The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
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''The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet'' is an
historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
novel by British author David Mitchell published by
Sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...
in 2010. It is set during the Dutch trading concession with Japan in the late 18th-century, during the period of Japanese history known as '' Sakoku''.


Plot

The novel begins in the summer of 1799 at the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
trading post
Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, i ...
in the harbor of
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...
. It tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is spirited away into a sinister mountain temple cult.


Part 1: The Bride For Whom We Dance

In 1799, Japanese midwife Orito Aibagawa helps deliver the baby of Magistrate Shiroyama. Jacob de Zoet, working as a clerk on a Dutch merchant ship, arrives at the island of Dejima, midway through an ad hoc trial of Daniel Snitker, the acting chief of a factory on the island. Jacob hopes to make his fortune working under Chief Vorstenbosch and the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
to pay for the dowry of his betrothed, Anna. After Snitker is fired for smuggling, Deputy Melchior Van Cleef considers Jacob for the position. Jacob meets Orito, who, along with being a midwife, is also a talented student and the only female at the medical academy led by Dr. Marinus. Jacob sneaks a Psalter onto Dejima, and if discovered as a Christian, he will be deported at the least and executed at the worst due to Japan's anti-Christian laws. The interpreter, Ogawa Uzaemon, keeps Jacob's Psalter a secret, and the two form a friendship. Jacob realizes that Vorstenbosch only outed Snitker to make an example: Vorstenbosch punishes Jacob for not signing a forged document by forcing him to remain on the island for longer than his allotted time. On New Year's Day, Orito is taken to live at the Mount Shiranui Shrine, run by Abbot Enomoto.


Part 2: The Mountain Fastness

A monk from Enomoto's monastery escapes with a scroll detailing the atrocities at Mount Shiranui: the monks rape the women kept at the Shrine, and the cult sacrifices the babies to attain immortality. The women of the Shrine, however, believe that their children are still alive, living down in the city. The scroll eventually comes into the possession of Jacob. Unlike the other women, Orito isn't intended to be a mother, but a midwife to help the other women through their pregnancies. Orito eventually discovers a way out and nearly escapes the compound, but her guilt for abandoning the women overpowers her, and she gives herself up to the Shrine. Before the events of the novel, Ogawa Uzaemon intended to marry Orito, but their circumstances prevented it. He still loves her, however, and, being a trained samurai, he mounts a rescue mission. When they arrive at the Shrine, however, Uzaemon is betrayed by his team to Enomoto, who kills him.


Part 3: The Master Of ''Go''

Captain Penhaligon leads a crew of Englishmen in their attempt to take the trade route with Nagasaki for themselves (in response to the fall of the VOC on New Year's Day). They do this with the help of Daniel Snitker, assisting out of hatred for Vorstenbosch (who has left for the Netherlands) and Jacob. As the Dutchmen on Dejima refuse to submit to the English, the conflict escalates to actual war: the English ship fires, accidentally hitting Nagasaki as well. With Japanese firepower against them, the English retreat. Having earned Shiroyama's respect in the conflict, Jacob gives the magistrate the scroll listing the atrocities of the Shrine of Mount Shiranui. Shiroyama heroically sacrifices himself to kill Enomoto, poisoning their drinks at their game of ''Go''.


Part 4: The Rainy Season

Years, later, Jacob marries and has a son with a Japanese woman other than Orito. Orito lives happily, leading the academy the late Marinus founded.


Part 5: The Last Pages

Jacob returns to the Netherlands without his son, remarries, and has another son. On his deathbed, he thinks of Orito.


Development

Mitchell spent four years working on the novel, researching and crafting a vision of Japan at the end of the 18th century."How David Mitchell Brings Historical Fiction To Life"
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, ''Weekend Edition Saturday'', August 21, 2010
Small details, such as if people used shaving cream or not, could require much time so that a single sentence could take half a day to write. "It was tough," Mitchell said. "It almost finished me off before I finished it off." The origins of the novel can be found in 1994 when Mitchell was backpacking in western Japan while on a teaching trip. He had been looking for a cheap lunch in
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...
and came upon the
Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, i ...
museum. "I never did get the lunch that day," Mitchell said, "but I filled a notebook with information about this place I'd never heard of and resolved one day to write about it." Some of the events depicted in the novel are based on real history, such as HMS ''Phaeton'''s visit to the Dutch territory of
Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, i ...
and subsequent ritual suicide of Nagasaki Magistrate Matsudaira Yasuhide. The main character, Jacob de Zoet, bears some resemblance to the real-life Hendrik Doeff, who wrote a memoir about his time in Dejima. Late in the book, "land of a thousand autumns" is described as one of the names used by the Japanese for Japan.


Awards and nominations

The novel won the 2011
Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
regional prize (South Asia and Europe); was long listed for the 2010
Man Booker Prize for Fiction The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
, was one of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' "Best Books of the Year" (No. 4 Fiction), and a ''The New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year. It was shortlisted for the 2011
Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Sc ...
.


See also

*
List of works about the Dutch East India Company A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...


References


External links


''The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet''
at '' complete review'' (aggregation of reviews)
List of characters in ''The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, The Novels by David Mitchell 2010 British novels British historical novels Novels set in Japan Fiction set in 1799 Works about the Dutch East India Company Sceptre (imprint) books Japan in non-Japanese culture