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Eight Million Gods and Demons

About the Book

Eight Million Gods and Demons

In Meiji era Japan, Taku, an idealistic activist politician and visionary entrepreneur, takes Emi, a 14-year-old gifted koto player, as his child bride. Their marriage is troubled by Taku's imprisonment, the onset of Emi's epilepsy, and the deaths of their babies. Emi, after finally having a healthy son, Jun, discovers that Taku is living a double life. He spends half his time living with Hana, the devastatingly beautiful, villainous ex-geisha and their four children. Emi's dream of a happy life and marriage is destroyed and her health declines with her spirit.

As Japan marches onward in its ill-conceived and ill-dated quest for supremacy in Asia, Emi Imura must embark on a poignant journey of self-definition that will change her life and that of a generation to follow.

Eight Million Gods and Demons, named after the number of deities in the Japanese pantheon, is the saga of the Imura family from the 1890s to the end of World War II. Exploring the complexities of marriage and family, the relationships between siblings, and the effect of war on life, it is a tale of love and loss as well as a history of modern Japan with its ambitions, demons, and downfall.

Eight Million Gods and Demons
by Hiroko Sherwin

  • Publication Date: November 25, 2003
  • Mass Market Paperback: 328 pages
  • Publisher: Plume
  • ISBN-10: 0452284511
  • ISBN-13: 9780452284517