The Bells of Old Tokyo

April 15, 2019
A poetic historical exploration of Japan's immense capital city by an American-born author who moved to Japan to learn the language and was inspired by composer Yoshimura Hiroshi's book Edo's Bells of Time. Living and working in Tokyo for some years as an editor for Hong Kong University Press inspired Sherman, who was born in Arkansas, to create this spiritual memoir, which weaves between personal storytelling of her time there and oral and mythical histories of the old neighborhoods of Tokyo. In the era of the shogunate, before the 16th-century missionaries brought the first clocks, Tokyo was Edo, and time was told by the tolling of bells across the city. The author presents Tokyo as a "timepiece," with each different neighborhood representing the site of an ancient temple hosting its own singular sacred bell, delineated in Hiroshi's work. Moving structurally from neighborhood to neighborhood, Sherman whimsically maps the city for readers, chronicling her encounters with the locals, including the owner of a small coffee shop with whom the author built a significant friendship. Sherman also explores the myths of the shogunate and illuminates the personal histories of the monks, bell-ringers, and other interesting characters she met along the way. Throughout her lyrical journey, she follows in the footsteps of Hiroshi, eschewing railroad travel in favor of tracing on foot "areas which bells could be heard, the pattern on a map looked like raindrops striking water." The author's own layered process mirrors the city's complexity, nonlinearity, and frozen beauty. The bells were not always easy to find, but Sherman was determined, and she successfully brings into focus their elusive stories, which point to an appealing past in a city that has moved rapidly into the future. Sharp attention to detail and a deliberate pace give this singular narrative history the sense of a shimmery, vanished past.

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Starred review from August 1, 2019

Sherman has written a beautiful debut of creative nonfiction that explores cultural interpretations of time, tracing the history of Tokyo from the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867), when the city was known as Edo, to the 21st century. During the Shogun's time, eight bells were placed at various locations throughout the city; their purpose was to keep time in an era before clocks. Sherman explores a variety of neighborhoods and districts in Tokyo in an effort to locate these bells. The author not only describes her personal journey, but also tells the history of the areas she visits. Despite the fact that this work frequently jumps between time periods, it is an enjoyable read that is easy to follow. Throughout Sherman's adventures in Tokyo, she periodically seeks respite at her favorite coffee shop, Daibo, which unfortunately is no longer in operation. VERDICT Highly recommended for anyone who has visited or is planning to visit Tokyo. Readers will gain insight into the history, culture, and language of Japan as well as ideas on city hot spots.--Joshua Wallace, Tarleton State Univ. Lib. Stephenville, TX

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2019
Sherman, a British expat, recounts Tokyo's past and present in this absorbing blend of history, memoir, and travelogue. Her stated mission is to visit the city's Tokugawa-era bells, scattered across different neighborhoods, that, in the absence of clocks, would mark time by ringing. These bells structure the book and serve as its core symbol, suggesting an interwoven yet many-faceted sense of the past and present that underlie Tokyo. Under the Shogunate (1603-1867), time was irregular; the length of an hour varied by season. Emperor Meiji's adoption of Western standards of time in 1872 signaled a sharp break with tradition. This sense of nonlinearity suffuses Sherman's narrative, which darts from Daibo Coffee, where she practices Japanese with the exacting proprietor, to Japanese mythology to the devastation of the American firebombing campaign in 1945. Chapters are organized by neighborhood, giving the reader a sense of local and evocative texture, as when Sherman describes meeting a devoted maker of Tokugawa-style clocks in Nagoya, who celebrates the imprecision of his contraptions. An imaginative, well-researched introduction to Tokyo and its stunning complexity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)