Japanese Literature

Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with
China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also
had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan. Eventually, 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 the Edo period. Since Japan reopened its
ports to Western trading and diplomacy in the 19th century, Western and Eastern
literature have strongly affected each other and continue to do so.

にっぽん - nippon

Earliest Writings
Although Japanese and Chinese are different languages, the Japanese borrowed and
adapted Chinese ideographs early in the 8th cent. in order to render their spoken
language in written form. Because Japanese is better suited to phonetic transcription,
the result is a language of extremely complicated linguistic construction.

The tale of Genji – written by Japanese writer Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is
generally regarded as the ealiest novel in any culture and as the greatest masterpiece
of Japanese literature. (in this scene from the novel, prince genji is visiting with his
favorite wife, murasaki , while watching housemaids, whom he has sent outside to build
a snowman. The novel is remarkable for its detailed depiction of the refined culture of
Heian-period japan.

Haiku (俳句) - is a very short form of Japanese poetry. It is typically characterized by

three qualities:

1. The essence of haiku is "cutting" (kiru).[1] This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two
images or ideas and a kireji ("cutting word") between them,[2] a kind of verbal punctuation
mark which signals the moment of separation and colours the manner in which the
juxtaposed elements are related.
2. Traditional haiku consist of 17 on (also known as morae though often loosely translated as
"syllables"), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on, respectively.[3] (An alternative form of haiku
consists of 11 on in three phrases of 3, 5, and 3 on, respectively.)
3. A kigo (seasonal reference), usually drawn from a saijiki, an extensive but defined list of such
terms.

JAPANESE PERIODS/ERA

Heian Period: 794-1185

-The addition of two phonetic syllabaries (katakana and hiragana) during the Heian era
(794–1185) opened the classic age, in which Japanese literature reached its first peak
of development. Classical Chinese still predominated in intellectual literary circles and
official court communications, yet literature in the native language, the only written
medium permitted to educated women, gained increasing prestige. In his travel journal
Tosa Nikki [Tosa diary] (936), the poet Ki no Tsurayuki assumed a female persona in
order to write in Japanese.

Much Heian literature of note was written by aristocratic women, foremost among whom
was Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki). Her Genji monogatari [tale of Genji] (early 11th
cent.) is ranked with the world's greatest novels. Sei Shonagon, another contemporary
court lady, wrote Makura no soshi [the pillow book], a compilation of miscellaneous
notes and reflections that provides an excellent portrait of Heian aristocratic life, with its
emphasis on elegance—always an important element of the Japanese aesthetic.

Ki no Tsurayuki was the leading spirit in the compilation of the Kokinwakashu [collection
of ancient and modern verse], the first imperial anthology of Japanese poetry. This
collection, which established the model for 21 subsequent imperial anthologies,
contained some 1,100 poems organized by topic, written in the tanka form of 31
syllables. The Japanese have always esteemed poetry as the highest of literary arts,
and poets regarded inclusion in a poetry anthology as a supreme honor.

Kamakura-Muromachi Period: 1185-1600

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.

In the latter half of the twelfth century warriors of the Taira clan (Heike) seized political
power at the imperial court, virtually forming a new aristocracy. Heike Monogatari (The
Tale of the Heike),which depicts the rise and fall of the Taira with the spotlight on their
wars with the Minamoto clan (Genji), was completed in the first half of the thirteenth
century [before 1219 ]. It is a grand epic deeply rooted in Buddhist ethics and filled with
sorrow for those who perished, colorful descriptions of its varied characters, and stirring
battle scenes. In former times the tale was narrated to the accompaniment of a
Japanese lute. The Shin kokin wakashu (New Collection of Poems from Ancient and
Modern Times), an anthology of poetry commissioned by retired Emperor Go-Toba, was
also completed around this time [ca 1205 ?]; it is dedicated to the pursuit of a subtle,
profound beauty far removed from the mundane reality of civil strife.

This period also produced literature by recluses, typified by Kamo no Chomei's Hojoki
(An Account of My Hut) [1212] , which reflects on the uncertainty of existence, and
Yoshida Kenko's Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness) [ca 1330 ] , a work marked by
penetrating reflections on life. Both works raise the question of spiritual salvation.
Meanwhile, the profound thoughts and incisive logic of the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the
True Dharma Eye) [before 1237 ] , one of the first Buddhist texts written in Japanese
rather than Chinese, marked a major development in Zen thought. The Taiheiki
(Chronicle of the Great Peace), depicting the 50 years from 1318 to 1367 when two rival
imperial courts struggled for power, is a valuable historical record, while the Noh plays
perfected by Kan'ami and his son Zeami are of great literary value. Zeami's Fushi kaden
(The Transmission of the Flower of Acting Style) [1400] is a brilliant essay on dramatic
art.

Medieval Japanese Literature is marked by the strong influence of Zen Buddhism,

where characters are priests, travelers, 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.

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.

Edo Period: 1600-1868

Around this time the function of literature as a means of social intercourse broadened.
Composing Renga (successive linked verses by several people forming a long poem)
became a favorite pastime, and this gave birth to Haikai (a sort of comedic Renga) in
the sixteenth century. It was the renowned seventeenth century poet Matsuo Basho
who perfected a new condensed poetic form of 17 syllables (5-7-5) known as Haiku, an
embodiment of elegant simplicity and tranquility.

In the Genroku era (1688-1704) city-dwelling artisans and merchants became the main
supporters of literature, and professional artists began to appear. Two giants emerged
in the field of prose: Ihara Saikaku, who realistically portrayed the life of Osaka
merchants, and Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote Joruri, a form of storytelling
involving chanted lines, and Kabuki plays. These writers brought about a great flowering
of literature. Later Yosa Buson composed superb Haiku depicting nature, while fiction
writer Ueda Akinari produced a collection of gothic stories called Ugetsu monogatari
(Tales of Moonlight and Rain) [1776] .

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.

Many genres of literature made their debut 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 Tokaidochu 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. Kyokutei Bakin wrote the
extremely popular fantasy/historical romance Nanso Satomi Hakkenden in addition to
other Yomihon. Santo Kyoden wrote Yomihon mostly set in the gay quarters until the
Kansei edicts banned such works, and he turned to comedic Kibyoshi. Genres included
horror, crime stories, morality stories, comedy, and pornography -- often 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.
Meiji Period: 1868-1945
The Meiji period 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.

In the early Meiji period (1868–1880s), Fukuzawa Yukichi and Water Margin 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. Ichiyo Higuchi, 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. Kyoka Izumi, 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 Japanese.

Romanticism was brought in by Mori Ogai with his anthology of translated poems (1889)
and carried to its height by Toson Shimazaki etc. and magazines Myojo 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 Soseki, 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).

Shimazaki shifted from Romanticism to Naturalism which was established with his The
Broken Commandment (1906) and Katai Tayama's Futon (1907). Naturalism hatched
the "I Novel" (Watakushi-shôsetu) that describes the authors themselves and depicts
their own mental states. Neo-romanticism came out of anti-naturalism and was led by
Kafu Nagai, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, Kotaro Takamura, Hakushu Kitahara and so on in the
early 1910s. Saneatsu Mushanokoji, Naoya Shiga 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. Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who was highly praised by Soseki, wrote short
stories including Rashomon (1915) with an intellectual and analytic attitude, and
represented Neo-realism in the mid 1910s.

During the 1920s and early 1930s the proletarian literary movement, comprising such
writers as Takiji Kobayashi, Denji Kuroshima, Yuriko Miyamoto, and Ineko Sata
produced a politically radical literature depicting the harsh lives of workers, peasants,
women, and other downtrodden members of society, and their struggles for change.

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 Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and Japan's
first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Yasunari Kawabata, a master of
psychological fiction. Ashihei Hino wrote lyrical bestsellers glorifying the war, while
Tatsuzo Ishikawa attempted to publish a disturbingly realistic account of the advance on
Nanjing. Writers who opposed the war include Denji Kuroshima, Mitsuharu Kaneko,
Hideo Oguma, and Jun Ishikawa.
Postwar Period: 1945- Present
World War II, and Japan's defeat, deeply influenced Japanese literature. Many authors
wrote stories of disaffection, loss of purpose, and the coping with defeat. Osamu Dazai's
novel The Setting Sun tells of a soldier returning from Manchukuo. Shohei Ooka won
the Yomiuri Prize for his novel Fires on the Plain about a Japanese deserter going mad
in the Philippine jungle. Yukio Mishima, well known for both his nihilistic writing and his
controversial suicide by seppuku, began writing in the post-war period. Nobuo Kojima'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.
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,
Kenzaburo Oe wrote his best-known work, A Personal Matter in 1964 and became
Japan's second winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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.

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.

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.