Anthology of Japanese Literature: From the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century
by Arthur Waley and Burton Watson and Murasaki Shikibu and Edward G. Seidensticker and Donald Keene and Howard Hibbett and Saikaku Ihara and Kenneth Rexroth and Matsuo Bashō and Ki No Tsurayuki and 松尾 芭蕉 and Mukai Kyorai and 向井 去来 and Chikamatsu Monzaemon and 近松門左衛門 and Jippensha Ikku and 十返舎 一九 and Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige and 紀 貫之 and 東海道中膝栗毛 and Kyokutei Bakin and 曲亭馬琴 and 紫 式部 and Kamo no Chōmei and 鴨 長明 and Zeami and 世阿弥 元清 and G.W. Sargent and A.L. Sadler and Robert H. Brower and Charles E. Hamilton and George Sansom and Ryusaku Tsunoda and Sam Houston Brock and Meredith Weatherby and Shio Sakanishi and W. Theodore De Bary and Harold Gould Henderson and Thomas Satchell and Marjorie Sinclair and Kochi Doi and Yukuo Uyehara and Anne Shepley Omori and Richard J. Lane and F. Voss and Basil Hall Chamberlain
The sweep of Japanese literature in all its great variety was made available to Western readers for the first time in this anthology. Every genre and style, from the celebrated No plays to the poetry and novels of the seventeenth century, find a place in this book. An introduction by Donald Keene places the selections in their proper historical context, allowing the readers to enjoy the book both as literature and as a guide to the cultural history of Japan. Selections include “Man’yoshu” or “Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves” from the ancient period; “Kokinshu” or “Collection of Ancient and Modern Poetry,” “The Tosa Diary” of Ki No Tsurayuki, “Yugao” from “Tales of Genji” of Murasaki Shikibu, and “The Pillow Book” of Sei Shonagon from the Heian Period; “The Tale of the Heike” from the Kamakura Period; Plan of the No Stage, “Birds of Sorrow” of Seami Motokiyo, and “Three Poets at Minase” from the Muromachi Period; and Sections from Basho, including “The Narrow Road of Oku,” “The Love Suicides at Sonezaki” by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and Waka and haiku of the Tokugawa Period.
Release Date:
January 10, 1994
