Classical Japanese Literature (to 1867)

Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) Japan's greatest playwright wrote puppet plays that were adapted for kabuki. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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.) Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693) The greatest fiction writer of the Tokugawa Era (1603-1867), Ihara portrayed the sensual life of urban Japanese. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth) Description of Japan's provinces compiled by provincial officials beginning in 713. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise) A poem-tale composed in ca. 980. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	Kamo no Chomei (1153-1216) In Hojoki (An Account of My Hut, 1212), the author ponders the transience of existence. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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.) Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) An anthology of early Japanese history compiled in 712 by O no Yasumaro at the behest of the emperor. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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). Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	Lady Sarashina (1008-ca.1065) Compiled the Sarashina Diary (Sarashina Nikki). Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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). Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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). Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	Nihongi (or Nihon Shoki) (720) One of the earliest extant Japanese writings, Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan) is a government-sponsored history of Japan. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
Okagami (The Great Mirror) (11th c.) Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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). Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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). Click here for authors' books at Amazon.com	Taiheiki (14th c.) The Chronicle of the Great Peace is a history of the fight for legitimacy between two contending imperial courts. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
Ueda Akinari (1734-1809) Ueda wrote Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Ugetsu Monogatari), upon which is based the movie Ugetsu. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	Yosa Buson (1716-1783) One of Japan's greatest haiku poets, Yosa, like Matsuo Basho, composed haiku sketches depicting nature. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com	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. Click here for author's books at Amazon.com
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