{"product_id":"the-merchants-tale-yokohama-and-the-transformation-of-japan-asia-perspectives-history-society-and-culture-9780231182928","title":"The Merchant's Tale: Yokohama and the Transformation of Japan (Asia Perspectives: History  Society  and Culture)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn April 1859  at age fifty  Shinohara Chemon left his old life behind. Chemon  a well-off farmer in his home village  departed for the new port city of Yokohama  where he remained for the next fourteen years. There  as a merchant trading with foreigners in the aftermath of Japans 1853 opening to the West  he witnessed the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate  the civil war that followed  and the Meiji Restorations reforms. The Merchants Tale looks through Chemons eyes at the upheavals of this period.  In a narrative history rich in colorful detail  Simon Partner uses the story of an ordinary merchant farmer and its Yokohama setting as a vantage point onto sweeping social transformation and its unwitting agents. Chemon  like most newcomers to Yokohama  came in search of economic opportunity. His story sheds light on vital issues in Japans modern history  including the legacies of the Meiji Restoration; the East Asian treaty port system; and the importance of everyday lifefood  clothing  medicine  and hygienefor national identity. Centered on an individual  The Merchants Tale is also the story of a place. Created under pressure from aggressive foreign powers  Yokohama was the scene of gunboat diplomacy  a connection to global markets  the birthplace of new lifestyles  and the beachhead of Japans modernization. Partners history of a vibrant meeting place humanizes the story of Japans revolutionary 1860s and their profound consequences for Japanese society and culture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67687238369333,"sku":"ByrdShop_0231182929","price":112.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780231182928.jpg?v=1792138144","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-merchants-tale-yokohama-and-the-transformation-of-japan-asia-perspectives-history-society-and-culture-9780231182928","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}