Aizawa Kikutaro (1866-1963) was born into the wealthiest family in Hashimoto, a small agricultural village specializing in wheat and silk. By 1925, the village was undergoing rapid commercial development, residents were commuting to factory and office jobs in cities, and, after serving as mayor for almost twenty years, Aizawa was working as a bank manager. Taking the biography of this leading villager as its central focus and incorporating intimate details of life drawn from Aizawa's diary, "The Mayor of Aihara" chronicles the extraordinary transformation of Hashimoto against the background of Japan's rapid industrialization. By portraying history as it was actually lived by ordinary people, the book offers a rich and compelling perspective on the modernization of Japan.
- ISBN10 0520258584
- ISBN13 9780520258587
- Publish Date 13 July 2009
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 August 2013
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of California Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 248
- Language English