Perhaps the most admired childhood memoir ever written in Japan, The Silver Spoon is a sharp detailing of life at the end of the Meiji period (1912) through the eyes of a boy as he grows into adolescence. Innocence fades as he slowly becomes aware of himself and others, while scene after scene richly evokes the tastes, lifestyles, landscapes, objects, and manners of a lost Japan.
"Its enduring status as one of Japan's most-loved accounts of life in Tokyo at the beginning of the 20th century is due not only to Naka's historical details, but also because it is a parable for our contemporary sense of isolation."
The Japan Times5/5 Stars
"Wonderful, easy to read and filled with fascinating information on Japanese life and culture."
San Francisco Book Review
"An inherently fascinating and thoroughly absorbing read from beginning to end. Of immense interest for academia and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in Japanese history and culture."
Midwest Book Review(January 2016 Reviewer's Bookwatch)
