LITERATURE 1A: PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

WITH WORLD LITERATURE

JAPANESE LITERATURE
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Japanese Literature Introduction

• Japanese Literature Periods

• Characteristics of Japanese Literature

• Mashuo Basho

• Haiku

• Haiku Writing
 JAPANESE LITERATURE: INTRODUCTION

Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia and comprises

one of the major literatures in the world, comparable to English literature in age
and scope. It comprises a number of genres, including novels, poetry, and drama,
travelogues, personal diaries and collections of random thoughts and
impressions. From the early seventh century until the present there has never
been a period when literature was not being produced by Japanese authors.
Japan adopted its writing system from China, often using Chinese characters to
represent Japanese words with similar phonetic sounds.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE: INTRODUCTION

Early works were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and
Chinese literature, and was often written in Classical Chinese. Though the
Japanese writing system was adapted from Chinese, the two languages
are unrelated. The rich emotional vocabulary of the Japanese language
gave rise to a refined sensitivity of expression, while Chinese was often
used to write about more intellectual and abstract concepts such
as morality and justice…
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

Japanese Literature is generally divided into four main periods:

1. Ancient Literature Period (until 894)

2. Classical Lit. Period(894 - 1194; the Heian period)

3. Medieval Literature Period (1195-1600)

4. Modern Literature Period (1600-present)

- Early Modern Lit. Period (1600-1868), Meiji, Taisho, and Early Showa Lit. Period (1868-1945),
Post-war Lit. Period (1940’s-1950’s), and Contemporary Lit. Period (1980’s- present).
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

1. ANCIENT LITERATURE (until 894)

Before the introduction of kanji from China, there was no writing system
in Japan. At first, Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical
formats, and the literary language was classical Chinese; resulting in
sentences that looked like Chinese but were phonetically read as
Japanese. Chinese characters were used, not for their meanings, but
because they had a phonetic sound which resembled a Japanese word…
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

2. Classical Lit. Period(894 - 1194; 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, waka poetry anthology) and The
Pillow Book (990s), an essay about the life, loves, and pastimes of nobles in the Emperor's
court written by Murasaki Shikibu's contemporary and rival, Sei Shonagon.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

3. Medieval Literature (1195 - 1600)

Medieval Japanese Literature is marked by the strong influence of Zen Buddhism, and
many writers were priests, travelers, or ascetic poets. Also during this period, Japan
experienced many civil wars which led to the development of a warrior class, and a
widespread interest in 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).
Other notable genres in this period were renga, or linked verse, and Noh theater. Both
were rapidly developed in the middle of the fourteenth century, during the early Muromachi
period.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

3. Medieval Literature (1195 - 1600)

Significant Works and Authors:
● Yoshida Kenkō (c.1283–1352): Tsurezuregusa
● The Tale of Genji also known as The Tale of the Heike (1371)
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

Modern Themes

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 in modern literature, 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 of sharp social criticism of modern
materialism. 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.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.1 Early-Modern Literature (1600-1868)

The literature of this time was written during the generally 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
seventeenth 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.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.1 Early-Modern Literature (1600-1868)

Many genres of literature made their début during the Edo Period, inspired 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), a mix of travelogue and comedy.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.1 Early-Modern Literature (1600-1868)

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. Kyokutei Bakin wrote the extremely popular fantasy and
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. New genres included horror, crime stories, morality stories, and
comedy, often accompanied by colorful woodcut prints.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.2 Meiji, Taisho, and Early Showa literature (1868-1945)

The Meiji era marked 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…
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.2 Meiji, Taisho, and Early Showa literature (1868-1945)

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. In
the mid-Meiji (late 1880s - early 1890s) Realism was introduced by Tsubouchi Shoyo and Futabatei
Shimei, 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, 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 language.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.2 Meiji, Taisho, and Early Showa literature (1868-1945)
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.
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.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.3 Post-War Literature
Japan’s defeat in World War II influenced Japanese literature during the 1940s and 1950s. Many
authors wrote stories about 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.
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…
 JAPANESE LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.3 Contemporary Literature

Popular fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature all flourished in urban Japan during 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 LITERATURE PERIODS

4. Modern Literature (1600-present)

4.3 Contemporary 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. At the end of the 1980s,
manga represented between twenty and thirty percent of total annual publications in Japan,
representing sales of some four hundred billion yen annually. In contemporary Japan, there is a
debate over whether the rise in popular forms of entertainment such as manga and anime has
caused a decline in the quality of literature in Japan.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF JAPANESE LITERATURE

1. Japanese literature can be difficult to read and understand, because in many ways the written
Japanese reflects certain peculiarities of the spoken language. Statements are often ambiguous,
omitting as unnecessary the particles of speech which would normally identify words as the
subject or object of a sentence, or using colloquial verb forms from a specific region or social
class. Special language used to depict gender, age, social status, or regional origins is often the
only clue as to who is speaking or being spoken about in a sentence. In many cases the
significance of a simple sentence can only be understood by someone who is familiar with the
cultural or historical background of the work.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF JAPANESE LITERATURE

2. Japan’s deliberate isolation during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries created a strong
cultural homogeneity, and the literature of that period incorporated many common
understandings that are unintelligible to someone who does not share the same background.
For example, Japanese readers of the seventeenth century immediately understood the
phrase,“some smoke rose noisily” (kemuri tachisawagite), as a reference to Great Fire of 1682
that ravaged Edo (the modern city of Tokyo).
 CHARACTERISTICS OF JAPANESE LITERATURE

3. Though the Japanese writing system was first adapted from Chinese, the Japanese and
Chinese languages are unrelated. The original Japanese language contained a great variety of
words expressing emotion and feeling, but very few words for abstract intellectual concepts
such as justice, morality, honesty or rectitude. Japanese literature tends to be emotional and
subjective, rather than intellectual, and consequently appeals strongly to modern readers all
over the world, who can relate to sentiments and feelings which transcend historical changes
and cultural differences
 CHARACTERISTICS OF JAPANESE LITERATURE

4.Japanese prose often contains very long sentences which follow the train of the author’s
thought. Japanese writers concentrated more on making a smooth transition from one thought
to the next than on linking each statement to an overall structure or meaning. Personal diaries
and accounts of travel from place to place developed as a means of linking unrelated elements
together in a chronological succession.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 HAIKU: DEFINITION AND/OR DESCRIPTION

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that consists of short, unrhymed lines. These lines can take
various forms of brief verses. However, the most common structure of haiku features three lines
of five, seven, and five syllables (5 7 5), respectively. A haiku poem generally presents a single
and concentrated image or emotion. Haiku is considered a fixed poetic form and is associated
with brief, suggestive imagery intending to evoke emotion in the reader. Though this poetic form
originated in Japan during the thirteenth century, it is also a significant element of English poetry,
especially in its influence on the Imagist movement of the early twentieth century.
 HAIKU SAMPLE (by Moritake)

What I thought to be
Flowers soaring to their boughs
Were bright butterflies.
 MATSUO BASHO’S HAIKU

sick on my journey
only my dreams wander
these desolate moors
MATSUO BASHO’S HAIKU

ANALYSIS
 ACTIVITY

HAIKU WRITING