Old Tokyo

3 Pages 874 Words

Throughout the pages of Old Tokyo, Keiko Imai Packard attempts to recreate the history of this great city between the years of 1855 and 1923. Using her grandmother’s tales as an influence, she uses her writing as a way to describe the culture and social attitudes of the time rather than give the reader only a list of dates and historical facts. She describes Edo/Tokyo’s history as ever evolving. The culture started from scratch multiple times throughout its history for various reasons including: developing political structures, changes in economic goals, and natural disasters. However, can this novel be used as historical documentation? While reading it several issues came to mind that made me ponder the validity of the book. In terms of historical text, Old Tokyo by Keiko Imai Packard should not be used as a primary source due to lack of documentation throughout the novel and obvious bias on behalf of the author and other contributing sources. However it can still be used it combination with other historical works as it does give helpful insight into the lives of everyday people in the city of Tokyo.

The biggest problem I found while reading was the lack of documentation. By scanning Packard’s acknowledgement and preface, the reader is well aware of the different types of information that she used. She was obviously influenced by the stories that her grandmother used to tell her as a young child. “I was so interested in her manners and traditional habits that I often asked her to talk about her past. Her views of Tokyo were so different from mine, and this contrast instilled in me a lifelong fascination with the city she knew” (Packard, viii). However since her grandmother’s death she was left with just memories. In the acknowledgements she lists her different sources including a ninety-two year old man and her editor. Packard also has a bibliography at the back of the novel to list all of the books and articles that we...