If you search the word “iwau” in the digitalized edition of Manyō-shū, you can instantly find more than fifty examples in which it is used. You can also know the word has a double meaning; “imu (hate)” and “matsuru (celebrate).” The aim of this article is to analyze the narrative function of “iwau” in Manyō-shū with the help of Shinobu Origuchi's concept of the word.

In “Manyō-shū-wa-yomeruka,” a sequel to the well-known esoteric essay “Kojiki-wa- yomeruka,” Takashi Kamei deals with the linguistic problem inherent in Manyō-shū; how the Japanese language can be transcribed and read in Chinese characters. In an attempt to answer the question, here I will reconsider what the act of reading is by analyzing an interaction between our language and the foreign characters in the ancient text.

Genji-monogatari has been regarded as one of the most canonical works in Japanese literature and culture since it was written in the Heian Period. Some writers tried in vain to challenge the established work in order to seek after something new. Motoori-Norinaga and Yukio Mishima, for example, created a more virile and primitive image of classical Japan to counter the sophisticated world of Genji-monogatari. But after all Motoori and Mishima preserved and even strengthened the canon of Japanese literature because their resistance paradoxically demonstrated that they were caught under the big shadow of the master text.

Kikan Ikeda is a scholar of Japanese literature known for his objective method of philology which culminated in Genji-monogatari-taisei. In spite of the image of a strict methodological philologist, however, he made very subjective interpretations on the court ladies' dairies of the Heian Period in his first major work Kyūtei-joryū-nikki-bungaku. His dual identity as a detached philologist and an impressionistic critic was formed under the subtle yet decisive influence of the Vitalist movement of the Taishō Period, a cultural phenomenon which was very influential in the fields of philosophy, art, literature, and politics.

In his literary study Keijirō Kazamaki so often refers to the political and social background of a text that his critical method is generally thought to be external. In spite of such materialistic attitude, however, he sometimes makes a subjective interpretation based on his own impression. His method seems to be very inconsistent, but the critic himself didn't think so. As his hatred for first-person novels shows, Kazamaki thought that there was actually no modern literature in Japan. Thus, while embracing the image of “true modern literature” which he instinctively grasped, he made a materialistic approach to find what social conditions could produce the very ideal form of literature. In short, he objectively studied to ascertain whether his aesthetic sense was valid. In this article, critically reviewing Kazamaki's idea of “ideal modern literature,” I will consider what we literary scholars should do now.

In Genji-monogatari there is a scene in the first chapter of “Wakana” where Kashiwagi catches a glimpse of Onna-Sannomiya at a “kemari” ball game. Ironically the lovers' first encounter is set up by Hikaru-Genji because the ball game is held to relieve the “tsurezure” or ennui of the prince who is always bored to death. The aim of this article is to analyze the role of “tsurezure” in the narrative structure of the story, critically following the unique arguments of Masahide Takasaki who defines Genji as a “devine child” and Onna-Sannomiya as a “woman of water.”

There was a social class called “meshiuto” in the Heian Period. According to Akio Abe's definition, it refers to a group of plebian women who had sexual intercourse with noblemen. Indeed, as “meshiuto” means “one who is summoned,” they were literally “summoned” to render sexual services to men of higher social status. In Izumi-Shikibu-nikki there is a woman of humble origin who has relations with the prince. Although Abe regards her as a “meshiuto” woman, he fails to see a small but important difference between her and those of the class; far from being passively “summoned,” she spontaneously goes to him. In this article I will examine what sort of femininity can be found in her willingness.