Japanese Literature

A

Poetry

Tanka poetry, the 31-syllable, 5-line form developed very early in the Japanese literary tradition, experienced a new burst of energy and creativity during the Kamakura period. The leading poet of the late 1100s, Fujiwara Toshinari, also called Shunzei, depicted natural scenes with symbolic overtones. He also spoke for the influential ideals of yūgen (mystery and depth) and sabi (evocation of the beauty of austere, even desolate landscapes).

Shunzei’s poetics were maintained and developed by his son Fujiwara Sadaie, also called Teika. Teika is credited with being the compiler of the Ogura hyakunin isshu (1235?; Single Poems by 100 Poets), the best-known of all tanka collections. He was also one of the principal compilers of the Shinkokinshū (1205?; New Collection of Ancient and Modern Times), the eighth imperial anthology. This work, along with the Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū, ranks among the most influential collections of Japanese poetry.

Like other imperial anthologies, Shin Kokinshū contains both contemporary and older poems and strongly reflects the taste of its compilers and their society. Major poets represented besides Shunzei and Teika include Princess Shokushi and the Buddhist priests Saigyō and Jien. The dominant tone of the work, reflecting the doctrines of Buddhism and, perhaps, the weakening of the imperial court, is contemplative, marked by a sense of the instability of life and the inevitability of loss.

As if to preserve the authority of the court aristocracy, tanka poets from this point became increasingly conservative, even formulaic. They emphasized strict transmission of carefully preserved traditions.

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B

Other Genres

Other earlier forms survived into the new era, including setsuwa collections such as Uji shūi monogatari (early 1200s; A Collection of Tales from Uji) and diaries by court ladies such as Izayoi nikki (1280; The Diary of the Waning Moon), by the nun Abutsu, and Towazugatari (1307?; The Confessions of Lady Nijō) by Gofukakusa In Nijō.

Two of the greatest zuihitsu works also date from this age. Hōjōki (1212; An Account of My Hut) by Kamo no Chōmei recounts in striking language the destruction caused by natural disasters, social and political upheavals, and warfare in the late 1100s. In the work, the author meditates on the inevitability of suffering and impermanence and describes his attempt to transcend them by living a life of elegant simplicity as a Buddhist recluse.

During another period of turmoil at the end of the Kamakura shogunate, Yoshida Kenkō, who like Chōmei achieved prominence as a court poet only to turn to a secluded life as a Buddhist monk, produced his Tsurezuregusa (1330?; Essays in Idleness). Its 243 brief sections contain observations, recollections, and commentaries on a wide range of topics. Somewhat self-contradictory at times, the commentaries’ inconsistency reflects the author’s appreciation of the beauty of the irregular, the incomplete, and the transitory and his acceptance of imperfection in human life. The book has long been one of the most frequently cited expressions of distinctively Japanese aesthetic, social, and spiritual values.

Perhaps the most distinctive literary development in the warrior-dominated Kamakura period was the composition and dissemination of numerous gunki monogatari, or war tales. These stories detail the exploits and values of the samurai. The most renowned tale is Heike monogatari (begun 1220?; Tale of the Heike), a lengthy account of the defeat of the Taira clan by the rival Minamoto clan at the close of the Heian period. The tale was composed gradually and spread throughout Japan by lute-playing reciters called biwa hōshi. It eventually made it into written form. Heike monogatari combines elements of historical chronicle, epic ballad, dramatic tragedy, and Buddhist sermon in a richly poetic language. Many of its episodes and phrases provided a basis for later works.

V

Muromachi Period (1333-1603)

The Mongol Empire attacked Japan in 1274 and again in 1282. Weakened by these attacks and by internal dissension, the Kamakura shogunate collapsed in 1333. It was replaced by a new shogunate founded by the warrior Ashikaga Takauji; this new shogunate was based in the Muromachi district of Kyōto. The resulting close contact between warriors and the court aristocrats helped shape cultural developments in this era. Another trend was the creation of new literary forms that combined elements from the high culture of aristocrats and samurai and the culture of the lower classes.

A

Nō Drama

New tendencies were most apparent in the evolution of the nō drama, which developed under the patronage (monetary and political support) of the Ashikaga shoguns and other samurai and through the guidance of playwright and performer Kan’ami Kiyotsugu and his son Zeami Motokiyo. The nō drama was molded into a profound dramatic art from a variety of relatively simple popular song, dance, and mime entertainments. Nō drama drew its settings, characters, and language from the classic traditions of tanka and court monogatari such as Ise monogatari, Genji monogatari, and Heike monogatari.

Zeami’s many critical treatises include Fūshi Kaden (1400-1402; Teachings in Acting Style and the Flower) and Shikadō (1420; The True Path to the Flower). These works raised the artistic level of nō by stressing the concepts of hana, the effect of extraordinary beauty conveyed to the audience through the actor’s performance, and yugen, grace and elegance in speech, movement, and music.

A similar process of refinement took place in kyogen, the comic interludes performed as companion pieces to nō. In kyogen, nonheroic characters, mainly of lower social rank, appear in everyday situations. See Japanese Drama: Nō Drama.

B

Renga

Renga (linked verse) was an offshoot of tanka that had been practiced for generations as an informal amusement. To create a renga, one poet would introduce a three-line opening and another poet would add a two-line continuation. Still another poet could then add a new three-line phrase that linked to the themes previously introduced, followed by a two-line verse, and the cycle would continue. Renga produced for ceremonial occasions could be as long as 10,000 lines.

Renga flourished in the 1400s, when it emerged as a major verse form with its own sophisticated aesthetics and patronage. Gifted poets included the Buddhist priests Shōtetsu, Shinkei, and Sōgi. Court poet Yoshimoto Nijō compiled the first important renga anthology, Tsukubashū (1356-1357; Tsukuba Collection). Sōgi was a cocompiler of the Shinsen Tsukubashū (1495; New Tsukuba Collection) and was one of the participants in the Minase sangin hyakuin (1488; A Hundred Stanzas by Three Poets at Minase), a 100-verse sequence that is considered the major renga masterpiece. Unlike the earlier tanka poets, many leading renga poets were of humble birth, and they were able (and sometimes forced) to associate freely with commoners as well as nobles and samurai in their artistic pursuits.

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