The Soil was originally written in 1910 and is a classic account of rural and agricultural life in Japan in the early 1900s. In addition to its deft, powerful evocations of nature, the novel also provides a wealth of information about farming, courtship, marriage, child-rearing, health care, folk religion and funeral customs in the late Meiji era, when Japan’s transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society was still in its initial phase.This translation contains a detailed introduction, setting the novel in the context of Japanese development and discussing its major themes.