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Enchanted by Bhutan – A book review

3 January 2009

When the fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck announced his abdication of the Throne in December 2006, the nation felt suddenly orphaned. What we did not know was that even foreigners shared our feelings. Yoshiro Imaeda, a Japanese who worked for Bhutan for a long time, was one such person whose life was deeply affected by the King’s unexpected announcement. For him, the ‘magic’ of the end of an era of the fourth Druk Gyalpo opened the flood gates of memoirs. The memories of the leadership of the fourth King and the memories of his 34 years of life in Bhutan spurred him to record them in the form of a book.

“In the spring of 2007, when I was preparing the final Japanese draft of this book in Thimphu, I had an audience with HM Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. When I mentioned to her my plan to publish this book dedicated to HM the Fourth King, she showed a keen interest in it but lamented that it was in Japanese. She then asked me how long it would take for her to learn Japanese up to the level of reading a book. I took this question as an indirect wish for an English version”. Thus writes Yoshiro Imaeda, the author of Enchanted by Bhutan, the English version of Bhuutan-ni miserarete.

The book vividly describes the author’s unique experiences, cultural juxtapositions and personal account of his stay in Bhutan over the span of 30 years beginning from 1978. What is astounding is that the author succeeds in sketching many aspects of Bhutanese life in minute details, making the readers recognise the importance of small things in life. His style of simple language and subdued humour also keep readers glued to the story.

The book also talks of politics, treaties, beliefs, medicines, environment, culture, Gross National Happiness and touches upon the issues of migrants in the south. The author does not even spare the famous night-hunting culture.

Enchanted by Bhutan is a book for historians, researchers, academicians, tourists, students and, of course, librarians. It is immaculately written, indeed.

Yoshiro Imaeda was born in 1947 in Japan and worked as an Advisor to the National Library of Bhutan from 1981 to 1990. He is currently the Director of Research at the National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris. He regularly visits Bhutan. Narrated in the first person, the 211-page paperbound non-fiction is yet another publication by KMT Printers and Publishers on the eve of the Centenary and Coronation Celebrations. The book is priced at Nu 200 and is available in KMT Yangkhel Book Shop, on the ground floor of Bhutan Observer Office, Norzin Lam. The book, along with The Biography of Zhabrung Ngawang Namgyel, was launched in Thimphu last week.

By Dorji Wangchuk

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