The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet narrative location Japan
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is an historical fiction novel by British author David Mitchell published by Sceptre in 2010. It is set during the Dutch trading concession with Japan in the late 18th-century, during the period of Japanese history known as Sakoku.Plot
The novel begins in the summer of 1799 at the Dutch East India Company trading post Dejima in the harbor of Nagasaki. It tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is spirited away into a sinister mountain temple cult.Part 1: The Bride For Whom We Dance
In 1799, Japanese midwife Orito Aibagawa helps deliver the baby of Magistrate Shiroyama.
Jacob de Zoet, working as a clerk on a Dutch merchant ship, arrives at the island of Dejima, midway through an ad hoc trial of Daniel Snitker, the acting chief of a factory on the island. Jacob hopes to make his fortune working under Chief Vorstenbosch and the Dutch East India Company to pay for the dowry of his betrothed, Anna. After Snitker is fired for smuggling, Deputy Melchior Van Cleef considers Jacob for the position.
Jacob meets Orito, who, along with being a midwife, is also a talented student and the only female at the medical academy led by Dr. Marinus. Jacob sneaks a Psalter onto Dejima, and if discovered as a Christian, he will be deported at the least and executed at the worst due to Japan's anti-Christian laws. The interpreter, Ogawa Uzaemon, keeps Jacob's Psalter a secret, and the two form a friendship.
Jacob realizes that Vorstenbosch only outed Snitker to make an example: Vorstenbosch punishes Jacob for not signing a forged document by forcing him to remain on the island for longer than his allotted time.
On New Year's Day, Orito is taken to live at the Mount Shiranui Shrine, run by Abbot Enomoto.