COME AND JOIN THE TRIP! (是非、参加してください-Zehi, sanka shite kudasai)
History of Japanese Literature
Ancient literature
The two of the oldest Japanese Literature are Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matter) which relates to the creation of the world, describes the gods and goddess of the mythological period, and contains facts about ancient Japan. The other one is Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan) which tells the history of Japan in poetry and shows the profound influence of Chinese.
Classical Literature
The Heian Period, referred to as the golden era of Japanese art and literature. Man’yoshu (Collection of Myriad Leaves)is the oldest collection of Japanese poetry collected in the year 800. Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) is written by court lady named Murasaki Shikibu is considered the pre-eminent masterpiece of Heian fiction and the first example of a work of fiction in the form of a novel.
Medieval Literature
Japan experienced many civil wars which led to the development of a warrior class, and subsequent war tales, histories, and related stories. The work from this period is notable for its insights into life and death, simple lifestyles and Seppuku Tale of the Heike, an epic account of the struggle between two clans for control of Japan at the end of the twelfth century.
Modern Literature
The Tokugawa Period is commonly referred to as the Edo Period. The capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to Edo (modern Tokyo). Scholarly work continued to be published in Chinese, which was the language of the learned much as Latin in Europe. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a kabuki dramatist, known as the Japan’s Shakespeare. 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. The importation of Chinese vernacular fiction that proved the greatest outside influence on the development of Early Modern Japanese fiction. Also, genres included horror, crime stories, comedy, and pornography--- often accompanied by colourful woodcut prints.
Meiji Period
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 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 assimilate some of these concepts successfully. War-time Japan saw the debut of several authors bet known for the beauty of their language and their tales of love and sensuality. Kawabata Yasunari, for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind became Japan’s first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Post-war and Contemporary Period
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. Prominent writers of the 1970s and 1980s were identified with intellectual and moral issues in their attempts to raise social and political consciousness. 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.
The modern Japanese writing system uses:
Kanji- ideographs from Chinese characters
Kana- a pair of syllabaries, consisting of
Hiragana- used for native Japanese words
Katakana-used for foreign loanwords and sometimes to replace kanji or hiragana for emphasis
STORY:
The Thief who became a Disciple
One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras, a thief with a sharp sword entered, demanding either his money or his life.Shichiri told him, “Do not disturb me. You can find the money in that drawer.” Then he continued his meditations. A little while afterwards he stopped and called, “Don’t take it all. I need some to pay taxes tomorrow.” The robber gathered up most of his money and started to leave. “Thank a person when you receive a gift,” Shichiri added. The man thanked him and made off. A few days afterwards, the fellow was caught and confessed, among others, the offense against Shichiri. When Shichiri was called as a witness, he said, “This man is not a thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him the money and he thanked me for it.” After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became his disciple.
ありがとうございました
Arigatōgozaimashita
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