In the middle ages in Japan, books about Buddhism were printed in temples with the use of woodblocks; however, literary works were not. Limited people could read them in the form of a manuscript. By the end of the 16th century, the technology of letterpress printing came to be introduced from Korea. Authorities started printing and printed not only academic books, but also classic literary works such as The Tale of Genji. Within a short period, printing and publishing businesses rose in the public sector and reading narratives became an entertainment throughout the Edo period. People would make new works based on classics and original works, especially after the center of business moved to Edo (Tokyo). By the mid-17th century, the printing technology they used went back to woodblock from letterpress, making the expressions and the publishing system unique to Japan. In the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, there was a flooding of Western culture, Japanese people again started using letterpress printing as they acquired a new casting method, and the modernization of literature progressed. Printing Museums, Tokyo named the revival of classics as “The Renaissance of Japanese classics,” after the renaissance, and held an exhibition about those movements. By looking back at the exhibition, I described the relationship between printing and the development of Japanese literature.

『児雷也豪傑譚』は蝦蟇と蛇の対立を物語の軸とする。十一編までの第一部は〈蛇の怨念が人間に憑いて児雷也につきまとう物語〉であり、十二編以降の第二部は蝦蟇（児雷也）と蛇（大蛇丸）を含み込む集団的抗争の物語となっている。第一部・第二部に共通する方法として、蛇をめぐる挿話に既存の文芸で培われた様々な蛇のイメージをはめこんでいく点が指摘できる。第一部終盤における三すくみの導入は新たな構想への布石であり、民間の俗信をふまえることで物語に合理性を与える方策でもあった。

Based on the analysis of classical literary works, this study elucidated the presence of references to the flower Dianthus spp., the types of emotions associated with it, and the descriptions related to its growth in riparian areas. Keyword extraction from the waka poetry database of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies revealed that D. spp. is mentioned in 444 poems written from the Asuka Period to the Muromachi Period. The most common type of sentiment felt toward this flower was awe in front of its beauty throughout all eras. However, the proportion of lover’s substitutes decreased as time progressed. There were no significant differences in the percentages of emotions between the term “Nadeshiko” and “Yamatonadeshiko”. The term “Kawaranadeshiko” first appeared in 1459 and was used in waka poems to describe the melancholy or sense of impermanence evoked by water flowing away along the riverbank. In contrast, only 57 references to D. spp. have been detected in literary works other than waka poetry anthologies, indicating that D. spp. is mostly associated with waka poetry. Fifteen cases mentioned its growth in riparian areas, which are associated with rivers. This study argues that within the Japanese cultural context, people’s perspectives toward D. spp. developed in two directions as they approached modernity.