Colleen Justine N.
Buenaventura II-4
#2
English
Literary period Time Characteristics
Ancient literature
Nara Period AD 710-794 Agricultural in nature and
centered around villages. Most
of the villages followed Shinto,
a religion based on worship of
natural and ancestral spirits.
Empress Gemei established the
capital of Heijo- kyo (present
Heian Period 794-1185 day Nara).
The final period of classical
Japanese history. The period in
Japanese history when
Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese
influences were at their height.
Although the Imperial House of
Japan had power on the
surface, the real power was in
the hands of the Fujiwara clan.
Medieval Literature
Kamakura- Muromachi 1185- 1573 Warriors of the Taira clan seized
Period political
Power at the imperial court. It
is a
grand
Epic deeply rooted in Buddhist
ethics.
Outstanding Author Outstanding Literature
Unknown commoners, Kokin Wakashu or Kokinshu
emperors (Collection of Poems from
Ancient and Modern times),
Man’yoshu (Collection of Ten
Thousand Leaves) an anthology
of 4, 500 poems, Tanka (verse
form comprising 31 syllables: 5-
7-5-7-7)
Murasaki Shikibu, Sei
Shonagon
Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji),
Makura no soshi (The Pillow
Book), Konjaku Monogatari
(Tales of a Time That Is Now
Past)
Kamo no Chomei Hojoki (An Account of My Hut),
Shin kokin wakashu (New
Collection of Poems from
Ancient and Modern Times),
Taiheki (Chronicle of the Great
Peace)
Modern Literature
Edo Period 1603- 1868 Takugawa period; governance Ihara Saikaku, Yosa Buson, Renga ( successively linked
of Edo or Tokugawa shogun ate. Ueda Akinari verses by several people
Beginning of the early modern forming a long poem), Haiku
period of Japan. Influenced by (forming 17 syllables: 5-7-5),
Confucian principles of social Joruri, Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales
order. The social order based of Moonlight and Rain)
on inherited position rather
than personal merits, was rigid
and highly formalized. The
population was divided into
four classes: samurai,
Meiji Period 1868-1912 peasants, craftsmen,
merchants. Yukichi Fukuzawa, Mori Ogai, Leaving Asia (essay), Ozaki
Koda Rohan, Shiga Naoya Koyo, Botchan and Kokoro
45 year reign of the Meiji
Emperor. During this time,
Japan began its modernization
and rose to world power status.
It was this time that the E ja nai
ka movement, a spontaneous
outbreak of ecstatic behavior,
took place. Emperor Meiji made
Shinto the official religion.
Post war Literature 1946- onwards World War II and Japan’s defeat Osamu Dazai, Shohei Ooka, The Setting Sun, Fires on the
deeply influenced Japanese Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburo Oe, Plain, A Personal Matter,
literature. Numerous “New Shusako Endo, Kazuo Ishiguro Woman in the Dunes, Ripening
Religions” cropped up, many of Summer
them ostensibly based on
Shinto, but on the whole,
Japanese religiosity may have
decreased. Ruled by Baron
Kantaro Suzuki.
Contemporary Literature
Present Although modern Japanese Haruki Murakami, Banana Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up
writers covered a wide variety Yoshimoto, Bird Chronicle, Manga
of subjects, one particular
Japanese approach stressed
their subject’s inner lives.
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. Popular
fiction, non-fiction and
children’s literature all
flourished in urban Japan.

Sources: http://kanzaki.com/jinfo/jliterature.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_literature#Modern_literature_.281868.E2.80.931945.29