Beyond the Blossoming Fields - Hardcover

As a young girl, Ginko Ogino seems set for a conventional life, cushioned by the male-dominated society of nineteenth-century Japan. But when she contracts gonorrhoea from her husband - an illness then thought to be incurable - she is divorced and disowned by her own family. Unable to bear the humiliation of being treated by a male doctor, she resolves to become a doctor herself. As more and more obstacles are placed before her, will she give in to social pressure or continue to fight against her world and her times?A huge bestseller in Japan, where it sold over three million copies, "Beyond the Blossoming Fields" is the real-life story of Japan's first female physician and a timeless parable on the power of love and idealism.

Jun'ichi Watanabe was born in Hokkaido. He became interested in literature in high school. At Sapporo Medical University, he began experimenting with writing, composing several pieces for a literary magazine. After graduating, he became an orthopedic surgeon, but in 1969 he resigned this post and moved to Tokyo to pursue a career as a writer. Among his works are other biographical and medicine-related writings as well as works of fiction like the hugely popular Shitsurakuen (A Lost Paradise), an erotic tale that deals with a love affair. Many of Watanabe's books have been made into movies.