Beyond the blossoming fields

As a young girl from a wealthy family, Ginko Ogino seems set for a conventional life in the male-dominated society of 19th-century Japan. But when she contracts gonorrhea from her husband, she suffers the�disgrace of divorce. Forced to bear the humiliation of being treated by male doctors, she resolves to become a doctor herself in order to treat fellow female sufferers and spare them some of the shame she had to endure. Her struggle is not an easy one�her family disowns her, and she has to convince the authorities to take seriously the very idea of a female doctor and allow her to study alongside male medical students and�take the licensing exam. Based on the real-life story of Ginko Ogino�Japan�s first female doctor�Jun'ichi Watanabe�does full justice to the complexity of her character and her world in a fascinating and inspirational work of fiction.