Book Review: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell

Earlier this year, we visited Nagasaki. We spent about three hours at the wonderful Dejima museum. It is a re-creation of the small island that was the only contact with foreign trade during the long Sakoku period when Japan refused entry to all foreigners. The British novelist David Mitchell also visited Dejima, when he was working in Hiroshima, in the late 1990s. He was so moved that he wanted to write a historical fiction, inspired by this unique place. In 2010, he published this extraordinary book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.

There are three parts to the story. In part one, the year 1799, we meet Jacob de Zoet, an honest young man from the Netherlands who is working as an office clerk in Dejima. We also meet Doctor Marinus, who is teaching Western medicine to young students in Nagasaki.

Part two, the story moves to Mount Shiranui, a secret shrine complex, near Nagasaki. What happens here is disturbing and upsetting.

In a romantic sub-plot, Jacob and a Japanese translator friend try to help someone at this shrine..  David Mitchell has not told us how much this is historical fact or only his imagination.

Part three, certainly based on real events, the year 1800, when a British ship enters Nagasaki harbor; the ship's captain tries to take control of Dejima from the Dutch staff working there. An act of war. Jacob finds himself as the Chief of Dejima, refusing to take down the flag of the Netherlands which had been flying in Dejima for 150 years.

Is there a happy ending? No spoilers here.. You will have to read this wonderful book; you won't regret it. For the final chapter, you might need to keep some tissues within easy reach.

(You would probably enjoy the book even more, if you have visited Dejima museum in Nagasaki. It is easier to re-create the pictures in your head, if you have walked around the Dejima island, and seen the buildings described in the novel.)