{"product_id":"four-years-in-izumi-9780472058082","title":"Four Years in Izumi: Village Japan in the Early Sixteenth Century","description":"Four Years in Izumi takes an in-depth and critical approach to understanding Japanese village life through analysis of the diary of Kujo Masamoto, the former chancellor of the imperial court who resided briefly in one of his provincial estates from 1501 to 1504. For a high ranking courtier to travel to the countryside and manage a family estate was unheard of during the era of Sengoku, the “country at war.” The diary Masamoto kept offers a remarkably rich and vivid portrait of village Japan, which has seen no significant study in English-language scholarship. Through extensive examination of the diary and close and critical reading of it and complementary sources, Lee Butler provides a window into the inner workings of late-medieval village life that challenges typical portrayals of the period. In Four Years in Izumi, we see the complexity of relations between commoners and elites in action. We also see the ways in which an estate functioned in practice at the heart of the medieval economy and local social structure.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 20 May 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 324\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 151 mm; Width 228 mm; Thickness 19 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e The University of Michigan Press\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780472058082\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Lee Butler","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50251319312634,"sku":"9780472058082","price":33.05,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/fallback-book-cover_53ca3303-c9b8-404f-a3fb-e1d61d307cee.png?v=1788836815","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/four-years-in-izumi-9780472058082","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}