Japanese Literature can be divided into four main periods: ancient, classical, medieval and modern.

Ancient literature (until 794)[edit source | editbeta]

Before the introduction of kanji from China, Japanese had no writing system. At first, Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical formats, and the result was sentences that look like Chinese but were read phonetically as Japanese. Chinese characters were further adapted, creating what is known as man'ygana, the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing. The earliest works were created in the Nara period. These include the Kojiki (712), a historical record that also chronicles ancient Japanese mythology and folk songs; the Nihon Shoki (720), a chronicle written in Chinese that is significantly more detailed than the Kojiki; and the Man'ysh (759), a poetry anthology. One of the stories they describe is the tale of Urashima Tar, which has been identified as the earliest example of a story involving time travel.[1]

Classical literature (7941185)[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: Heian literature Classical Japanese literature generally refers to literature produced during the Heian period, referred to as the golden era of art and literature. Genji Monogatari(early 11th century) by a woman named 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 writings of this period include the Kokin Wakash (905), a waka-poetry anthology, and Makura no Sshi (990s), the latter written by Murasaki Shikibu's contemporary and rival, Sei Shnagon, as an essay about the life, loves, and pastimes of nobles in the Emperor's court. The irohapoem, now one of two standard orderings for the Japanese syllabary, was also developed during the early part of this period. The 10th-century Japanese narrative, Taketori Monogatari, can be considered an early example of proto-science fiction. The protagonist of the story, Kaguya-hime, is a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter. She is later taken back to her extraterrestrial family in an illustrated depiction of a disc-shaped flying object similar to a flying saucer.[2] Another notable piece of fictional Japanese literature wasKonjaku Monogatarish, a collection of over a thousand stories in 31 volumes. The volumes cover various tales from India, China and Japan. In this time, the imperial court particularly patronized the poets, most of whom were courtiers or ladies-in-waiting. Reflecting the aristocratic atmosphere, the poetry was elegant and sophisticated and expressed emotions in a rhetorical style. Editing the resulting anthologies of poetry soon became a national pastime.

Medieval literature (11851603)[edit source | editbeta]

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 Chmei's Hjki (1212) and Yoshida Kenk's Tsurezuregusa (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.

Early-modern literature (16031868)[edit source | editbeta]

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 jruri and kabuki dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon became popular at the end of the 17th century, and he is also known as the Japan's Shakespeare. Matsuo Bash wrote Oku no Hosomichi (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. Jippensha Ikku is also known as Japan's Mark Twain. Many genres of literature made their dbut 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 wrote Tkaidch Hizakurige, 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 wrote the extremely popular fantasy/historical romance Nans Satomi Hakkenden in addition to other yomihon. Sant Kyden wrote yomihon mostly set in the gay quarters until the Kansei edicts banned such works, and he turned to comedic kibyshi. Genres included horror, crime stories, morality stories, comedy, and pornographyoften accompanied by colorful woodcut prints. Nevertheless, in the Tokugawa, as in earlier periods, scholarly work continued to be published in Chinese, which was the language of the learned much as Latin was in Europe. [3]