Japanese literature

long tradition in Japan, dating back at least a thousand years with the establishment of homosexual art, poetries, and pieces of literature, such as The Tale of Genji and the Nanshōku ōkagami (The Great Mirror of Male Love) by Saikaku. Regardless of the fact homosexuality practices were largely emphasized in early Japanese literature and promoted within society in the early periods, the notion of the homosexual seems to have declined in current Japanese culture. This essay will compare the differences between the homosexuality in ancient and modern Japan, and by examining the disparities the essay will explain why it is so difficult for Japanese homosexuals to publicly reveal their sexuality to their peers in this era. First, the early perception of sexuality will be observed from a religious perspective. Japan’s first main religion, Shintō (the way of the gods), was first recorded in the the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), completed respectively in 712 AD, and Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan), completed in 720 AD. Both discuss the creation myth of Japan. Within the Kojiki and Nihongi, homosexuality was never…

How it affected their life and culture? Well, here you’ll find out the impact of writing in Post-War Japan. After the war, literature in Japan was basically on the ground, it was dead. Many authors were pressured to write and support war, and supposedly was successful for military. Various authors did not get a chance to publish their books, since they were not supporting war, or did not fit the theme of violence. “Writers with backlogs unpublished works were the first to benefit when wartime…

Reconfiguring Gender and Familial Relationship in Japanese Popular Fiction” (2011), written by Dollase, Hiromi Tstchiya also focuses on contemporary, popular, woman-authored books in Japanese popular fiction. Introducing stories written by four female writers, Hiromi analyze them how they reconfigure gender and family systems and discuss the shojo manga which deals with the ideal mother and home. This article also shows the power of the popular literature. No matter what the critics’ reaction…

“I was considering always in my room of the lodging house and besides, felt that it is vain to try. Because reading a lot of books doesn’t indulge my appetite actually, then, I gave it up. At the same time, gradually I couldn’t catch the meaning even myself that what I read the books so much for.” Souseki Natsume wrote this in his essay ‘My individualism’, which retrospect the prehistory of shaping ‘A theory of literature’ and it was the description when he was studying abroad in England in…

15th of August 2001 was intended to garner political support from prominent Japanese rightists, had the added effect of internationalising the issue. Within China and Korea, Yasukuni is considered to be a symbol of Japanese imperialism and expansionist militarism. Further, the enshrinement of Japan's 14 Class A war criminals in 1977 has been a source of contention within both Japan, and mainland Asia. Scholars generally agree that the Japanese Prime Minister, in visiting Yasukuni shrine, is…

restricting the lives of Asian Americans. Although many of the novel’s characters passively discriminate against their Japanese neighbors, often behind their backs, Etta Heine, mother of the deceased Carl Heine, blatantly states her hatred towards the ethnic group. In the novel, Etta uses the war as justification for her bigotry, stating, “They’re Japs. We’re in a war with them. We can’t have spies around” (Guterson 126). Etta disguises her prejudice through a plea of safety; she claims to…

filled with the idea of Mujōkan. The idea of Mujōkan is come of Buddhism, and it has finally become a unique idea in Japan. Mujō means that everything is changing and nothing is eternal. However, Japanese people view the transience as a treasure. According to Munesuke Mita, some common symbols of Mujōkan in literatures would be anything that is passing away, flowing away, and going away. (Mita,118) Mita also refers that the awareness of the uncertain nature of the future is a common…

The existing monogatari, most likely penned by men, pulled largely from Chinese literature. Notably, Shikabu shifts from the male viewpoint of her prince, Genji to the inner lives of the women he encounters. This seems to be in direct counterpoint to The Tosa Diary, which begins in the female voice but quickly swings to the vantage of the male governor. As the plot of The Tale of Genji progresses, the narrative turns introspective, examining the psyches of its characters, instead of event…

represented in the works of the author Junichirō Tanizaki. Through examining two of Tanizaki’s defining novels, Naomi and Some Prefer Nettles, my critical response aims to critically evaluate Tanizaki’s literary representations of the impact of Western modernity on Japanese identity. In doing so, As Venice Sank fundamentally reassesses the fluid, dynamic identities cultivated by a modernity which rest on Western cultural dominance. The major work bears the namesake…

One of the lesser-known anime masterpieces, "Blue Literature" is an adaptation of six modern classics of Japanese literature. The first one is "No Longer Human" (Ningen Shikkaku) by Osamu Dazai. It tells the sad story of a lost and alienated high school student, who eventually embarks on a trip entailing self abuse, drugs, adultery, instigated by his inability to understand those around him. The title is semi-autobiographical as were most of the works of the Japanese master. The second one is…