Snow Country Tales (Hokuetsu Seppu)

Suzuki Bokushi (edited by Santo Kyozan) · 1837-1842

Overview

First series in three volumes (1837), second series in four (1841-42). Suzuki Bokushi, a dealer in chijimi cloth from Shiozawa in Uonuma district, Echigo, wrote this book about the nature and life of snow country for the people of Edo. With his own observations and illustrations, it presents drawings of snow crystals, avalanches, blizzards, the hardships of life in the snow, how Echigo chijimi is made, salmon fishing, bears, the customs of Akiyamago and strange tales of snow country. It was edited by the Edo writer Santo Kyozan.

Background

As a young man Bokushi went to Edo to trade in chijimi and was surprised that Edo people knew nothing at all about life in snow country. After deciding to publish, he sought help from Santo Kyoden and Kyokutei Bakin, but nothing came of it, and it took about forty years to see the book in print. The late Edo period was a time when provincial men of letters began to connect with the Edo publishing world, and this book is a prime example.

Highlights

  1. Snow crystalsDrawings of snowflakes seen through a microscope (based on Doi Toshitsura's Sekka Zusetsu). The first snow crystals Edo readers ever saw.Read “(place)” →
  2. The man saved by a bearA man who falls into a ravine in the snowy mountains is cared for by a bear in its den until spring.Read “(place)” →
  3. Chijimi and snow bleachingSpinning thread in the snow and laying woven cloth on the snow to whiten it. The beauty of snow country handwork.Read “Chijimi” →
  4. AkiyamagoLife in a deep mountain village, cut off from the outside world.Read “(place)” →