Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan 1858 (The Royal Diaries)

This is probably my favorite out of the Royal Diaries series. I love Japanese culture and history and this book gives a beautifully written story that gives a bit of insight into both. I especially loved the characterization of Kazunomiya and how it depicts the struggles she negates as she grows up in the Japanese Imperial Court.

If you're not familiar with these books, you shou1ld be.... they are a wonderful series of historical fiction that are appropriate for grade school and up, but even i find interesting!

Gorgeous book

Book was in perfect condition.

Kazunomiya, Prisoner of Heaven / 0-439-16485-0In a sense, most of the princesses in the Princess Diary series are prisoners in one form or other, as they are maneuvered in and out of political marriages and, in some cases (such as young Elizabeth of the Tudors) as they are maneuvered in and out of actual prisons. Kazunomiya herself dwells in a prison, albeit a lovely gilded one.The year is 1858, and Japan is in a turmoil as investors from America have arrived on their shores and have threatened and bribed the shogun of Edo into a treaty to open Japan's shores to these men. The Emperor is furious at this breach of tradition, but he has no real power over the shoguns and is largely a figurehead in politics, a ceremonial god that does not involve himself in the messy business of treaties. In order to move away from a position of ceremonial weakness to a position of political strength, the Emperor breaks Kazunomiya's long-standing engagement with her true love - a prince of royal blood - to engage her to the next shogun. Kazunomiya is horrified at this turn of events and dreads becoming a political puppet for her brother to use.With the help of her mother and aunt, Kazunomiya attempts to assert a little of her independence by circumventing the Empresses Mother's attempts to wrest control of Kazunomiya away from her birth mother. Kazunomiya also begins to meet secretly with her true love, promising that they will be together in the next life if not this one. Bravely, she strikes up a friendship with her intended, the young shogun, and they agree to be friends forever, even if they are forced to marry one another. In this way, does Kazunomiya try to survive within her prison, with kindness, bravely, and a samurai spirit.Although this book is very short (not quite reaching 150 pages), and starts off fairly slow with descriptions of the Japanese court and the ceremonial poems that they send to one another throughout the day, the novel picks up the pace rapidly and grips the reader with concern for Kazunomiya's plight and whether she will be found out during her supervised, yet clandestine meetings with her soul mate. I enjoyed this novel, and recommend it to both children and adults alike, as an enjoyable coming-of-age tale, set against the fascinating backdrop of Kazunomiya's unique culture.~ Ana Mardoll

Got it before expected. Very satisfied.

Met expectations

I enjoyed reading, "Kazunomiya." A parchment bearing he calligraphy is beautifully done. She must have been very well educated. It was sad that she couldn't marry her childhood fiancé, Prince Arisugawa. Instead she married shogun Yoshi for political reasons. She had to move to Edo (Tokyo) from Kyoto, the city she loved. This political marriage did not work well. I doubt that shogun Yoshi ever said, "We can be friends," to Kazunomiya. Men's and women's friendships were rare at that time in Japan. Men's roles were only as grandfathers, fathers, brothers, husbands or sons. I seldom heard of male and female friendships in nineteen century Japan. But this book is written as young adult fiction so that probably doesn't matter. Kazunomiya's true love was Prince Arisugawa and shogun Yoshi's true love was an eta girl, Yukiko. Yoshi and Kazynomiya got married as friends. I don't believe that a shogun and an eta girl( of the lowest class) would have had a chance to meet, but it is a unique idea. I never would thought of it. I also enjoyed looking at the pictures of Kazunomiya, Prince Arisugawa, and shogun Yoshi.

This is one of the better books in the series. The names where a little confusing and I wish the author had gone in to more detail about the ceremonies that the characters participated in but other then that you really got a sense of old Japan.