Japanese Literature
Online ISSN : 2424-1202
Print ISSN : 0386-9903
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Volume 68, Issue 2
Displaying 1-10 of 10 articles from this issue
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  • The Sound of the Sai River: Emperor Jinmu's Marriage Song
    Andassova Maral
    2019 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 1-10
    Published: February 10, 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2024
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.68.2_1
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    Emperor Jinmu married Isukeyorihime, a daughter of the god Ōmononushi, after his enthronement at Kashihara Shrine. Then he sang a marriage song on the bank of the Sai River where the divine family lived. In the song there is a subtle pun on the river's name which paradoxically refers to the opposing words sawagu (turbulent) and sayaka (serene). Such an acoustic wordplay is repeated in 佐韋 and 狭井, the two ways of writing Sai in Chinese characters. The aim of this article is to examine the significance of the emperor's marriage through an analysis of the song's sound effects.

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  • The Appropriation of Writing in Yoru-no-nezame: Otoko-Gimi's Passionate Desire
    Masae Miyashita
    2019 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 11-20
    Published: February 10, 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2024
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.68.2_11
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    In the first section of Yoru-no-nezame, the act of writing is frequently mentioned in the dialogue between Tai-no-Kimi and Otoko-Gimi. Such self-referentiality of writing about writing prefigures Otoko-Gimi's desire for Onna-Gimi's word which gradually becomes so strong that it finally runs wild in the third section. It also refers to his relations to Ōi-Kimi and Naka-no-Kimi. The strategic use of meta-writing in the story thus exposes male desire to dominate a woman as an object through the appropriation of her writing.

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  • When Poets Mention Their Ages: A Gender Difference in Poetical Expression
    Hiroyuki Ikuura
    2019 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 21-30
    Published: February 10, 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2024
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.68.2_21
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    In medieval times few women poets used the word soji to mention their ages. In contrast, male poets had started to use it frequently since the twelfth century when the principle of court ranking came to be increasingly based on promotion by favoritism in place of promotion by long service. In this discouraging situation, counting their own ages, many officials expressed their feeling of resignation in verse. Then the absence of the word in women's poems points to a gender difference which excluded them from the public sphere. After retiring into religious life, however, Nijōin-Sanuki, Kojijū, Hachijōin-Takakura, and other court women referred to their ages in their works.

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  • Sohō Tokutomi's Portraits of Notable Persons: “John Bright,” Jinbutsu-kanken, and Yoshida-Shōin
    Hiroshi Kimura
    2019 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 31-42
    Published: February 10, 2019
    Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2024
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20620/nihonbungaku.68.2_31
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    Sohō Tokutomi wrote a series of critical essays on notable persons such as “John Bright” (1888), Jinbutsu-kanken (1892), and Yoshida-Shōin (1893). His purpose was to demonstrate the power of literary and religious discourses as a means of appealing to the public while critically reviewing the political agenda of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. Tōkoku Kitamura succeeded to Tokutomi's effort and developed it further until he worked out a formula for privileging literature over politics.

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