The literature of the early 10th century was either in the form of fairy tales such as The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (trans. 1956), or of poem-tales such as the Ise monogatari (The Tales of Ise). The greatest works of Heian literature appeared in the late 10th and early 11th centuries, notably Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji, c. 1010) by Murasaki Shikibu and Makura-no-soshi (The Pillow-Book) by Sei Shonagon, another woman of the court. The Tale of Genji, a detailed panoramic picture of Heian court life, may be considered the first important novel in world literature. It also includes many tanka written by the characters in various situations. The novel traces in 54 long chapters the life and loves of Prince Genji and Kaoru, his presumed son. It becomes increasingly profound toward the end, probably an indication that the author had perfected her mastery of the craft of fiction. The work of Murasaki Shikibu has frequently been translated into English; a translation by the American scholar Edward Seidensticker appeared in 1976. The Pillow-Book, the earlier of the two classics works, is a witty, often brilliant, collection of sketches revealing the more worldly aspect of the same court society. It was first translated by the English scholar Arthur Waley in 1928.


Kamakura-Muromachi Period (late 12th-16th cent.)

The collapse of the manorial system in Japan culminated in the defeat of the Taira clan by the Minamoto clan, who established the government in Kamakura in 1192. From the end of the 12th until the early 17th century Japan was in an almost constant state of warfare and turmoil. The dominant figures in Japanese society were the samurai, or warrior, who engaged in a life of action, and the Buddhist priest, who devoted his life primarily to contemplation. The finest of several imperial anthologies of poetry, the Shin kokin-shu (New Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems, 1205), commissioned by former emperor Go-Toba and compiled by a committee that included Fujiwara Teika, reflects the change in national and literary mood to one of gloom and solitude. Japanese scholars use the term yugen (mystery and depth), which has definite religious overtones, to characterize the entire literature of this period. One of the major poets of this anthology is, significantly, a religious figure, the priest Saigyo. The defeat of the Taira by the Minamoto clan became the subject of the most famous prose piece of the period, the Heike monogatari (The Tales of the Taira Clan, c. 1220), by an anonymous author. The Ten Foot Square Hut (1212; trans. 1928) by another priest, Kamo Chomei, contrasts the vanity of the world with the virtues of Buddhist contemplation. Diary of the Waning Moon (1277; trans. 1951) is a literary diary compiled by a nun, Abutsu, consisting of prose and poetry, the latter sections being of greater importance. An essay in Idleness (1340; trans. 1967) by Kenko Yoshida was reminiscent of The Pillow-Book but more melancholy in mood, undoubtedly reflecting regret at the disturbances of the times. The major type of fiction of this era was the otogizoshi, collections of popular short stories by unknown authors.

The foremost poetic development in the period after the early 14th century was the creation of the renga, or linked verse, a form circumscribed by many regulations. Three or more poets would cooperate in composing one long poem, consisting of alternate verses; one containing lines of seven, five, and seven syllables and the other two lines of seven syllables each. The greatest masters of this form, Sogi, Shohaku, and Socho, together composed the famous Minase sangin (Three Poets at Minase) in 1488.