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.