Soil

<p><em>The Soil</em> was originally written in 1910 and is a classic account of rural and agricultural life in Japan in the early 1900s. In addition to its deft powerful evocations of nature the novel also provides a wealth of information about farming courtship marriage child-rearing health care folk religion and funeral customs in the late Meiji era when Japan's transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society was still in its initial phase.This translation contains a detailed introduction setting the novel in the context of Japanese development and discussing its major themes. </p>