MORNING MUSINGS OVER COFFEE

MORNING MUSINGS OVER COFFEE

It was an interesting week here in Lake Wobegon – oh wait, that’s Garrison Keillor’s line. Well, anyway it was an interesting week, what with an out-of-season storm that brought snow to the mountains, heavy rain and wind to the city scattering what few sakura were still left on the trees, and the end of the spring break necessitating my going back to work at the university. It’s amazing how only a couple of weeks rest will necessitate massive doses of aspirin when classes start up again! “Oh, the pain, the pain, the pain. I’m getting too old for this!” But the most exciting thing to happen was more in keeping with my activities as a quasi-journalist/writer/historian. It’s no secret that I am an enthusiastic student of Japanese history. Several years ago I published an essay on a figure from post-Meiji history which became extremely popular; however, when I wrote it, I had it in the back of my mind that someday, it could be possibly expanded to a neat little book – if I could find more information.

Recently I started to re-write the essay and expand it. I didn’t think much of it at the time, not a heavy chore, but suddenly I found myself delving deeper and deeper into the history of the Taisho period and the early Showa period, which is fascinating. But I also found myself (of necessity) exploring Chinese history going back to the 1400s, then to the First Opium War, the Qing Dynasty, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Xinhai revolution, Emperor Pu Yi and on and on. I’ve watched “The Last Emperor three times this week if for no other reason than to immerse myself in the era. Even though I surficially knew that Japanese history and Chinese history (not to mention politics) was labarynthine, I had no real idea: twists and turns, plots and subplots, it goes on and on. Well, I thought the treatment of the person that the essay focused on was rather straightforward and conclusive. Then, little bits of new information were revealed, which led to questions and then more questions. Sources were checked and found limited at best; some sources in China (actually as it turns out some of the most important sources) were made unavailable to me and in some cases I was just plain blocked. China, it seems doesn’t like snoops!

Now this simple rewrite project has turned into a full-scale investigation and I even now have my very own “secret agent” in China doing the snooping for me! Suddenly lots of information has been uncovered which is leading to new possibilities for investigation, new information on interrelationships of people involved that I wasn’t aware of – it’s become even more labarynthine – and one heck of a lot of fun! Makes me want to put on my old fedora and trench coat! I can’t wait to see what information develops next 

Copyright 2013 by Hayato Tokugawa and Shisei-Do Publications. All rights reserved.