Classical Japanese Literature (to 1867)   Click on a title to order it from Amazon.com, via a secure transaction.    Note that Japanese names are in Japanese order: family name + given name.   Bookmark Japanorama    Bookmark Amazon.com

Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) Japan's greatest playwright wrote puppet plays that were adapted for kabuki. Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu, tr. by Donald Keene Major Plays of Chikamatsu, tr. by Donald Keene	Ki no Tsurayuki (868?-945) Tosa Diary (Tosa Nikki, 935), Japan's first literary diary, recounts his sea journey from Tosa to Kyoto as well as his grief following the death of his daughter. (Tosa is the former name of the Kochi region of Shikoku Island.) The Tosa Diary Tosa Diary
Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693) The greatest fiction writer of the Tokugawa Era (1603-1867), Ihara portrayed the sensual life of urban Japanese. Comrade Loves of the Samurai: Songs of the Geishas Five Women Who Loved Love, tr. by De Bary (paperback) Life of an Amorous Woman and Other Writings (paperback) The Great Mirror of Male Love This Scheming World Worldly Mental Calculations: Annotated Tr. of Seken Munezayo	Heike Monogatari (Tale of the Heike) An early 13th-c. anonymous historical romance depicting the rise and fall of the Taira (aka Heike) clan and their defeat by the Minamoto (aka Genji) clan. Genji & Heike: Selections from...the Tale of the Heike (hardcover) Genji & Heike: Selections Tale of Heike, Vol. 1 The Tale of the Heike, Vol. 2 (paperback) Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of Heike (paperback) Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike (hardcover) The Tale of the Heike (Books 1-6), Vol. 1 (paperback) The Tale of the Heike (paperback)
Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth) Description of Japan's provinces compiled by provincial officials beginning in 713. Records of Wind and Earth (Fudoki)	Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise) A poem-tale composed in ca. 980. Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from 10th-c. Japan
Jippensha Ikku (ca. 1765-1831) Ikku is the author of Hizakurige (Shank's Mare, 1802-22), a picaresque tale of the misadventures of two rogues. Shank's Mare (Hizakurige)	Kamo no Chomei (1153-1216) In Hojoki (An Account of My Hut, 1212), the author ponders the transience of existence. Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World Ten Foot Square Hut & Selelections from Tales of Heike (hardcover) Ten Foot Square Hut & Selections from Tales of Heike (paperback)
Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) Dogen wrote Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), which developed Zen concepts and practice. Founded several Buddhist temples in Japan. Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, Book 2 (paperback) Primer of Soto Zen: A Translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo Zuimonki Shobogenzo Shobogenzo: Zen Essays by Dogen	Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) Kobayashi was one of the greatest haiku poets. (Haiku is a 17-syllable poem, in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.) A Few Flies and I; Haiku A Few Flies and I; Haiku Cool Melons--Turn to Frogs: The Life and Poems of Issa Cup-Of-Tea Poems: Selected Haiku of Kobayashi Issa Of This World: A Poet's Life in Poetry Of This World: A Poet's Life in Poetry The Autumn Wind: A Selection from the Poems of Issa The Autumn Wind: A Selection from the Poems of Issa The Year of My Life Wind in My Hand, by Hanako Fukuda Wind in My Hand, by Hanako Fukuda Year of My Life
Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) An anthology of early Japanese history compiled in 712 by O no Yasumaro at the behest of the emperor. Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, tr. by Basil Hall Chamberlain Kojiki, tr. by Donald L. Philippi	Kokin Wakashu (or Kokinshu) (Anthology of Ancient and Modern Poems) Compiled in 905 by Ki no Tsurayuki and others, the Kokinshu is the first emperor-commissioned anthology of poems in the tanka form (five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables). Brocade by Night: Kokin Wakashu & Court Style in J. Class. Poetry Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry Kokinshu : A Collection of Poems Ancient & Modern
Konjaku Monogatari (Tales of a Time That Is Now Past) A collection of over 1,000 tales from Japan, India, and China. Compiled ca. 1120. Konjaku Monogatari-Shu, tr. by W. Michael Kelsey	Lady Sarashina (1008-ca.1065) Compiled the Sarashina Diary (Sarashina Nikki). As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams: Recoll. of a Woman in 11th-c. Japan
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) Japan's greatest poet was a Zen Buddhist lay-priest. Composed in 1694, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Oku no Hosomichi) is a poetic diary interspersed with haiku (17-syllable poems in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables). A Haiku Journey A Zen Wave: Basho's Haiku & Zen Back Roads to Far Towns: Basho's Oku-No-Hosomichi (paperback) Back Roads to Far Towns: Basho's Travel Journal Back Roads to Far Towns Basho and His Interpreters:...Hokku with Commentary (hardcover) Basho and His Interpreters:...Hokku with Commentary (paperback) Basho's Narrow Road: Spring & Autumn Passages and the... Full Moon Is Rising: Lost Haiku of Matsuo Basho Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho Little Treasury Matsuo Basho, by Ueda Makoto Morning Mist:...Matsuo Basho and Henry David Thoreau Narrow Road to the Deep North, Other Travel Sketches (paperback) Narrow Road to the Interior On Love and Barley, Haiku of Basho (Penguin Classics) On the Narrow Road: A Journey into Lost Japan The Essential Haiku:...Basho, Buson, and Issa The Narrow Road to Oku (paperback) Traces of Dreams:...Poetry of Basho (hardcover) Traces of Dreams:...Poetry of Basho (paperback)	Murasaki Shikibu (978-ca. 1031) The world's first great novel, the 54-chapter Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari, ca. 1010) describes aristocratic society during the Heian Period (794-1185). Genji & Heike: Selections from the Tale of Genji and...(hardcover) Genji & Heike: Selections from the Tale of Genji and...(paperback) Genji Gaiden: The Origins of Kumazawa Banzan's Commentary... Guide to the Tale of Genji Iconography of the Tale of Genji: Genji Monogatari Ekotoba Murasaki Shikibu, Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs Murasaki Shikibu, Her Diary and Poetic Poems Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu Noh Drama and the Tale of Genji:...Allusion in 15 Classical Plays Tale of Genji (abridged) Tale of Genji (paperback) Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide, by William J. Puette The Diary of Lady Murasaki (Penguin Classics) The Splendor of Longing in the Tale of Genji The Tale of Genji (hardcover) Ukifune: Love in the Tale of Genji
Man'yoshu Japan's first great anthology of poetry, Man'yoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) consists of 4,500 poems mainly in the tanka form (five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables), composed in the mid-8th c. by people from all walks of life. A History of J. Literature: From the Man'Yoshu to Modern Times Hitomaro and the Birth of Japanese Lyricism Land of the Reed Plains; Ancient J. Lyrics from the Manyoshu Manyoshu: Nippon Gakujutsu Translation of 1,000 Poems Ten Thousand Leaves: Love Poems from the Manyoshu (hardcover) Ten Thousand Leaves: Love Poems from the Manyoshu The Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of the Man'yoshu	Nihongi (or Nihon Shoki) (720) One of the earliest extant Japanese writings, Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan) is a government-sponsored history of Japan. Nihongi Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697
Okagami (11th c.) Okagami: A Japanese Historical Tale Okagami, The Great Mirror: Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027)... Okagami, The Great Mirror:...Michinaga (966-1027)... (paperback)	Sei Shonagon (late 10th c. - early 11th c.) A court lady who wrote the incomparable Pillow Book (Makura no Soshi, 966-1017), a collection of sketches depicting court life during the Heian Period (794-1185). The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, tr. by Ivan Morris (paperback) The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan
Sogi, Shohaku, Socho Three 15th-c. poets collectively known as the Three Poets of Minase (Minase Sangin). Masters of the renga form of linked verse, a long poem consisting of alternate verses of three lines (7, 5, and 7 syllables) and two lines (7 syllables each). Sogi Iio (1421-1502), and his disciples Shohaku Botanka (1443-1527) and Socho Saiokuen (1448-1532), collaborated in One Hundred Stanzas by Three Poets at Minase (Misae Sangin Hyakuin). Three Poets at Yuyama, by Stephen D. Carter	Taiheiki (14th c.) The Chronicle of the Great Peace is a history of the fight for legitimacy between two contending imperial courts. Taiheiki, A Chronicle of Medieval Japan
Takeda Izumo (1691-1756) One of the authors of The Treasury of 47 Loyal Retainers (Kanadehon Chushingura or simply Chushingura), a tale of loyalty and revenge by 47 ronin (masterless samurai), based on an actual incident in 1701. Chushingura: Studies in Kabuki and Puppet Theater, by M.J. Brandon Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Puppet Play Yoshitsune & Thousand Cherry Trees: Of the 18th-c. J. Puppet Theater	Taketori Monogatari (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) Regarded as Japan's first novel, this is an early 10th-c. fairy tale of a bamboo cutter who raises a supernatural princess. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
Ueda Akinari (1734-1809) Ueda wrote Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Ugetsu Monogatari), upon which is based the movie Ugetsu. Tales of Moonlight and Rain; Japanese Gothic Tales Ueda Akinari, by Blake Morgan Young Ugetsu Monogatari: Tales of Moonlight and Rain Ugetsu Monogatari: Tales of Moonlight and Rain	Yosa Buson (1716-1783) One of Japan's greatest haiku poets, Yosa, like Matsuo Basho, composed haiku sketches depicting nature. The Path of Flowering Thorn: The Life and Poetry of Yosa Buson
Yoshida Kenko (1283-1350) This Buddhist monk is remembered for Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness, ca. 1335), a collection of contemplative essays about resignation from this transient world. Essays in Idleness (Tsurezuregusa) (paperback, 1998)	Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443) This son of the No playwright Kan'ami wrote No (or Noh) plays as well as a treatise on No drama. Artistry of Aeschylus & Zeami;...Study of Greek Tragedy & Noh On the Art of the No Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami Zeami's Style: The Noh Plays of Zeami Motokiyo (hardcover) Zeami's Style: The Noh Plays of Zeami Motokiyo (paperback)
Miscellaneous Classics Anthology of Japanese Literature...to the Mid-19th-c. (paperback) Anthology of Japanese Literature...to the Mid-Nineteenth Century Penguin Book of Zen Poetry The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse

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