Japan Story: In Search of a Nation, 1850 to the Present

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Yukio Mishima is a controversial figure, to say the least. While he was an out-and-out fascist who committed seppuku after a failed coup, he did provide us with some thought-provoking works of literature that not only allow us a window into his mind and his demons, but also into the shifting modernisation of 20th century Japan. The most clear-cut of his works is The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea: a metaphorical tale about a young boy who becomes obsessed with his mother’s new boyfriend. This boyfriend is a sailor whom the lad respects, until he chooses love over the great wide open, and the boy takes this as a betrayal. It’s a heavy political metaphor and one of the most important works of Japanese literature. This is a beautiful and immaculate Japanese short story collection from one of Japan’s greatest writers. Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami Why Should I Read This Book? It’s one of Japan’s best contemporary writers spreading her literary wings. Haruki Murakami, Japan’s most successful literary export, is well-known for writing elaborate and lengthy novels tinged with surrealism and recurring tropes. It’s very refreshing, here, to see him flex a few different muscles and write some engaging short stories instead. A notoriously difficult genre … Toshiro Mifuner and Richard Chamberlain in the 1980 TV adaptation of James Clavell’s Shogun. Photograph: Cine Text/Allstar/Sportsphoto Ltd

Japan Family In Law - Father in law and daughter in law in Japan Family In Law - Father in law and daughter in law in

From here, we get the sewing machine’s life story, which shows snapshots of the lives of the people who have used and owned it over the decades.Why Should I Read This Book? A sign of early genius by Japan’s most raw and brutal modern novelist. Japan has a birthday this year. It’s 150 years since rebel samurai overthrew the old Tokugawa Shogunate, marched – or, rather, palanquined – a teenage emperor into the newly named city of “Tokyo”, and made him their figurehead as they set about transforming their country. Western warships had recently been menacing Japanese shores, not so much offering friendship as insisting on it at the point of a gun. If Japan’s new leaders were to avoid becoming next on colonialism’s to-do list, a rapid programme of modernisation was called for: factories and weapons; mines and offices; trains, trams, trade. Choosing the fifty best Japanese books ever written is a monumental task, invariably leading to the omission of so many wonderful works of literature. After all, Japan has given rise to some of the world’s best writers, both past and present, with styles that have borrowed from and further informed Western literature. But here are 65 books that, together, speak to the rich history of literature in Japan. The second story, Pregnancy Diary, details the feelings and experiences of a young woman as she watches her sister (and sister’s husband) go through a pregnancy. It’s unnerving and discomfiting at times, as all three tales in this Japanese story story collection are. Picnic in the Storm by Yukiko Motoya From there it introduces a ghostly presence or a transformative power to befriend, overcome, or embrace.

Japan Society - Kamishibai: Japanese Storytelling The Japan Society - Kamishibai: Japanese Storytelling

Compare “The Hachiro Lottery”, which is only quietly odd, to “Grandpa Shadows”, the short story of a man with two shadows, one far more sinister than the other. The sinister shadow has a habit of attaching itself to another person for days at a time as a kind of curse. Dragon Palace by Hiromi Kawakami These leaders sought and received formal diplomatic recognition from China, and Chinese accounts record five successive such leaders as the Five kings of Wa. Craftsmen and scholars from China and the Three Kingdoms of Korea played an important role in transmitting continental technologies and administrative skills to Japan during this period. [28] The center of the unified state was Yamato in the Kinai region of central Japan. [25] The rulers of the Yamato state were a hereditary line of emperors who still reign as the world's longest dynasty. The rulers of the Yamato extended their power across Japan through military conquest, but their preferred method of expansion was to convince local leaders to accept their authority in exchange for positions of influence in the government. [27] Many of the powerful local clans who joined the Yamato state became known as the uji. [28] Territorial extent of Yamato court during the Kofun periodTo finish: a contemporary love story, between a woman in her late 30s and her old high-school teacher. Set in one of Tokyo’s numerous small bars, the drama is marinated in beer, saké, miso soup, humour, poetry, and wonderfully warm, comforting conversation. How much I admired it, what a lot I learned from it and, above all, how very much I enjoyed it ... M asterly.' Neil MacGregor Main article: Heian period Miniature model of the ancient capital Heian-kyō Later Three-Year War in the 11th century Climatic changes help to account for the existence of a Mesolithic stage in early Japanese culture, a time when much of the abundant fauna of earlier times became depleted by the expanding human population of the archipelago. The introduction of the bow and arrow is regarded as a local response to a decrease in game available for food. Jōmon culture ( c. 10,500 to c. 300 bce) That theme is, as I said, a man’s relationship to his mother. In Longing, our narrator dreams of his life as a boy, wandering an unfamiliar rural street at night and searching for his mother.

10 Classic Japanese Stories | tsunagu Japan

In 858, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa had himself declared sesshō ("regent") to the underage emperor. His son Fujiwara no Mototsune created the office of kampaku, which could rule in the place of an adult reigning emperor. Fujiwara no Michinaga, an exceptional statesman who became kampaku in 996, governed during the height of the Fujiwara clan's power [52] and married four of his daughters to emperors, current and future. [50] The Fujiwara clan held on to power until 1086, when Emperor Shirakawa ceded the throne to his son Emperor Horikawa but continued to exercise political power, establishing the practice of cloistered rule, [53] by which the reigning emperor would function as a figurehead while the real authority was held by a retired predecessor behind the scenes. [52] Why Should I Read This Book? It offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the secretive and enchanting world of geisha.

Another follows a girl as she visits her brother in some strange and monstrous medical institution or asylum. Japan loves house cats, and Natsume Soseki’s I Am a Cat is a satirical ode to the nation’s favorite, and most supercilious, feline. Written in the early 1900s, Soseki’s novel is also a portrait of the uneasy East-West fusion Japan was experiencing during the Meiji era. Told from the cat protagonist’s perspective as it wanders the neighborhood eavesdropping on gossiping residents, Soseki created a quintessentially Japanese work of literature that has rightly stood the tough test of time. In the titular story, a retired man and his wife visit the man’s older brother in a home. The older brother has succumbed to dementia and the younger brother relates to his wife tales of their youth during the American occupation of Japan post-World War II. Written by Naokai Higashida, a then 13-year-old boy who lives with non-verbal autism, The Reason I Jump provides profound insights into the mind of those diagnosed with his condition. Using a “cardboard keyboard”, Higashida learnt to communicate his thoughts, feelings and capacity for emotion, which is elucidated in this heart-wrenching tale; an exploration of the inner-workings of an autistic mind. The translation by author David Mitchell and his wife KA Yoshida is particularly poignant, as Higashida’s story allowed them to understand their own autistic child in a way that they had never before conceived. Why Should I Read This Book? It is a chilling and suspenseful thriller that explores the depths of human depravity and existential dread.