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Original Title:	Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan
ISBN:	4770026099 (ISBN13: 9784770026095)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Nobunaga Oda, Ieyasu Tokugawa
Setting:	Japan

Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan Hardcover | Pages: 940 pages

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Title	:	Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan
Author	:	Eiji Yoshikawa
Book Format	:	Hardcover
Book Edition	:	Deluxe Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 940 pages
Published	:	January 16th 2001 by Kodansha (first published 1967)
Categories	:	Historical. Historical Fiction. Cultural. Japan. Fiction. Asian Literature. Japanese Literature

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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. For Hideyoshi's passions are not limited to war and intrigue-his faithful wife, Nene, holds his love dear, even when she must share it; the chaste Oyu, sister of Hideyoshi's chief strategist, falls prey to his desires; and the seductive Chacha, whom he rescues from the fiery destruction of her father's castle, tempts his weakness.

As recounted by Eiji Yoshikawa, author of the international best-seller Musashi, Taiko tells many stories: of the fury of Nobunaga and the fatal arrogance of the black-toothed Yoshimoto; of the pathetic downfall of the House of Takeda; how the scorned Mitsuhide betrayed his master; how once impregnable ramparts fell as their defenders died gloriously. Most of all, though, Taiko is the story of how one man transformed a nation through the force of his will and the depth of his humanity. Filled with scenes of pageantry and violence, acts of treachery and self-sacrifice, tenderness and savagery, Taiko combines the panoramic spectacle of a Kurosawa epic with a vivid evocation of feudal Japan.

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Ratings: 4.25 From 3859 Users | 303 Reviews

Write Up Based On Books Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan

Taiko is an epic: prepare for a long, long 1,000 page journey.If you've got a serious interest in Sengoku period Japan, this book is essential: it walks you through the life of a samurai--in many ways the most successful samurai ever--and gives you a front-row ticket to the great battles of the period. For me, it pieced a lot of random knowledge together into a refreshingly coherent narrative.It is also an incredible human novel. Hideyoshi was not a macho warrior: what made him a great general

In mid-16th century Japan, the Emperor rules by tradition, the shogun rules by law: but the true master of the realm is Chaos. This tumultuous and violent epoch of Japanese history is known the Sengoku Jidai (the Warring States period). The zeitgeist of this era can be encapsulated by the Japanese phrase: 花は桜木人は武士 (Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi; which means, as among flowers the sakura (cherry blossom) is foremost, similarly, among men the warrior is considered the best.Lacking any real

Based on true story of Hideyoshi, the taiko, the ruler of japan on behalf of the emperor at feudal era.A fascinating story about a person who struggles from zero to hero, and yet still very "human" which his strengths and weaknesses.This book, together with "Musashi", indeed made me, until now, eager to learn anything related with japan. its culture, spirit, people, way of life, language...anything. Not mentioning that currently I am working in a japanese company :)

I was browsing aimlessly in a bookstore when I first tumbled across Taiko. I never read any Japanese historical fiction before, so I thought that this would be a great opportunity to widen my horizon. I was very pleased that I did. This book absolutely sparked my interest in the era of the shogunate. The detail with which Yoshikawa tells of the customs and honorary codes of the samurai had me intrigued. It was refreshing to learn of a culture so different to that of 21st Century Western society.



Good book on a historic period of feudal strife in Japan. I wasn't sure I'd finish all 926 pages, but I did. I agree with those who say the names are a challenge, the main character's name changing twice as a good example. It's somewhat repetitive with one campaign following the next, one castle being taken after another, etc. That being said, the various subordinate characters are interesting, and throughout, the book conveys a strong sense of what it must have been like to live in Japan during

I read Taiko for the first time more than twenty years ago and enjoyed it enormously as you might suspect, since I have chosen to read it again. To some extent, reading this book a second time was in preparation for a trip to Japan that Claudia and I will take a bit down the road. To that end, Taiko contains a great deal of Japanese history since it is a novel based on the life of one of the three great unifiers of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It also describes many elements of Japanese culture