Taiko
In the tempestuous closing decades of the sixteenth century, the Empire of Japan writhes in chaos as the shogunate crumbles and rival warlords battle for supremacy. Warrior monks in their armed citadels block the road to the capital; castles are destroyed, villages plundered, fields put to the torch. Amid this devastation, three men dream of uniting the nation. At one extreme is the charismatic but brutal Nobunaga, whose ruthless ambition crushes all before him. At the opposite pole is the cold, deliberate Ieyasu, wise in counsel, brave in battle, mature beyond his years. But the keystone of this triumvirate is the most memorable of all, Hideyoshi, who rises from the menial post of sandal bearer to become Taiko-absolute ruler of Japan in the Emperor's name. When Nobunaga emerges from obscurity by destroying an army ten times the size of his own, he allies himself with Ieyasu, whose province is weak, but whose canniness and loyalty make him invaluable. Yet it is the scrawny, monkey-faced Hideyoshi-brash, impulsive, and utterly fearless-who becomes the unlikely savior of this ravaged land. Born the son of a farmer, he takes on the world with nothing but his bare hands and his wits, turning doubters into loyal servants, rivals into faithful friends, and enemies into allies. In all this he uses a piercing insight into human nature that unlocks castle gates, opens men's minds, and captures women's hearts.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
10mentions
5people
2009–2025years
90% recommend10% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Not exactly the same vibe, but I highly, highly recommend Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa. It follows Hideyoshi's weird rise to power and has a lot of the same focus of him doing counter-intuitive things and being weirdly convincing while navigating an era of warfare. Plus it is a great read - along with Musashi, by the same author.
- A fictionalized biography to be sure, but I highly recommend Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa: https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156... about the famous samurai. It reads like a fantasy novel.
Also Taiko by the same author is a fictionalized version of the 3 kingdoms period, told from an interesting perspective.
- I (along with some others here) highly recommend Yasunari Kawabata. In a way, he reminds me of Hemingway because he writes sparsely and with a deep sense of melancholy. He also was focused on preserving the "Japanese character" at a time when there was a lot of pressure to Westernize, so in a way he writing encapsulates a Japanese perspective of what makes Japan unique and interesting.
He is also just an amazing writer (he won the Nobel). Some interesting works by him: Master of Go, the novelization of a Go match between two masters (I barely understand how to play Go and still found it interesting) and Thousand Cranes, which centers around the tea ceremony. That story is interesting because a few old tea bowls are treated almost like characters that exert influence over some of the other characters whose lives are kind of intertwined almost like a Shakespearean drama. Anyway, a very interesting and unique author.
I also recommend Musashi from Eiji Yoshikawa. He writes big historical fiction novels that read like fantasy page-turners. Taiko is his lesser known novel in translation, but it is a really awesome overview of the Japanese feudal period and a fun read as well.
- For a Japanese twist, read Eiji Yoshikawa's novels - he fictionalized historical accounts into novels, Taiko is set before Shogun and is about the rise of Oda Nobunaga, who was succeeded by Clavell's Tokugawa Ieyasu. Musashi is about the famous swordsman's life.
- Second that, great historical fiction. Yoshikawa's other book, Taiko, is equally good.
- Read some quality history of long dead eras. I find the most intriguing to be Sengoku (Warring States) Japan, the transition from the late Roman Republic to the early Roman Empire, and Renaissance Italy. You can find good narratives and commentaries of these eras, like Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Eiji Yoshikawa's Taiko (historical fiction, but accurate enough jumping off point). Reading a biography that follows one guy around can be pretty good - Julia Cartwright's "Baldissare Castiglione" is pretty good, it's a good read especially if you've already read The Prince by Machiavelli. (Definitely read a commentary/analyis of The Prince alongside it, though, so you understand the pressures on Machiavelli while writing)
Likewise, reading autobiographies and first hand accounts alongside commentaries can be interesting. I like Julius Cesar's autobiographical "The Gallic Wars." I have an electronic copy of Flavius Josephus's Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans, but haven't read it yet - but that looks really, really fascinating to me. I'll read it along with a commentary.
Understanding old politics (Roman, fragmented Italy states, fragmented Japan followed by unified Japan) has helped me understand new politics. Basically, the mainstream interpretation of anything political that happened after year 1750 or so is questionable and suspect. By all means, still learn modern history, but there's so much misinformation out there.
If you want a real head trip, go read Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address. That'll show you how inaccurate the mainstream interpretation of events 200 years ago are. Really, seriously, it messed with my head when I read it -
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres31.html
Read his thoughts on slavery and fugitive slaves in there, and his argument for why nonviolent secession from the union is an act of violence. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."
Start with the history of old politics if you want to understand new politics. Everything you've learned post-1750 without verifying from primary sources is suspect. I'm not exaggerating, nor am I a conspiracy theorist - I dig around through primary sources. Ever stop and wonder why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor after the USA was its closest ally from the formation of the Empire up until four years before the war broke out?
All mainstream views on modern politics are suspect. Start with older eras with issues we aren't emotional about today, then once understanding duplicity and doublespeak, start learning about the modern era. For the record, I wholly support Lincoln and think he was a great President, despite the fact that I have a 180 degree different view of his intentions than most people. (In my view from my studies, he was a pure conquest imperialist, not any sort of liberator... but I still like him and think he made largely the right choice after the secession)
