At the southern foot of Yatsugatake, until the very end.

From the southern foothills of Yatsugatake

《At the Foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, Until the Very End》is Chizuko Ueno's first memoir revealing details of her private life in the mountains. More than 20 years ago, Chizuko Ueno built a villa at the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake and lived a dual life, commuting between Tokyo and Yamanashi. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began living permanently at her villa in Yatsugatake. In her leisurely life in the mountains, she enjoys the scenery of the four seasons, tends to flowers and plants, socializes with her mountain-dwelling companions, finds small joys in local produce and delicacies, and also encounters unexpected troubles: battling mosquitoes, dealing with septic tank malfunctions, and worrying about trash disposal... As her final resting place, the local medical and elder care facilities also needed to be considered. Here, she put her caregiving theories into practice, sending off her late-life companion: historian Daikichi Irokawa.
How can one spend the final stages of life with dignity? How can a single woman face aging alone? Chizuko Ueno offers us a new model: when a woman decides to age alone with dignity, she is not tragic; rather, she becomes more clear-headed, happy, and free.
*She is the "terrifying woman" who makes half of Japan tremble, excelling at arguing with a smile, speaking bluntly, and never compromising; she is also a crucial leader in Japanese women's studies and gender research, and her work in women's studies has profoundly influenced a generation of East Asian women, making her "Professor Ueno" in the hearts of countless women.
*She loves sports, loves life, and is a practitioner of mountain living. Chizuko Ueno's 20 years of mountain living experiences are compiled in "At the Foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, Until the Very End."
*At the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, Chizuko Ueno enjoys Mt. Fuji from her neighbor's garden, watches fireflies once a year, observes uninvited deer, quickly gives up gardening for vegetable growing due to impatience, frets over trash disposal, and worries about who will take her thousands of books in the future... Mountain life is peaceful and joyful, yet also arduous and troublesome, with the ever-approaching problems of old age.
*A group of aging mountain dwellers begin to form a "Cat's Paw" mutual aid club with their own efforts, establishing welfare groups, changing the local area, and solving their own elder care problems.
*Old age, living alone, having no family or relatives – these are not problems. Establishing mature interpersonal relationships and being "New Year's Eve family" is also good. Together, let's build a safe social security system so that everyone can spend their final years at home with dignity.
*During her years in the mountains, as companions gradually departed, Chizuko Ueno put her caregiving theories into practice, and at the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, she sent off her late-life companion: historian Daikichi Irokawa. This book is a heartfelt declaration to them.

2025-03-14

中信出版社

CITIC Unbounded

156

9787521771848