| Japanese Literature (4) (Town Pleasures)
Prelude
The Edo period of Tokugawa rule was a time of renaissance
centered on the townsfolk of Edo (now Toukyou (Tokyo)) and
Oosaka (Osaka). When peace returned to the land, actual control
passed from the warriors to the merchants who held the economic reins.
At the same time, the development of printing technologies and the appearance
of publishers made it possible for people to make a living by writing,
and this in turn spurred the emergence of literature for the masses. Among
these 19th-century best sellers were Jippensha Ikku's Toukaidouchuu
Hizakurige (Shank's Mare), Shikitei Sanba's Ukiyoburo
(Bathhouse of the Floating World), and Takizawa Bakin's Nansou
Satomi Hakken-den (Satomi and the Eight Dogs).
Ihara Saikaku
Ihara Saikaku is perhaps the single most important popular writer
of the Edo period. Among his works are Koushoku Ichidai Otoko
(Life of an Amorous Man) and Koushoku Ichidai Onna(Life of
an Amorous Woman), depicting the floating world of people who live for
sexual gratification, and Nihon Eitaigura (The Japanese Family
Storehouse) and Seken Munesanyou (Worldly Mental Calculations)
on the lifestyle of the merchant class. Koushoku Ichidai Otoko,
for example, is almost modern in its realism as it details the hero Yonosuke's
54-year quest for pleasure much in the manner of the Genji Monogatari.
Japan's Shakespeare
Another figure who deserves recognition is Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who
wrote for both the puppet and kabuki theaters. Even today, his
Sonezaki Shinjuu (Love Suicides at Sonezaki) and Shinjuu
Ten no Amijima (Love Suicides at Amijima) drawing upon the
many love suicides of the time, Meido no Hikyaku telling of the
tragic love between the shopowner Chuubei and the courtesan Umegawa,
and Kokusenya Kassen (Battles of Coxinga) of the attempt by
the Chinese-Japanese son of a Ming descendant to reestablish the Ming
dynasty are popular. Among the other well-known playwrights of the Edo
period are Chikamatsu Hanji, Tsuruya Nanboku, and Kawatake
Mokuami.
Tales of the Supernatural
Published in 1666, Asai Ryoui 's Otogibouko is a collection
of horror tales including the original Botan-dourou as popularized
by the raconteur San'yuutei Enchou. This work also had a major
influence on the 18th-century Ugetsu Monogatari by Ueda Akinari
(who also wrote the Harusame Monogatari (Tales of the Spring
Rain) collection of hair-raisers). Also in this same genre is Tsuruya
Nanboku's Toukaidou Yotsuya Kaidan (Ghost Story of Toukaidou Yotsuya),
and the popularity of horror stories seems to reflect the anxiety of the
city people concerning their livelihoods and status.
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Japanese Literature
(5) (Post-restoration)
Toward a Modern Literature
With the opening of the country shortly after the Meiji Restoration,
Japan began a process of modernization that involved a receptiveness to
imported ideas and a search for new modes, as epitomized by Futabatei
Shimei 's translated introduction to the life and work of Turgenev
and Ueda Bin's Kaichouon (Sound of the Tide) anthology of
translated poems. Foremost among the experimenters is Tsubouchi Shouyou.
While he was active as a novelist, playwright, critic, and translator,
he is best known for the 1885 novel Tousei Shosei Katagi (The Character
of Modern Students) and for Shousetsu Shinzui (Essence of the Novel)
in which he rejected the hoary traditions and called for a more realistic
fiction. In addition, he is also known for his plays such as Kiri hitoha
and En no Gyouja and his translatioin of the complete works
of Shakespeare.
Ougai and Souseki
The popular novels near the turn of the century were Futabatei Shimei
's Ukigumo (Drifting Clouds), Kouda Rohan's Gojuu no Tou
(Five-storied Pagoda), Higuchi Ichiyou's Takekurabe (Growing
Up) and Nigorie (Muddy Bay), and Tokutomi Roka's Hototogisu
(Namiko). Yet the two luminaries of the period were Mori
Ougai and Natsume Souseki. Drawing upon his years as an army
physician in Germany for study, Ougai published his first novel
Maihime (Dancing Girl) in 1890 and followed that two years later
with a translation of Andersen's Improvisators. His later Gan
(Wild Geese) still stands as an exemplary modern novel. Souseki,
returning home from his studies in London, marked new heights in modern
literature with his outpouring of Wagahai wa Neko de Aru (I an
a Cat), Botchan, Kusamakura, and more. He was a prolific writer
who had a profound influence upon many later writers.
Naturalism
Around the time of the Russo-Japanese War, there was a spate of naturalist
writers including Shimazaki Touson, prominent for his Hakai
(Broken Commandment), and Tayama Katai (known for Futon).
This naturalist school has since been a major component and influence
in modern Japanese literature.
Poetry
The 1882 Shintaishi Shou (Collection of New Style Poetry) of translated
and original poetry opened up new vistas for poetry Shimazaki Touson
and Tsuchi Bansui were among the best-known poets. In the late
19th century, Yosano Tekkan urged radical reforms in the tanka
and founded Myoujou magazine in Toukyou (Tokyo) as a
vehicle for such brilliant poets as his wife Akiko, Ishikawa Takuboku,
Kitahara Hakushuu, Takamura Koutarou, and others. About the same time,
Masaoka Shiki was compaigning for tanka and haiku able
to deal with the fantastic and grotesque in realistic terms.
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Japanese Literature
(6) (Early Twentieth Century)
Shirakaba
Founded in 1910, the literary magazine Shirakaba was home to Mushanokouji
Saneatsu, Shiga Naoya, Satomi Ton, Arishima Takeo, Arishima Ikuma, and
many others; and it was both lectern and showplace for the artists of
the era until it creased pulication after the Great Kantou Earthquake
of 1923. Especially notable was Shiga Naoya, whose long novel An'ya
Kouro (Dark Night's Passing) is acclaimed as the masterpiece of early-20th-century
literature.
Akutagawa and Nagai
Perhaps the writer who best expressed himself in fiction was Akutagawa
Ryuunosuke, who is also unusual for having written only short stories.
He is famous for Rashoumon, Jigokuhen (Hell Screen), Hana (Nose),
all patterned after Konjaku Monogatari and Ujishuui Monogatari,
and others. Nagai Kafuu is known for his long novels such as
Udekurabe (Geisha in Rivalry) and Bokutou Kidan (Strange
Tale from the East of the River) set in Japan's red-light districts.
Tanizaki and Satou
Among the writers drawn to literature by Nagai Kafuu is Tanizaki
Junichirou, and among those encouraged by Tanizaki is Satou
Haruo. While the two men's friendship was poisoned by Satou's
affair with Tanizaki's wife, they were major literary figures even
as late as the postwar period.
Kawabata and Yokomitsu
Two of the novelists who took part in the neo-sensationalist literary
movement launched by the magazine Bungei Jidai in 1924 were Kawabata
Yasunari and Yokomitsu Riichi. Rebelling at the prevailing
realism, they invented new styles and forms in an effort to stimulate
both mind and spirit Even today, Kawabata is widely read for Izu
no Odoriko (Izu Dancer) and Ryoshuu (Traveler's Sadness).
In 1968, Kawabata became the first Japanese to win the Nobel Prize
in Literature.
Modern Poets
After an early popularity, the new-style poetry movement began to fade,
and a free poetry using everyday language in unmetered lines took its
place. Typical are Hagiwara Sakutarou's Tsuki ni Hoeru (Howling
at the Moon), Aoneko (Blue Cat), and Hyoutou (Frozen Island);
Takamura Koutarou's Doutei and Chieko Shou (Chieko's
Sky); and Miyazawa Kenji 's Haru to Shura (Spring and Asura).
At the same time, Japanese poetry was shaken by the surrealism of the
French poet Andre Breton and the symbolism of Stephane Mallarme, Paul
Verlaine, and Paul Valery.
Translations of foreign works were also very much in vogue, and Kafka,
Faulkner, Malraux, Dostoevski, Tolstoi, and many others were widely read
in Japan.
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Japanese Literature
(7) (Postwar)
Bearers of the Torch
Literature was one of the first fields to recover from Japan's defeat
in World War II. Encouraged by freedom of the press and freedom of expression,
literature flourished, much of it depicting the suffering and misery of
war. The first wave of postwar authors included such people as Umezaki
Haruo, Oooka Shouhei, Takeda Taijun, Shina Rinzou, Nakamura Shin'ichirou,
and Mishima Yukio; and this was soon followed by a second wave
including Abe Koubou, Hotta Yoshie, and others. Among the landmark
works of the first wave were Oooka Shouhei's Furyoki (Prisoner
of War) and Nobi (Fires on the Plain) based upon his wartime experiences
in the Philippines.Employing an elegant style to depict vide and depravity,
Mishima Yukio caught the temper of the time with Kamen no Kokuhaku
(Confessions of a Mask), Kinkakuji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion),
and other sensationalist works. At the same time he was also active as
a playwright of such highly acclaimed works as Rokumeikan (Deer
Cry Pavilion) and Tooka no Kiku. Inoue Yasushi was another star
of postwar literature as he questioned human values and behavior with
consistently good writing in the traditional I novels, historical novels,
socially conscious novels, poems, essays, and the broad spectrum of genres.
Taiyou-zoku
As the prosperity induced by the Korean War took hold and people forgot
the despair of defeat, literature also took a new turn with novels depicting
a new breed of Japanese who rejected the old values and moral standards.
With Ishihara Shintarou's Taiyou no Kisetsu (Season of Violence),
the term taiyou-zoku (sun tribe) was born and Shintarou haircuts
became all the rage. Soon after ward, Ooe Kenzaburou appeared as
one of the most perceptive observers of this postwar alienatioin as depicted
in Shisha no Ogori (Lavish are the Dead) and Shiiku (The
Catch). In 1994, Ooe became the second Japanese to win the Nobel
prise for Literature.
Democratic Literature
Yet there were also other authors who wrote to propagate their ideals
of socialist democratization. Miyamoto Yuriko, who came out with
Banshuu Heiya (Banshu Plain), Fuuchisou, and other works
soon after the war, had established her reputation as a proletariat writer
before the war with such novels as Mazushiki hitobito no Mure (A
Flock of Poor Peiople) and Nobuko. Other proletariat writers active
in both the wartime and postwar eras were Sata Ineko and Tokunaga
Sunao.
Spread of Postwar Literature
As things settled down after the war and more people started reading
again for more diverse purposes, the wide rift between pure literature
and popular literature narrowed, and a very popular form developed called
in-between novels. Mysteries and other mass-appeal literature entered
a golden age.
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Waka (Tanka)
Form
The Man'youshuu compiled in the 8th century is the oldest and
most influential collection of Japanese poetry. In it are two types of
poetry: chouka and tanka. While the chouka has nearly
disappeared as an art form, the shorter 31-syllable tanka has been
popular throughout Japanese history and is today in the cultural mainstream,
although it remains unclear exactly how the ancient poets developed the
tanka. The following tanka by rincess Nukada (7th
century) is a classical example of the tanka verse form.
| A-ka-ne-sa-su |
In the purple field |
| Mu-ra-sa-ki-no yu-ki |
Of blooming madder, |
| Shi-me-no- yu-ki |
in the forbidden meadow you run. |
| No-mo-ri wa mi-zu ya |
Won't the guqrd see |
| Ki-mi ga so-de fu-ru |
You waving to me?
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Imperial Anthologies
Imperial anthologies were frequently compiled over the centuries and
it was considered a great honor to have on's poems included. The earliest
imperial anthology is the Kokin Wakashuu (Collection of Ancient
and Modern Times) compiled in the nearly 10th century. It was followed
by the Gosen Wakashuu (Later Collection) and by the Shuui Wakashuu
(Collection of Gleanings). By the Muromachi period, 21 such
anthologies had been compiled of poems treating a wide range of subjects
and themes; verses on the fourseasons, celebratory lines, songs of parting
and of travel, love poems, and so forth.
Court Poetry
Writing and reciting poetry was a favorite pastime of the ancient Japanese
nobility, particularly between the 8th and 12 centuries when the capital
was located in Kyouto (Kyoto). Formally judged poetry contests
were held frequently, court lords and ladies communicated in poetry, and
poetry was an integral part of court life in every way.
Not everyone was satisfied with the rarified poetry of the court, however.
The 12th-century poet-priest Saigyou preferred to walk the countryside,
immersing himself in nature. Sanka-shuu (The Mountain hermitage)
is one product of his wanderings.
Contemporary Tanka
Tanka are loved a literary art in which anyone can participate.
Not long ago, Tawara Machi pioneered a new style using everyday
language to describe everyday events, and there is a movement of sorts
in experimental tanka using modern language and unfettered by restrictions
of rhythm. For the most part the classical 31-syllable form with its clearly
defined word devices and ethereal quality remains the most popular. There
is much to be admired in the durability and timeless appeal of the ancient
tanka poetry.
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| Haiku
Renga
In the poetry contests of the Heian period poets vied to compose
the best poem. In the 14th century, however, a new form of entertainment
evolved of linked verse in which one poet would composse the first three
lines (5-7-5 syllables) of a poem and another would complete it with two
more lines (7-7 syllables). The first three lines are called the hokku
and the remaining two the ageku. To include more poeple and make
it more interesting, this pattern was repeated in long renga or
linked-verse compositions. Poets who excelled in this kind of work were
called renga-shi and given such titles as soushou or renga-kaisho-bugyou.
There even emerged a professional class of rengashi. Particularly
famous renga masters include the 15th-century Sougi and
his disciple Souchou. Nijou Yoshimoto's authoritative work Kinrai
Fuutai Shou (Notes on Poetic Styles of the Recent Past) written in
1387, his Tsukuba-shuu collection of renga compiled in 1356,
and the 1488 Minase Sangin Hyakuin sequence by the renga master
Sougi and two other poets are still widely read.
Haiku
Because they require several participants renga are seldom composed
today. Haiku, originally the hokku of a renga, however,
remain popular as an independent form. Only 17 syllables, the haiku
is one of the most succinct poetic verse types in the world. A good
example is Matsuo Bashou's verse:
| A-ra-u-mi ya |
How rough a sea |
| Sa-do ni yo-ko-ta-u |
and, stretching over Sado Isle, |
| A-ma-no-ga-wa |
the Galaxy |
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(Tr. Harold B. Henderson)
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Its concise form mandates that the haiku convey a rich imagery
with no superfluous words. Seasons are pictured with kigo words
typical of the season, and these seasonal indicators are such a common
device in haiku that several glossaries known as saijiki have
been compiled solely for the convenience of the haiku poet.
Derived from haikai, the haiku was originally an introductory
comic verse. Satirical verse evolved as an independent genre known as
senryuu, however, and haiku were refined into a highly sophisticated
form of serious poetry. Some of the most famous haiku poets arae
the 17th-century Matsuo Bashou and his disciples and Yosa Buson
and Kobayashi Issa in the 18th century. Many of these poets
wrote haiku travelogues still enjoyed today, the most well-known
probably being Bashou's Oku no Hosomichi (The Narro Road
to the Deep North) written to commemorate his retracing of the northern
route traveled by the waka poet-priest Saigyou, and the
discovery of a copy of this collection in Bashou's own hand created
a considerable stie in 1996. Still a popular medium, haiku continue
to be written today and there is little prospect for any drastic changes
in the genre, although new haiku forms have been experimented with.
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Mythology
Japanese mythology is based on stories in the 712 Kojiki (Record
of Ancient Matters) and the 720 Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan).
Broadly divided according to its three principal scenes of action--Takamagahara
(the high Plain of Heaven), Izumo, and Hyuuga--Japanese
mythology tells of Japan's creation and the adventures of its numerous
gods.
Takamagahara is eventually ruled by the sun goddess Amaterasu,
ancestor of the emperor. The earliest Takamagahara myths deal
with the separation of heaven and earth, the creation of land by the gods
Izanami and Izanagi, the many other gods to which they give
birth (including Amaterasu), and Amaterasu's flight to a
heavenly cave. The Izumo myths center in the Izumo district
(eastern Shimane prefecture) and deal primarily with the adventures
of Amaterasu's brother, Susanoo, and his descendant, Ookuninushi.
Taking place in what is now Miyazaki prefecture, the Hyuuga
tales deal primarily with the god Ninigi who descends to Mt.
Takachiho under orders from Amaterasu to subdue and rule
the land, in the process establishing the imperial line and the Japanese
nation.
From the separation of heaven and earth to the establishment of the imperial
line, this mythology marshals divine descent to buttress imperial authority
in a blatantly nationalistic and political mythology.
Kojiki Myths
Three myths from the Kojiki are especially well known. The first
tells of Izanagi and Izanami, male and female deities, who
are given a spear and told to solidify the drifting land. They thrust
the spear into the sea and stir the churning brine. Wdhen they lift the
spear, drops of brine harden to form an island. Izanagi and Izanami
descend to the island and erect a pillar around which they walk from
opposite directions. They unite upon meeting, giving birth to the Japanese
islands.
The Amenoiwaya myth concerns Amaterasu and Susanoo.
Angered by his violent behavior, she sulks in the heavenly cave and, deprived
of her light, all is plunged into darkness. The other gods try to entice
her out. Finally, the goddessAmenouzume dances half naked, much
to the delight of all, and Amaterasu, lured by the unexpected sound
of laughter, moves the great rock blocking the cave entrance to see what
is going on. The god Tajikarao pulls her out and the world is once
again blessed with her light. Similar myths are found throughout the Pacific.
One of the best-known Susanoo myths is about the great eight-headed,
eight-tailed serpent of the Hino River in Izumo. Susanoo tricks
the dreaded devourer of sacrificial maidens into drinking sake and
kills it while it lies in a stupor. In one of the serpent's eight tails,
Susanoo discovers a sword which later (along with a mirror and a curved
jewel) becomes one of the three imperial regalia.
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Folk
Tales
Japanese folk tales, like folk tales everywhere, have set patterns starting
with "Once upon a time" and ending with "and that's the way it was." Unlike
legends, all the elements of the folk tale are imaginary.
It is only in the last few decades that scholars have begun to study
Japanese folk tales, but interest is strong and specialists have already
collected tens of thousands of stories.The Jungian analyst Kawai Hayao
did a celebrated psychological study of Japanese folk tales that found
that, in comparison to the masculine ego revealed by Western folk tales,
Japanese folk tales suggest a feminine ego.
Five Muromachi folk tales have remained especially popular.
・Kachikachi-yama
(Kachikachi Mountain) An old man captures a tanuki,
a kind of badger, and takes it home. While the old man is out, the
tanuki tricks his wife and kills her. He then transforms himself
into the old woman and, when her husband returns serves him soup containing
her flesh. To avenge the old man, a rabbit burns the tanuki, rubs
hot peppers into its charred skin, and sets it adrift on a boat of mud,
finally drowning it.
・Saru Kani Kassen (Battle Between
the Monkey and the Crab) A bad monkey tricks a crab into trading his rice
ball for the monkey's persimmon seed. Yet the crab plants the seed and
it sprouts into a tree laden with fruit. The monkey tricks the crab again
and eats the fruit, throwing unripe fruit at the crab and killing it.
The crab's children #489191(Tongue-cut Sparrow) Finding a sparrow eating
her laundry starch, a mean old woman cuts its tongue out. Her gentle husband
visits the sparrow's home and is given a choice of gifts. He takes the
smaller box, only to find it full of money and treasure. Hearing this
the old man's greedy wife also visits the sparrow and takes the bigger
box home, only to find it full of snakes, bugs, and goblins.
・Hanasaka Jijii
(Ash Scatterer) An honest old man's dog leads him to buried treasure.
When the dog dies, a great tree sprouts from its grave. The old man cuts
down the tree and makes a mortar in which he pounds rice. To his astonishment,
gold coins come out of the mortar. After his jealous neighbor burns the
mortar, the old man scatters its ashes onto a withered tree, making it
bloom and pleasing the local lord. Each time, the neighbor's attempts
to mimic his feats end in disaster.
・Momotarou (Peach Boy) A child is
born from a great peach an old woman discovers floating down a stream.
Named the Peach Boy, he grows into a sturdy youth and sets out on a journey
to Devil Island carrying the best millet dumplings in Japan and accompanied
by a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. He and his companions defeat the devils
in battle and return home laden with treasure.
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| Legends
Legends, are stories linked to historical persons and events believed
to have once existed or happened Not purely imaginary amusement, they
lack folk tales' set formula. Japan's numerous legends are usually classified
into nature legends of animals, plants, metals and minerals, heavenly
bodies, weather, geography, fire, water, and so on; historical legends
of gods, sacred sites, wealthy merchants, heroic deeds, events, and place
names, etc.; and religious legends of gods (e.g., fields and mountains),
spirits (of trees and rocks), ghosts, and goblins.
・Urashima Tarou
A young fisherman, Urashima Tarou, savves a turtle, and
the grateful turtle takes him to Ryuuguujou, the Palace of the
Dragon King, where he spends three happy years with the king's daughter,
Otohime. He gets homesick, however, and returns home only to find
that 700 years have passed. Alone and at a loss what to do, he opens the
magic box, even though Otohime had given him with strict instructions
not to open it. In that very instant he ages. This story is based on a
legend of Mizunoe in the ancient province of Tango (now
part of Kyouto [Kyoto] prefecture) about a fisherman named Urashima
no Ko. The legend appears in several ancient compilations including
the Man'youshuu, Nihon Shoki, and the Tango Fudoki. In the
Muromachi period it was retold in otogi-zoushi short stories
and made into the nou (noh) play Urashima. Such tales about
visits to enchanted lands are common worldwide.
・Hagoromo (Feathered Robe) In Miho
no Matsubara in Suruga province (now Shizuoka prefecture),
fisherman comes upon an angel bathing in the sea. He takes away her beautiful
feathered robe and, unable to return to heaven without the robe, the angel
marries the fisherman and has his child. Finally she retrieves her robe
and flies off to heaven. A tale of marriage between celestial being and
a human, Hagoromo appears in the Suruga, Oumi, and Tango
Fudoki. It is also the basis for a well-known nou (noh) play.
・Koubou Legends Legends about the
monk Koubou Daishi (a.k.a. Kuukai) and his travels abound.
In one story Koubou Daishi is refused some sweet potatoes and turns
them to stone. There are many other legends concerning historical figures
such as Ono no Komachi, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Benkei, and Tokugawa
Mitsukuni (a.k.a. Mito Koumon).
・Kintarou Raised on Mt Ashigara
in Sagami province (Kanagawa prefecture) by a mountain
ogress, Kintarou is a child of superhuman strength. Friends with
the mountain animals, he is commonly depicted as bright red, wearing bib,
and carrying a hatchet. As an adult Kintarou becomes Sakata
no Kintoki , a trusted follower of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. After
capturing Shutendouji, who had been terrorizing the Mt Ooe area,
Kintarou becomes one of the four trusted followers of Minamoto
no Yorimitsu. It is customary to display a Kintarou doll on
May 5, Boy's Day, to symbolize the hope that sons will be as strong and
brave as Kintarou.
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