My Asakusa

the long version

"Written near the end of Sadako Sawamura's life, My Asakusa [Watashi no Asakusa] is a collection of autobiographical essays by a truly self-made woman. Recalling Japan at a time of great political turmoil and rapid cultural change, Sawamura shares with us her vignettes of growing up in Asakusa - one of the last of the old downtown Shitamachi neighborhoods of incessantly modernizing Tokyo - and her keen insight into the characters of those who populated her world."--BOOK JACKET.