He eventually married and had children but never obtained official preferment and was forced to supplement a meager stipend by dealing in swords, selling protection to shopkeepers, and generally using his muscle and wits. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Katsu's descriptions of loyalty and kindness, greed and deception, vanity and superstition offer an intimate view of daily life in nineteenth-century Japan unavailable in standard history books. \u003ci\u003eMusui's Story\u003c\/i\u003e will delight not only students of Japan's past but also general readers who will be entranced by Katsu's candor and boundless zest for life.","brand":"University of Arizona Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47615131615383,"sku":"9780816512560","price":2421.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780816512560.webp?v=1775098248","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/musuis-story-the-autobiography-of-a-tokugawa-samurai-9780816512560","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}