Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia. Early works were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. But Japanese literature developed into a separate style in its own right as Japanese writers began writing their own works about Japan, although the influence of Chinese literature and Classical Chinese remained until the end of Edo period. When Japan reopened its ports to Western trading and diplomacy in the 19th century, Western literature had a strong effect on Japanese writers, and this influence is still seen today. // [edit] Classical texts Main article: Chinese classic texts China has a wealth of classical literature, both poetry and prose, dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE) and including the Classics attributed to Confucius. ... Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of very old forms of Chinese , making it very different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Japanese Literature is generally divided into three main periods: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.

Ancient Literature (until 794)

With the introduction of kanji from China, the first writing in Japan became possible. Before this, there was no writing system. At first Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical formats, and the literary language was classical Chinese; the result is sentences that look like Chinese but are phonetically read as Japanese. Chinese characters were later adapted to write Japanese, creating what is known as the man'yōgana, the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing. The earliest works were created in the Nara Period. These include Kojiki (712), a work recording Japanese mythology and legendary history; Nihonshoki (720), a chronicle with a slightly more solid foundation in historical records than Kojiki; and Man'yōshū (759), a poetry anthology. Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji   ) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and the Arabic numerals. ... Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of very old forms of Chinese , making it very different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. ... It has been suggested that Shakukun be merged into this article or section. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Manyogana 万葉仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 For other meanings of Kana, see Kana (disambiguation). ... The Nara period ) of the history of Japan covers the years from about AD 710 to 784. ... Kojiki or Furukotofumi (古事記), also known in English as the Records of Ancient Matters, is the oldest surviving historical book recounting events of ancient earth in the Japanese language. ... Events Ansprand succeeds Aripert as king of the Lombards. ... Nihonshoki (Japanese: 日本書紀), sometimes translated as Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. ... Events Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz succeeded by Yazid II ibn Abd al-Malik The Nihonshoki (日本書紀), one of the oldest history books in Japan, is completed Births Bertrada, wife of Pippin III (d. ... ManyōshÅ« , Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) is the oldest existing, and most highly revered, collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods. ... Events The Franks capture Narbonne; the Saracens are completely driven out of Japanese poet Otomo no Yakamochi compiled the first Japanese poetry anthology Manyoshu. ...

Classical literature (794–1185; the Heian period)

Classical Japanese literature generally refers to literature produced during the Heian Period, what some would consider a golden era of art and literature. The Tale of Genji (early eleventh century) by Murasaki Shikibu is considered the pre-eminent masterpiece of Heian fiction and an early example of a work of fiction in the form of a novel. Other important works of this period include the Kokin Wakashū (905), a waka-poetry anthology, and The Pillow Book (990s), the latter written by Murasaki Shikibu's contemporary and rival, Sei Shonagon, as an essay about the life, loves, and pastimes of nobles in the Emperor's court. The iroha poem, now one of two standard orderings for the Japanese syllabary, was also written during the early part of this period. The following text needs to be harmonized with text in the article History of Japan#Heian Period. ... Ilustration of ch. ... Murasaki Shikibu (紫 式部 Murasaki Shikibu, c. ... The Kokin Waka ShÅ« ), usually abbreviated as KokinshÅ« ), is an early Heian waka Imperial anthology, conceived by Emperor Uda (r. ... Alternate meaning: Area code 905 Events Births Deaths Categories: 905 ... Waka (和歌) or Yamato uta is a genre of Japanese poetry. ... The Pillow Book ) is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Sadako during the 990s in Heian Japan. ... Centuries: 9th century - 10th century - 11th century Decades: 940s - 950s _ 960s - 970s - 980s - 990s - 1000s - 1010s _ 1020s - 1030s - 1040s 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 Events: Sei Shonagon writes The Pillow Book, a compilation of her daily observations, thoughts and feelings as an... Sei Shōnagon (清少納言), (966-unknown) was a Japanese author and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi during the years around 1000, known as the author of The Pillow Book (Makura no sōshi). ... The iroha (Japanese: , いろは) is a Japanese poem most likely written sometime during the Heian era (AD 794–1179). ... A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words. ...

In this time the imperial court patronized the poets, most of whom were courtiers or ladies-in-waiting. Editing anthologies of poetry was a national pastime. Reflecting the aristocratic atmosphere, the poetry was elegant and sophisticated and expressed emotions in a rhetorical style.

Medieval literature (1185–1600)

Medieval Japanese Literature is marked by the strong influence of Zen Buddhism, where characters are priests, travellers, or ascetic poets. Also during this period, Japan experienced many civil wars which led to the development of a warrior class, and subsequent war tales, histories, and related stories. Work from this period is notable for its insights into life and death, simple lifestyles, and redemption through killing. A representative work is The Tale of the Heike (1371), an epic account of the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the twelfth century. Other important tales of the period include Kamo no Chōmei's Hōjōki (1212) and Yoshida Kenko's Tsurezuregusa (1331). A woodblock print by Yoshitoshi, (Japan, 1887) depicting Bodhidharma the founder of Chinese Zen. ... The Tale of the Heike (Japanese: 平家物語, Heike monogatari) is an epic account of the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century. ... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan, fourth of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Start of the reign of Emperor Go-Enyu of Japan, fifth and last of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Charterhouse Carthusian Monastery founded in Aldersgate, London. ... Minamoto (源) was an honorary surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan of the Heian Period to their sons and grandsons after accepting them as royal subjects. ... Taira (平) is a Japanese surname. ... Kamo no Chōmei (鴨長明, 1155–1216) was a Japanese author, poet (waka), and essayist. ... Hōjōki (方丈記 Hōjō-ki) (sometimes translated as An Account of My Hut) is a short work written in 1212 by by Kamo no Chōmei. ... Events The first Great Fire of London burns most of the city to the ground Battle of Navas de Tolosa Childrens crusade Crusaders push the Muslims out of northern Spain In Japan, Kamo no Chōmei writes the Hōjōki, one of the great works of classical Japanese... Yoshida Kenkō (吉田兼好 Yoshida Kenkō, c. ... Tsurezuregusa (, Tsurezuregusa), or Essays in Idleness, is a collection of Japanese essays written by Yoshida Kenkō some time between 1330 and 1332. ... Events September 8 - Stefan Dusan declares himself king of Serbia Start of the reign of Emperor Kogon of Japan, first of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Births Coluccio Salutati, Florentine political leader (died 1406) Deaths January 14 - Odoric, Italian explorer October 27 - Abulfeda, Arab historian and geographer (born 1273) Categories: 1331...

Other notable genres in this period were renga, or linked verse, and Noh theater. Both were rapidly developed in the middle of the 14th century, the early Muromachi period. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... The Muromachi period (Japanese: 室町時代, Muromachi-jidai, also known as the Muromachi era, the Muromachi bakufu, the Ashikaga era, the Ashikaga period, or the Ashikaga bakufu) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. ...

Early-modern literature (1600–1868)

Literature during this time was written during the largely peaceful Tokugawa Period (commonly referred to as the Edo Period). Due in large part to the rise of the working and middle classes in the new capital of Edo (modern Tokyo), forms of popular drama developed which would later evolve into kabuki. The joruri and kabuki dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon became popular at the end of the 17th century. Matsuo Bashō wrote Oku no Hosomichi (奥の細道, 1702), a travel diary. Hokusai, perhaps Japan's most famous woodblock print artist, also illustrated fiction as well as his famous 36 Views of Mount Fuji. The Edo period ), also called Tokugawa period, is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868. ... Edo (Japanese: , literally: bay-door, estuary, pronounced //), once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo. ... Tokyo ), the common English name for the Tokyo Metropolis ), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and, unique among the prefectures, provides certain municipal services characteristic of a city. ... The oldest Kabuki theatre in Japan: the Minamiza in Kyoto The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Jōruri is a type of sung narrative with shamisen accompaniment, typically found in Bunraku, a traditional Japanese puppet theatre. ... Statue of Chikamatsu Monzaemon at Amagasaki, Hyogo Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Japanese: 近松門左衛門; real name Sugimori Nobumori, 杉森信盛, 1653–6 January 1725) was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... A statue of Bashō in Hiraizumi, Iwate. ... Statue of Bashō at ChÅ«sonji, Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture Oku no Hosomichi (Japanese: 奥の細道, meaning Narrow Road to Oku [the Deep North]) is a major work by Matsuo Bashō. Oku no Hosomichi was written based on a journey taken by Bashō in the late spring of 1689. ... Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... Katsushika Hokusai, (葛飾北斎), (1760—1849[1]), was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period . ... In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa, woodcut by Katsushika Hokusai 36 Views of Mount Fuji (Japanese: 富嶽三十六景; Fugaku SanjÅ«-Rokkei) is a series of woodblock prints by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), depicting Mount Fuji in differing seasons and weather conditions from...

Many genres of literature made their début during the Edo Period, helped by a rising literacy rate among the growing population of townspeople, as well as the development of lending libraries. Although there was a minor Western influence trickling into the country from the Dutch settlement at Nagasaki, it was the importation of Chinese vernacular fiction that proved the greatest outside influence on the development of Early Modern Japanese fiction. Ihara Saikaku might be said to have given birth to the modern consciousness of the novel in Japan, mixing vernacular dialogue into his humorous and cautionary tales of the pleasure quarters. Jippensha Ikku (十返舎一九) wrote Tōkaidōchū hizakurige (東海道中膝栗毛), which is a mix of travelogue and comedy. Tsuga Teisho, Takebe Ayatari, and Okajima Kanzan were instrumental in developing the yomihon, which were historical romances almost entirely in prose, influenced by Chinese vernacular novels such as Three Kingdoms and Shui hu zhuan. Two yomihon masterpieces were written by Ueda Akinari: Ugetsu monogatari and Harusame monogatari. Kyokutei Bakin wrote the extremely popular fantasy/historical romance Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (南総里見八犬伝) in addition to other yomihon. Santō Kyōden wrote yomihon mostly set in the gay quarters until the Kansei edicts banned such works, and he turned to comedic kibyōshi. Genres included horror, crime stories, morality stories, comedy, and pornography—often accompanied by colorful woodcut prints. Rangaku (蘭学) or Dutch Learning was the method by which Japan kept abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641-1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunates policy of national isolation (sakoku). ... Dejima, also Deshima (出島, literally protruding island) in modern Japanese, Desjima in Dutch, often latinised as Decima, was a fan-shaped artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch trading post during Japans self-imposed isolation (sakoku) of the Edo period, from 1641 until 1853. ... Ihara Saikaku (井原 西鶴, 1642-1693) was a Japanese poet and creator of the floating world genre of Japanese prose. ... Jippensha Ikku , 1765 – 1831) was a Japanese writer in the late Edo period. ... Hizakurige (膝栗毛), or Shanks Mare as the English translation is called, is a picaresque comic novel (kokkei-bon) written by Jippensha Ikku (十返舎一九 , 1765-1831), about the misadventures of two travelers on the Tōkaidō, the main road between Kyoto and Edo during the Edo Period. ... Yomihon , reading books) is a type of Japanese book from the Edo period (1603–1867), that was influenced by Chinese vernacular novels such as Water Margin. ... The Three Kingdoms period (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a period in the history of China, part of an era of disunity called the Six Dynasties. ... Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh (Traditional Chinese: 水滸傳; Simplified Chinese: 水浒传; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn), sometimes also translated as All Men Are Brothers, is one of the most famous works of classical Chinese literature. ... Ueda Akinari (上田秋成, 1734 - August 8, 1809) was a Japanese novelist, scholar, and waka poet. ... Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) (1767–1848) was the pen name for Japanese author Takizawa Okikuni (瀧澤興邦), best known for his 106-volume literary opus Satomi and the Eight Dogs (南総里見八犬傳 Nansō Satomi Hakkenden). ... Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (南總里見八犬傳 or using simplified kanji, 南総里見八犬伝) is a Japanese 106 volume epic novel by Kyokutei Bakin. ... Santo Kyoden ) (1761 Edo - 1816) was a Japanese poet, writer and artist. ... Kansei (寛政) was a Japanese era after Tenmei and before Kyōwa and spanned from February, 1789 to March, 1801. ... Kibyōshi ) is a genre of Japanese picture book Kusazoushi (草双紙) produced during the middle of the Edo period. ...

Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa literature (1868–1945)

The Meiji era marks the re-opening of Japan to the West, and a period of rapid industrialization. The introduction of European literature brought free verse into the poetic repertoire; it became widely used for longer works embodying new intellectual themes. Young Japanese prose writers and dramatists struggled with a whole galaxy of new ideas and artistic schools, but novelists were the first to successfully assimilate some of these concepts. History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Meiji period (Japanese: Meiji Jidai 明治&#26178...

In the early Meiji era (1868–1880s), Fukuzawa Yukichi and Nakae Chomin authored Enlightenment literature, while pre-modern popular books depicted the quickly changing country. Then Realism was brought in by Tsubouchi Shoyo and Futabatei Shimei in the mid-Meiji (late 1880s–early 1890s) while the Classicism of Ozaki Koyo, Yamada Bimyo and Koda Rohan gained popularity. Higuchi Ichiyo, a rare woman writer in this era, wrote short stories on powerless women of this age in a simple style in between literary and colloquial. Izumi Kyoka, a favored disciple of Ozaki, pursued a flowing and elegant style and wrote early novels such as The Operating Room (1895) in literary style and later ones including The Holy Man of Mount Koya (1900) in colloquial. Fukuzawa Yukichi (福澤 諭吉 Yukichi Fukuzawa, January 10, 1835 - February 3, 1901) was a Japanese author, writer, teacher, entrepreneur and political theorist and founder of the Keio University whose ideas about government and social institutions made a lasting impression on a rapidly changing Japan during the period known as the Meiji Era. ... Nakae Chomin 中江 兆民 Nakae Chōmin) , a. ... Realism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. ... Tsubouchi Shoyo (坪内 逍遥, Tsubouchi Shōyō) (May 22, 1859 - February 28, 1935) was a Japanese author, critic, playwright, translator, and editor. ... Futabatei Shimei (二葉亭 四迷, February 28, 1864 - May 10, 1909) was a Japanese author, translator, and literary critic. ... Ozaki Koyo (尾崎 紅葉 Ozaki Kōyō) (January 10, 1868 - October 30, 1903) is a Japanese author. ... Koda Rohan (幸田 露伴 Kōda Rohan, July 23, 1867 - July 30, 1947) is a Japanese author. ... Higuchi Ichiyō (樋口 一葉 Higuchi Ichiyō, May 2, 1872 - November 23, 1896) is the pen name of the Japanese author Higuchi Natsu (樋口奈津 Higuchi Natsu). ... Kyoka Izumi (泉鏡花 Izumi Kyōka) (November 4, 1873 - September 7, 1939) is the pen name of a Japanese author of novels and kabuki plays whose real name was Taro Sakai. ...

Romanticism was brought in by Mori Ogai with his anthology of translated poems (1889) and carried to its height by Shimazaki Toson etc. and magazines Myōjō and Bungaku-kai in early 1900s. Mori also wrote some modern novels including The Dancing Girl (1890), Wild Geese (1911), then later wrote historical novels. Natsume Sōseki, who is often compared with Mori Ogai, wrote I Am a Cat (1905) with humor and satire, then depicted fresh and pure youth in Botchan (1906) and Sanshirô (1908). He eventually pursued transcendence of human emotions and egoism in his later works including Kokoro (1914) his last and unfinished novel Light and darkness (1916). Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romanticism is an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. ... Mori Ogais statue at his birthhouse in Tsuwano-cho Mori ÅŒgai ); (17 February 1862–8 July 1922) was a Japanese physician, translator, novelist and poet. ... Shimazaki Toson (島崎 藤村 Shimazaki Tōson, March 25, 1872-August 22, 1943) is a Japanese author of the Meiji and early Showa Eras. ... Myōjō ) is a monthly poetry magazine published in Japan between between February 1900 and November 1908. ... Mori Ogais classical novel, The Wild Geese or The Wild Goose (1911–13, 雁 Gan) was first published in serial form in Japan, and tells the story of unfulfilled love set against a background of social change. ... Natsume Soseki on the former 1000 yen note. ... I Am a Cat ) is a comic novel written in 1905-1906 by the Japanese author Natsume Soseki. ... Kokoro (こころ, in kanji 心) is a novel by Natsume Soseki. ...

Shimazaki shifted from Romanticism to Naturalism which was established with his The Broken Commandment (1906) and Katai Tayama's Futon (1907). Naturalism hatched "I Novel" (Watakushi-shôsetu) that describes about the authors themselves and depicts their own mental states. Neo-romanticism came out of anti-naturalism and was led by Nagai Kafu, Junichiro Tanizaki, Kotaro Takamura, Kitahara Hakushu and so on in the early 1910s. Mushanokoji Saneatsu, Shiga Naoya and others founded a magazine Shirakaba in 1910. They shared a common characteristic, Humanism. Shiga's style was autobiographical and depicted states of his mind and sometimes classified as "I Novel" in this sense. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, who was highly praised by Soseki, wrote short stories including Rashômon (1915) with an intellectual and analytic attitude, and represented Neo-realism in the mid 1910s. Naturalism may refer to: Naturalism (philosophy), any of several philosophical stances wherein all phenomena or hypotheses commonly labeled as supernatural, are either false, unknowable, or not inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses Methodological naturalism is the methodological assumption that that observable events in nature are explained only by natural... Tayama Katai (ç”°å±± 花袋, 1872 January 22-1930 May 13, born Tayama Rokuya) was a Japanese author. ... I-Novel (私小説, Watakushi shōsetsu, or Shishōsetsu) is a literary genre in Japanese literature used to describe writing about oneself. ... Nagai Kafū (永井 荷風), born Nagai Sōkichi (永井 壮吉), December 4, 1879 - April 30, 1959, was a Japanese novelist, playwright, essayist, and diarist. ... Junichiro Tanizaki (谷崎潤一郎 Tanizaki Junichirō, July 24, 1886 - July 30, 1965) was a Japanese author. ... Kotaro Takamura (高村 光太郎 Takamura Kōtarō, March 13, 1883 – April 2, 1956) was a Japanese poet and sculptor. ... Kitahara Hakushu (北原 白秋, January 25, 1885 - November 2, 1942) is a Japanese author and tanka poet. ... Mushanokoji Saneatsu (武者小路実篤 - old Kanji 實篤 - Mushanokōji Saneatsu, a. ... Shiga Naoya (志賀 直哉, February 20, 1883 - October 21, 1971) was a Japanese writer. ... This is a Japanese name; the family name is Akutagawa RyÅ«nosuke Akutagawa ); (March 1, 1892 - July 24, 1927) was a Japanese writer active in Taisho period Japan. ...

During the 1920s and early 1930s the proletarian literary movement, comprising such writers as Kobayashi Takiji, Kuroshima Denji, Miyamoto Yuriko, and Sata Ineko produced a politically radical literature depicting the harsh lives of workers, peasants, women, and other downtrodden members of society, and their struggles for change. Kobayashi Takiji (小林 多喜二, October 13, 1903 - February 20, 1933) is a Japanese author of proletarian literature. ... Kuroshima Denji (黒島 伝治, December 12, 1898 - October 17, 1943) is a Japanese author. ... Yuriko Miyamoto (Miyamoto Yuriko, February 1, 1899 – January 21, 1951) was a Japanese novelist. ...

War-time Japan saw the début of several authors best known for the beauty of their language and their tales of love and sensuality, notably Tanizaki Junichiro and Japan's first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Kawabata Yasunari, a master of psychological fiction. Hino Ashihei wrote lyrical bestsellers glorifying the war, while Ishikawa Tatsuzo attempted to publish a disturbingly realistic account of the advance on Nanjing. Writers who opposed the war include Kuroshima Denji, Kaneko Mitsuharu, Oguma Hideo, and Ishikawa Jun. Junichiro Tanizaki (谷崎潤一郎 Tanizaki Junichirō, July 24, 1886 - July 30, 1965) was a Japanese author. ... The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual work, though individual works are sometimes... Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成 Kawabata Yasunari, June 14, 1899 - April 16, 1972) was a Japanese novelist who became the first Japanese, and second Asian, to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1968. ... Hino Ashihei (1907-60) was born in Wakamatsu (now Wakamatsu ward, Kitakyushu) and received the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for one of his novels, Funnyōtan (Tales of Excrement and Urine) in 1937. ... Tatsuzō Ishikawa , July 2, 1905—January 31, 1985) was a Japanese author. ... Kuroshima Denji (黒島 伝治, December 12, 1898 - October 17, 1943) is a Japanese author. ... Oguma Hideo (小熊 秀雄, September 9, 1901 - November 20, 1940) is a Japanese author. ... Ishikawa Jun (石川淳, March 7, 1899 - December 29, 1987) was a Japanese modernist author. ...

Post-war literature

World War II, and Japan's defeat, influenced Japanese literature. Many authors wrote stories of disaffection, loss of purpose, and the coping with defeat. Dazai Osamu's novel The Setting Sun tells of a soldier returning from Manchukuo. Mishima Yukio, well known for both his nihilistic writing and his controversial suicide by seppuku, began writing in the post-war period. Kojima Nobuo's short story "The American School" portrays a group of Japanese teachers of English who, in the immediate aftermath of the war, deal with the American occupation in varying ways. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Osamu Dazai (太宰 æ²» Dazai Osamu, June 19, 1909 in Aomori Prefecture - June 13, 1948) was a Japanese author. ... The Setting Sun is a Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai. ... Flag Anthem National Anthem of Manchukuo Map of Manchukuo Capital Hsinking Government Constitutional monarchy Emperor  - 1932 - 1934 Datong (Chief Executive) (Aisingioro Puyi)  - 1934 - 1945 Kangde-Emperor (Aisingioro Puyi) Prime Minister  - 1932 - 1935 Zheng Xiaoxu  - 1935 - 1945 Zhang Jinghui Historical era World War II  - Established 1932  - Disestablished 1945 Manchukuo (1932–1945... Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his... Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that the world, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. ... “hara-kiri” redirects here. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

Prominent writers of the 1970s and 1980s were identified with intellectual and moral issues in their attempts to raise social and political consciousness. One of them, Oe Kenzaburo wrote his best-known work, A Personal Matter in 1964 and became Japan's second winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Kenzaburo Oe Kenzaburo Oe (大江 健三郎 Ōe Kenzaburō, born January 31, 1935) is a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. ... A Personal Matter (個人的な体験, Kojinteki na taiken) is a novel by Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe (大江 健三郎 Ōe Kenzaburō). The novel is replete with imagery of death, decay and sex. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

Inoue Mitsuaki had long been concerned with the atomic bomb and continued in the 1980s to write on problems of the nuclear age, while Endo Shusaku depicted the religious dilemma of the Kakure Kirishitan, Roman Catholics in feudal Japan, as a springboard to address spiritual problems. Inoue Yasushi also turned to the past in masterful historical novels of Inner Asia and ancient Japan, in order to portray present human fate. Shusaku Endō (遠藤 周作 Endō Shusaku, March 27, 1923 - September 29, 1996) was a renowned 20th Century Japanese author who wrote from a unique perspective of being a Roman Catholic Japanese. ... Kakure Kirishitan (隠れキリシタン, Japanese for Hidden Christian) is a modern term for a member of a sect of Japanese Roman Catholicism that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s. ... Yasushi Inoue (井上 靖 Inoue Yasushi, May 6, 1907 – January 29, 1991) was a Japanese writer whose range included poetry, short fiction, and the novel. ...

Avant-garde writers, such as Abe Kobo, who wrote fantastic novels such as Woman in the Dunes (1960), wanted to express the Japanese experience in modern terms without using either international styles or traditional conventions, developed new inner visions. Furui Yoshikichi tellingly related the lives of alienated urban dwellers coping with the minutiae of daily life, while the psychodramas within such daily life crises have been explored by a rising number of important women novelists. The 1988 Naoki Prize went to Todo Shizuko for Ripening Summer, a story capturing the complex psychology of modern women. Other award-winning stories at the end of the decade dealt with current issues of the elderly in hospitals, the recent past (Pure- Hearted Shopping District in Koenji, Tokyo), and the life of a Meiji period ukiyo-e artist. In international literature, Ishiguro Kazuo, a native of Japan, had taken up residence in Britain and won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize. Kobo Abe (安部公房 Abe Kōbō, pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe (Abe Kimifusa, born March 7, 1924 - January 22, 1993) was a Japanese writer. ... Woman in the Dunes (砂の女, Suna No Onna, also translated as Woman of the Dunes), is a novel by Kobo Abe and a film based on that novel directed by Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Furui Yoshikichi, 古井由吉, (November 19, 1937-) is a noted Japanese author and translator. ... The Naoki Prize was created in 1935 in memory of Japanese novelist Naoki Sanjugo. ... View immediately south of Kōenji Station Kōenji (Japanese: 高円寺 kōenji) is a suburb of Tokyo in Suginami ward, west of Shinjuku. ... The Meiji period ) denotes the 45-year reign of Emperor Meiji, running from 8 September 1868 (in the Gregorian calendar, 23 October 1868) to 30 July 1912. ... View of Mount Fuji from Numazu, part of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō series by Hiroshige, published 1850 Ukiyo-e ), pictures of the floating world, is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of... Kazuo Ishiguro (カズオ・イシグロ Kazuo Ishiguro, originally 石黒一雄 Ishiguro Kazuo, born November 8, 1954) is a British author of Japanese origin. ... The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known as the Man Booker Prize, or simply the Man Booker, is one of the worlds most important literary prizes, and awarded each year for the best original novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland in...

Murakami Haruki is one of the most popular and controversial of today's Japanese authors. His genre-defying, humorous and surreal works have sparked fierce debates in Japan over whether they are true "literature" or simple pop-fiction: Oe Kenzaburo has been one of his harshest critics. Some of his best-known works include Norwegian Wood (1987) and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–1995). Another best-selling contemporary author is Banana Yoshimoto. Haruki Murakami (村上春樹 Murakami Haruki; born January 12, 1949) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. ... Norwegian Wood (ノルウェーの森 Noruwei no mori) is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (ねじまき鳥クロニクル, Nejimaki-dori kuronikuru) (ISBN 0679775439) is a novel by Haruki Murakami. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Banana Yoshimoto , born July 24, 1964[1], in Tokyo) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子 Yoshimoto Mahoko), a Japanese contemporary writer. ...

Although modern Japanese writers covered a wide variety of subjects, one particularly Japanese approach stressed their subjects' inner lives, widening the earlier novel's preoccupation with the narrator's consciousness. In Japanese fiction, plot development and action have often been of secondary interest to emotional issues. In keeping with the general trend toward reaffirming national characteristics, many old themes re-emerged, and some authors turned consciously to the past. Strikingly, Buddhist attitudes about the importance of knowing oneself and the poignant impermanence of things formed an undercurrent to sharp social criticism of this material age. There was a growing emphasis on women's roles, the Japanese persona in the modern world, and the malaise of common people lost in the complexities of urban culture. A silhouette of Buddha at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ...

Popular fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature all flourished in urban Japan in the 1980s. Many popular works fell between "pure literature" and pulp novels, including all sorts of historical serials, information-packed docudramas, science fiction, mysteries, detective fiction, business stories, war journals, and animal stories. Non-fiction covered everything from crime to politics. Although factual journalism predominated, many of these works were interpretive, reflecting a high degree of individualism. Children's works re-emerged in the 1950s, and the newer entrants into this field, many of them younger women, brought new vitality to it in the 1980s. Japanese detective fiction is a popular genre of Japanese literature. ...

Manga (comic books) have penetrated almost every sector of the popular market. They include virtually every field of human interest, such as a multi volume high-school history of Japan and, for the adult market, a manga introduction to economics, and pornography. Manga represented between 20 and 30 percent of annual publications at the end of the 1980s, in sales of some ¥400 billion per year. This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ... Japanese 10 yen coin (obverse) showing Phoenix Hall of Byodoin Yen is the currency used in Japan. ...

Significant authors and works

Famous authors and literary works of significant stature are listed in chronological order below. For an exhaustive list of authors see List of Japanese authors: This is an alphabetical list of authors who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. ...

Classical literature

• Ōtomo no Yakamochi (c.717–785): Man'yōshū
• Sei Shonagon (c.~966–c.10??): The Pillow Book
• Murasaki Shikibu (c.973–c.1025): The Tale of Genji

Medieval literature Ōtomo no Yakamochi (大伴家持 c. ... ManyōshÅ« , Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) is the oldest existing, and most highly revered, collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods. ... Sei Shōnagon (清少納言), (966-unknown) was a Japanese author and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi during the years around 1000, known as the author of The Pillow Book (Makura no sōshi). ... The Pillow Book ) is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Sadako during the 990s in Heian Japan. ... Murasaki Shikibu (紫 式部 Murasaki Shikibu, c. ... Ilustration of ch. ...

• Yoshida Kenkō (c.1283–1352): Tsurezuregusa
• The Tale of the Heike (1371)

Early-modern literature Yoshida Kenkō (吉田兼好 Yoshida Kenkō, c. ... Tsurezuregusa (, Tsurezuregusa), or Essays in Idleness, is a collection of Japanese essays written by Yoshida Kenkō some time between 1330 and 1332. ... The Tale of the Heike (Japanese: 平家物語, Heike monogatari) is an epic account of the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century. ...

• Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693)
• Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)
• Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1725)
• Ueda Akinari (1734–1809)
• Santo Kyoden (1761–1816)
• Jippensha Ikku (1765–1831)
• Kyokutei Bakin (1767–1848)
• Edo Meisho Zue (travelogue, 1834)
• Hokuetsu Seppu (work of human geography, 1837)

Modern literature Ihara Saikaku (井原 西鶴, 1642-1693) was a Japanese poet and creator of the floating world genre of Japanese prose. ... A statue of Bashō in Hiraizumi, Iwate. ... Statue of Chikamatsu Monzaemon at Amagasaki, Hyogo Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Japanese: 近松門左衛門; real name Sugimori Nobumori, 杉森信盛, 1653–6 January 1725) was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. ... Ueda Akinari (上田秋成, 1734 - August 8, 1809) was a Japanese novelist, scholar, and waka poet. ... Santo Kyoden ) (1761 Edo - 1816) was a Japanese poet, writer and artist. ... Jippensha Ikku , 1765 – 1831) was a Japanese writer in the late Edo period. ... Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) (1767–1848) was the pen name for Japanese author Takizawa Okikuni (瀧澤興邦), best known for his 106-volume literary opus Satomi and the Eight Dogs (南総里見八犬傳 Nansō Satomi Hakkenden). ... Edo Meisho Zue “Guide to famous Edo sites”) is an illustrated guide describing famous places and depicting their scenery in pre-1868 Tokyo, then known as Edo. ... This article is in the process of being merged into Travel literature, and may be outdated. ... Hokuetsu Seppu (北越雪譜 Snow stories of North Etsu Province; translation: Snow Country Tales: Life in the other Japan by Jeffrey Hunter with Rose Lesser, Weatherhill, 1986) is a late Edo-period encyclopedic work of human geography describing life in the Uonuma area of Japans old Echigo Province, a place known... Population density by country, 2006 Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earths surface. ...

• Mori Ogai (1862–1922)
• Ozaki Koyo (1867–1903)
• Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916)
• Izumi Kyoka (1873–1939)
• Noguchi Yonejiro (1875-1947)
• Shiga Naoya (1883–1971)
• Ishikawa Takuboku (1886–1912)
• Tanizaki Junichiro (1886–1965)
• Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892–1927)
• Eiji Yoshikawa (1892–1962)
• Kaneko Mitsuharu (1895–1975)
• Miyazawa Kenji (1896–1933)
• Kuroshima Denji (1898–1943)
• Tsuboi Shigeji (1898–1975)
• Ishikawa Jun (1899–1987)
• Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972)
• Miyamoto Yuriko (1899–1951)
• Tsuboi Sakae (1900–1967)
• Oguma Hideo (1901–1940)
• Kobayashi Takiji (1903–1933)
• Ishikawa Tatsuzo (1905-1985)
• Dazai Osamu (1909–1948)
• Endo Shusaku (1923–1996)
• Abe Kobo (1924–1993)
• Mishima Yukio (1925–1970)
• Inoue Hisashi (1933–)
• Oe Kenzaburo (1935–)
• Yamamoto Michiko (1936–)
• Nakagami Kenji (1946–1992)
• Murakami Haruki (1949–)
• Murakami Ryu (1952–)
• Yoshimoto Mahoko (1964–)

Mori Ogais statue at his birthhouse in Tsuwano-cho Mori ÅŒgai ); (17 February 1862–8 July 1922) was a Japanese physician, translator, novelist and poet. ... Ozaki Koyo (尾崎 紅葉 Ozaki Kōyō) (January 10, 1868 - October 30, 1903) is a Japanese author. ... Natsume Soseki on the former 1000 yen note. ... Kyoka Izumi (泉鏡花 Izumi Kyōka) (November 4, 1873 - September 7, 1939) is the pen name of a Japanese author of novels and kabuki plays whose real name was Taro Sakai. ... Noguchi Yonejiro Noguchi Yonejiro (野口米次郎, b. ... Shiga Naoya (志賀 直哉, February 20, 1883 - October 21, 1971) was a Japanese writer. ... Statue of Takuboku in Hakodate, Hokkaidō Ishikawa Takuboku ) was a Japanese poet born on February 20, 1886. ... Junichiro Tanizaki (谷崎潤一郎 Tanizaki Junichirō, July 24, 1886 - July 30, 1965) was a Japanese author. ... This is a Japanese name; the family name is Akutagawa RyÅ«nosuke Akutagawa ); (March 1, 1892 - July 24, 1927) was a Japanese writer active in Taisho period Japan. ... Eiji Yoshikawa (吉川 英治 Yoshikawa Eiji, August 11, 1892 - September 7, 1962) was a Japanese historical novelist, who is mostly retelling existing stories. ... Miyazawa Kenji (宮沢 賢治 Miyazawa Kenji, August 27, 1896 - September 21, 1933) was a Japanese poet and author of childrens literature. ... Kuroshima Denji (黒島 伝治, December 12, 1898 - October 17, 1943) is a Japanese author. ... Ishikawa Jun (石川淳, March 7, 1899 - December 29, 1987) was a Japanese modernist author. ... Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成 Kawabata Yasunari, June 14, 1899 - April 16, 1972) was a Japanese novelist who became the first Japanese, and second Asian, to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1968. ... Yuriko Miyamoto (Miyamoto Yuriko, February 1, 1899 – January 21, 1951) was a Japanese novelist. ... Oguma Hideo (小熊 秀雄, September 9, 1901 - November 20, 1940) is a Japanese author. ... Kobayashi Takiji (小林 多喜二, October 13, 1903 - February 20, 1933) is a Japanese author of proletarian literature. ... Tatsuzō Ishikawa , July 2, 1905—January 31, 1985) was a Japanese author. ... Osamu Dazai (太宰 æ²» Dazai Osamu, June 19, 1909 in Aomori Prefecture - June 13, 1948) was a Japanese author. ... Shusaku Endō (遠藤 周作 Endō Shusaku, March 27, 1923 - September 29, 1996) was a renowned 20th Century Japanese author who wrote from a unique perspective of being a Roman Catholic Japanese. ... Kobo Abe (安部公房 Abe Kōbō, pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe (Abe Kimifusa, born March 7, 1924 - January 22, 1993) was a Japanese writer. ... Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his... Inoue Hisashi, 井上ひさし (November 16, 1934 - ) is a leading Japanese playwright and writer of comic fiction. ... Kenzaburo Oe Kenzaburo Oe (大江 健三郎 Ōe Kenzaburō, born January 31, 1935) is a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. ... Yamamoto Michiko , born in 4 December 1936), is the pen-name of a Japanese writer of short stories and poetry in Showa and Heisei period Japan. ... Kenji Nakagami (中上健次 Nakagami Kenji, August 2, 1946 - August 12, 1992) was a Japanese writer, critic, and poet. ... Haruki Murakami (村上春樹 Murakami Haruki; born January 12, 1949) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. ... Ryu Murakami (村上龍 Murakami Ryū, born 19 February 1952 in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan) is a Japanese novelist and filmmaker. ... Banana Yoshimoto , born July 24, 1964[1], in Tokyo) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子 Yoshimoto Mahoko), a Japanese contemporary writer. ...

Awards and contests

See List of awards and contests for Japanese literature for the complete list. A list of famous prizes, medals and awards including cups, trophies, bowls, badges, state decorations etc. ...

Resources

• Donald Keene
  • Modern Japanese Literature, Grove Press, 1956. ISBN 0-384-17254-X
  • World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of The Pre-Modern Era 1600–1867, Columbia University Press © 1976 reprinted 1999 ISBN 0-231-11467-2
  • Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature in the Modern Era, Poetry, Drama, Criticism, Columbia University Press © 1984 reprinted 1998 ISBN 0-231-11435-4
  • Travellers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, Columbia University Press © 1989 reprinted 1999 ISBN 0-231-11437-0
  • Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from the Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century, Columbia University Press © 1993 reprinted 1999 ISBN 0-231-11441-9
• Ema Tsutomu, Taniyama Shigeru, Ino Kenji, Shinshū Kokugo Sōran (新修国語総覧, Shinshū Kokugo Sōran^?) Kyoto Shobō © 1977 revised 1981 reprinted 1982

Donald Lawrence Keene is a noted Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. ...

See also

• List of Japanese authors
• List of Japanese classic texts
• Japanese poetry
• Aozora Bunko for a repository of Japanese literature

This is an alphabetical list of authors who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. ... This is a list of Japanese classic texts. ... Grave of the Japanese poet Yosa Buson The best-known forms of Japanese poetry (outside Japan) are haiku and senryu. ... Aozora Bunko (青空文庫, the Blue Sky Collection) in Japan is a project similar to Project Gutenberg. ...

External links

• Japanese Text Initiative, University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center
• Japanese Literature, Kristina Kade Troost, Duke University Libraries
• The Japanese Literature Home Page, Mark Jewel, Waseda University
• Japanese Literature Resources Page, Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, Creighton University
• A Mini-collection of Modern Japanese Literature, X. Jie Yang, University of Calgary
• Premodern Japanese Texts and Translations, Michael Watson, Meiji Gakuin University
• Bibliography for Research in Japanese Literature, Haruo Shirane, Columbia University
• Japan Cultural Profile - national cultural portal for Japan created by Visiting Arts/Japan Foundation
• Kamakura's Literary Figures at かまくら GreenNet, the website of Kamakura City