Beyond the Blossoming Fields
1970
First Published
3.59
Average Rating
375
Number of Pages
As a young girl from a wealthy family, Ginko Ogino seems set for a conventional life in the male-dominated society of 19th-century Japan. But when she contracts gonorrhea from her husband, she suffers the disgrace of divorce. Forced to bear the humiliation of being treated by male doctors, she resolves to become a doctor herself in order to treat fellow female sufferers and spare them some of the shame she had to endure. Her struggle is not an easy one—her family disowns her, and she has to convince the authorities to take seriously the very idea of a female doctor and allow her to study alongside male medical students and take the licensing exam. Based on the real-life story of Ginko Ogino—Japan’s first female doctor—Jun'ichi Watanabe does full justice to the complexity of her character and her world in a fascinating and inspirational work of fiction.
Avg Rating
3.59
Number of Ratings
540
5 STARS
19%
4 STARS
38%
3 STARS
31%
2 STARS
10%
1 STARS
3%
goodreads
Author
Jun'ichi Watanabe
Author · 4 books
Junichi Watanabe (渡辺 淳一, Watanabe Jun'ichi, October 24, 1933 – April 30, 2014) was a Japanese writer, known for his portrayal of the extra-marital affairs of middle aged people. His 1997 novel 'A Lost Paradise' became a bestseller in Japan and over Asia, and was made into a film and a TV miniseries. He has written more than 50 novels in total, and won awards including Naoki Prize in 1970 for 'Light and Shadow' (Hikari to kage), New Current Coterie magazine prize for Makeup, the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize in 1979 for 'The Setting Sun in the Distance' (Toki rakujitsu) and 'The Russian Brothel of Nagasaki' (Nagasaki roshia yujokan). He was born in Sunagawamachi (present-day Kamisunagawa) and died on April 30, 2014 of prostate cancer in Tokyo.
