Intheearlyeighteenthcentury,thenoblewomanŌgimachiMachikocomposedamemoirofYanagisawaYoshiyasu,thepowerfulsamuraiforwhomshehadservedasaconcubinefortwentyyears.MachikoassistedYoshiyasuinhisascenttotherankofchiefadjutanttotheTokugawashogun.Shekepthimingoodgraceswiththeimperialcourt,enabledhimtostudypoetrywitharistocraticteachersandhavehiscompositionsreadbytheretiredemperor,andgavebirthtotwoofhissons.WritingafterYoshiyasu’sretirement,sherecalleditall--fromtheglitteringformalvisitsoftheshogunandhisentouragetothepassageoftheseasonsasseenfromherapartmentsintheYanagisawamansion.IntheShelterofthePineisthemostsignificantworkofliteraturebyawomanofJapan’searlymodernera.FeaturingMachiko’skeeneyefordetail,strongnarrativevoice,andpolishedprosestuddedwithallusionstoChineseandJapaneseclassics,thismemoirshedslightoneverythingfromthesocialworldoftheTokugawaelitetotheroleofliteratureinwomen’slives.MachikomodeledherstoryonTheTaleofGenji,illustratinghowtheeleventh-centuryclassiccontinuedtoinspireitsfemalereadersandprovidethemwiththemeanstomakesenseoftheirexperiences.Elegant,poetic,andrevealing,IntheShelterofthePineisavividportraitofadistantworldandavitaladditiontothecanonofJapaneseliteratureavailableinEnglish.
