Before the Dawn 5508202 219771174 2008-06-16T20:26:32Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{For|the band|Before the Dawn (band)}} [[Image:Shimazaki Toson.jpg|thumb|right|Tōson Shimazaki]] {{nihongo|'''''Before the Dawn'''''|夜明け前|Yoakemae}} is [[Tōson Shimazaki]]'s most famous [[historical novel]]. It was originally published in ''[[Chūōkōron]]'' in 1929 as a serial work. [[Shinchosha]] later published the work in novel form, with the first part being released in January 1932 and the second part being released in November 1935. It started with the phrase "The entire [[Kisoji]] is in the mountains" (木曾路はすべて山の中である ''Kisoji wa subete yama no naka de aru'').<ref name="p1">[http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000158/card1504.html ''Yoakemae'' (Part 1a)]. Tōson Shimazaki. Aozora Bunko. Accessed [[May 14]], [[2008]].</ref> The Kisoji ran through Shimazaki's hometown in [[Gifu Prefecture]], [[Japan]]. The novel portrays the turbulent story of the fall of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], an event started by the arrival of [[Matthew Perry (naval officer)|Commodore Perry]]'s ships, and the early years of the [[Meiji Restoration]] and Westernization in [[Japan]]. In 1953, the a film based on the novel was released. It was adapted by [[Kaneto Shindō]] and directed by [[Kōzaburō Yoshimura]] (吉村 公三郎 ''Yoshimura Kōzaburō''). It was also later adapted into a play by [[Joseph Stein]]. ==Translation== *''Before the Dawn'', transl. by William E. Naff, University of Hawaii Press, April 1987, 798 pages, ISBN 0-8248-0914-9 ==Original work== *''Yoakemae'' is now an open source text: :Part [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000158/card1504.html 1a], [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000158/card1505.html 1b], [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000158/card1506.html 2a], [http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000158/card1507.html 2b] {{ja icon}} ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:1935 novels]] [[Category:Japanese novels]] [[Category:Historical novels]] {{japan-lit-stub}} {{1930s-novel-stub}} [[ja:夜明け前]]