The House of Yamazaki: The Life of a Daughter of Japan

Caillet, a French journalist and anthropologist, here presents a superb tale of a rural Japanese girl, born in 1918, who as an adult became the owner of a chain of Tokyo hair salons. The book is also an engrossing cultural study of prewar-to-present-day Japan. As a teenager, Yamazaki Ikue persuaded her parents to enroll her in a Tokyo hairdressers' school; pre-war coiffeurs were elaborate, requiring ancient skills and reflecting traditional values that Ikue loved. She knew that the gods had created Japan first in the universe and that the Emperor was divine. After four years of study, she managed a salon for the school before being allowed to branch out on her own. She married her teacher's son for practical reasons, was a dutiful daughter-in-law, a loyal wife and mother while working hard to achieve great success in business. For spiritual guidance and practical advice, she relied on seers, monks, astrologers and magicians, in whose wisdom she deeply believed. She came to accept the war defeat and the ensuing American imprint on life. For its wealth of personal detail, this is an exemplary contribution to understanding the Japan that was and is. (July)