Japan: if anyone is listening...

An article on Russia before we jump to Japan:

Japanese News
Traditional Japanese "Noh" Theater
Hiroshi Kawasaki (poet)
Japanese Pop Music
Sumo: cultural pastime

Japanese literature and history is divided into various periods (based largely on who was controlling the country):

Nara Period (710-794 A.D. or C.E.)

Japanese literature traces its beginnings from an oral tradition that later used a writing system introduced from China. Most of this literature from the eighth century was created as governmental projects. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan) are really an anthology of myths, legends, stories, and history (much like the Western Bible, but without the religious significance).

The most brilliant literary product of this period was the Man'yoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), an anthology of 4,500 poems written by a variety of people ranging from peasants and commoners to emperors and nobility (compiled around 759 CE). It is here that Tanka: 31 syllables (5-7-5-7-7) was introduced. Here's a Tanka from Ono no Komachi (c. 850):

The color of the cherry blossom
Has faded vainly
In the long rain
While in idle thoughts
I have spent my life.

See Tanka and Renga poetry forms below...

Heian Period (794-1185)

Murasaki Shikibu wrote the worlds first novel (the Tale of Genji) in the early 11th century (see below). While Sei Shonagon wrote The Pillow Book - a collection of sayings, journal entries and non-fiction essays. Peter Greenaway made a superb movie with lovely Ewan McGregor in 1996 based loosely on the idea. Here's a clip.

Around 1120 a collection of Buddhist and secular tales from India, China, and Japan influenced Japanese literature furthering the spread of Buddhism.

Murakami's Tale of Genji is considered the first novel in the world. Read about it and its themes here.
Here's an animated clip based on the novel.

Kamakura-Muromachi Period (1185-1573)

A warrior clan (the Heike) gained political power during the 12th century, forming a new government and noble class. The Heike mono-gatari (The Tale of the Heike) depicts the rise and fall of the Taira with an interest on their wars with the Minamoto clan (Genji). This epic was completed in the first half of the thirteenth century and known for its vivid battle scenes. The Shin kokin wakashu (New Collection of Poems from Ancient and Modern Times), is an anthology of poetry commissioned by the Emperor Go-Toba. The Hojoki (An Account of My Hut) is a poetic and lovely piece of reflective writing involving Buddhist ideas. It is a personal favorite, but most of you would probably find it slow and uninteresting. Feel free to check it out of our library if interested. Also during this period much literature that you probably wouldn't find interesting leads to the further development of Zen Buddhism. This period finds the introduction of the first Noh plays that begin to emerge, granting Japan its very unique dramatic literature.

Here's a scene from a Noh play. Watch as much as you'd like. The dramatic form is interesting, but slow.

Edo Period (1603-1868)

Renga became a popular poem form (and pastime) which later became haiku (you knew it'd be around here somewhere). The poet Matsuo Basho condensed the form into the one-breath-poem (5-7-5). Here's some of his poems if you haven't had enough of this form over the last few years. Still, some beautiful work.

Matsuo Basho  

The Genroku period (1688-1704)

The introduction of joruri and kabuki plays develop japanese dramatic literature in this period. Keeping abreast of the European lit scene, fiction writer Ueda Akinari produced a collection of gothic stories called Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain) in 1776.

Kabuki scene. Watch as much as you dare.

Meiji Period (1868-1912):

With the opening of Japan to the West, many writers of this period were influenced by those pesky Europeans you've been studying. The best of them, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, wrote many superb short stories. He committed sepeku (ritualized suicide) in 1927. Modern Japanese literature favors the theme of dealing with soul-sucking technology and rapid modernization that leads to alienation of the individual and group.

Akira Kurosawa's splendid film version of Roshomon. Here's a trailer.

Contemporary period (1945 to the Present)

In 1968 Yasunari Kawabata became the first Japanese writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature, and in 1994 writer Oe Kenzaburo also won it. They and other contemporary writers, such as Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, Yukio Mishima (who also committed sepeku), Kobo Abe (surrealist writer), and Yasushi Inoue, Murakami Haruki (surreal/absurdist) and Banana Yoshimoto (absurdist) are known around the world.

Oe's Woman in the Dunes (1964)

Filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki (NYTIMES Critic's Pick: Princess Mononoke)

Akira Kurosawa: Clip from Dreams; and Ran, Kagemusha, etc.

Here's some pop culture clips for your perusal (careful some are horror films):

• Godzilla (of course) a tribute.
• Ninja Scroll scene (not for the faint hearted).
• Akira clip and explanation about Japanese culture's obsession with disaster.
• Ghost in the Shell.
• Ringu.
• Ju-on.
• Audition.

And to wash that away with something pleasant:

• Domo. And an American music video starring Domo as well.
• Hello Kitty.
• Tezuka's Buddha (the Rabbit Sacrifice scene from his comic) (Quite lovely).
• Tezuka's Metropolis.
• Tezuka's Astro Boy.
• Tezuka's Kimba, the White Lion.
• Manga history video.

And then, just a little pop culture:

• Japanese Game Show clip.
• Harajuku in Tokyo.
• Asian Playboy

Tanka is an older form of Japanese poetry, often written by members of the court, it has become a traditional poetry form for anyone looking to celebrate or honor something. It has more feeling supposedly than haiku, although it, too, focuses on nature. It centers on a vivid image that is related to an emotion. The tanka traditionally has 31 syllables or fewer in 5 lines. Traditionally that would be 5,7,5,7,7 but contemporary tanka, like haiku, suggests fewer syllables when possible. Here are some examples. And here are some tips and pointers.

Renga is often a collaborative effort, using two poets who create the poem at the same time. It was a popular court game in ancient Japan. The idea is that one poet writes a verse, then the second poet adds his/her own ideas to the first verse, and continues to alternate between the two poets. Unlike haiku (a one-breath poem), the renga can extend to over 100 verses. Like the tanka, each verse is comprised of 31 syllables or fewer. The first poet writes the first two lines (a line no more than 5 syllables, then 7 syllables), then the second poet finishes the verse (the last three lines) with a third line of no more than 5 syllables, the fourth and fifth with no more than 7 syllables each. When starting the second verse, the roles reverse. Here are some examples.

Finally, here is a website devoted to classical Japanese poetry and poets. Enjoy!

To annoy Mr. Painting, here's a Haiku generator. Have fun!