Daughters of Nijo: A Romance of JapanOnoto WatannaOmniClassics · Literature
Daughters of Nijo: A Romance of Japan
Onoto WatannaA farmer's household and a princely court are drawn together in a romance about the instability of rank and identity.
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About the book
Yamada Kwacho is content with his farm and his young wife Ohano, although a service to the lord of his province could have opened a more ambitious career. When duty calls him away, Ohano's excursion to watch a royal procession ends in her abduction by the Prince of Nijo. This act of aristocratic power sets the background for the story of Princess Sado-ko and Masago, whose contrasting positions give the romance its central interest. Court ceremonies, family expectations, and romantic attachments make social identity both a privilege and a restriction. Watanna's imagined Japan is presented through an ornate period romance, rather than documentary history. The novel asks how much of a woman's fate belongs to her character and how much to the station others assign her.
- Rank and identity
- Women's constrained choices
- Courtship and power
Why read it
The movement between a working household and the court gives the romance a sustained contrast between social position and personal desire.
English Macmillan edition of 1904 with Kiyokichi Sano illustrations