Japanese Literature

Waka at a Memorial Service: A Note on Ise's Long Poem in Memory of Empress Onshi

Shō Yoshii

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 1-11
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_1

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Ise, a woman poet of the Heian Period, rendered a long waka poem in memory of Empress Onshi to represent general condolences on her death at a memorial service. As it was common to sing long poems for funeral ceremonies in the Nara Period, Ise might have followed the tradition in making her dirge. In the Heian Period, however, this type of memorial poems became less ceremonial and more personal. In this sense, her emotional dirge embodies a transitional stage in the history of memorial poetry.

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Taizan-Fukun in Narratives: The Image of the God in the Legends of Abe-no-Seimei and Fujiwara-no-Arikuni

Premoselli Giorgio

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 13-24
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_13

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In recent studies on esoteric cosmology Onmyōdō much has been written about the accounts of Taizan-Fukun, a Buddhist deity, in historical documents and ceremonial writings, but little has been so about those in legends and tales. The aim of this article is thus to delineate the narrative image of the god in the descriptions of the Taizan-Fukun Ceremony in the Abe-no-Seimei legend of Konjyaku-monogatari-shū and the Fujiwara-no-Arikuni legend of Imakagami.

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Gazing at Shadows: Junichirō Tanizaki's Negative Discourses of Tokyo and Inei-raisan

Satoshi Shimizu

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 26-36
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_26

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Since he moved to Kyoto after the Great Kanto Earthquake Junichirō Tanizaki hadn't ceased to take a negative view of Tokyo. His skepticism about disavowal of lack characteristic of the optimistic outlook of the age lay behind his criticism of the reconstruction plan and the sense of metropolitan sophistication. It also developed into his criticism of the rise of nationalism in the late 1930s. The author's attitude of gazing at shadows in Inei-raisan was his own way to resist such historical trend. Tanizaki is often regarded as an apolitical aesthete, but his obsession with shadows is charged with political implications.

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Question in Fiction, Fiction as Question: The Effect of the Quoted Letter in Namichidori by Yasunari Kawabata

Yūka Hirai

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 38-49
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_38

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It is not until recently that Yasunari Kawabata's unfinished story Namichidori has received proper attention in literary studies. As many critics point out, the quoted letter from a woman plays a very important role in it. One of its effects is to strategically involve the readers in the interactive relation between the characters. Another is to force them to be engaged in interpretive work because they are left without knowing how the characters read the letter. In this way the question of the letter turns the novel itself into a question which will help to shed a new light not only on its prequel Senbazuru but also on Kawabata's works in general.

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The Meridian:

A Note on How to Enjoy Kabuki

Shinya Mitsunobu

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 52-53
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_52

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Reading:

A Child as the Medium of Affection: Reading the Scene of the Birth of Uji-no-Wakagimi in Torikaebaya-monogatari

Mai Date

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 54-58
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_54

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Reviews:

Yukiyo Yuasa, The Historical Sense and Method of Genji-monogatari

Miho Kasuga

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 62-63
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_62

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Fusae Kawazoe, ed., Classical Education in the Age of Active Learning: How to Plan Classical Literature Classes from Elementary Schools to Universities

Shun Hatakeyama

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 64-65
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_64

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Hiroshi Ōkura, A Study of Kaze-ni-momiji: A Glimpse into Full-Blown Sexuality in Medieval Times

Yasutaka Nakajima

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 66-67
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_66

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Yasuaki Watanabe, A History of Medieval Waka Poetry

Junko Koyama

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 68-69
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_68

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Seishi Kazama, Criticizing Early Modern Novels

Yasuhiro Uchida

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 70-71
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_70

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Nobuyuki Takagi, Haruo Umezaki: War, Imposters, and Postwar Japan

Asako Totsuka

2018 Volume 67 Issue 9 Pages 72-73
Published: September 10, 2018
Released on J-STAGE: September 28, 2023

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.67.9_72

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