The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature

The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature

Featuring choice selections from the core anthologies The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868–1945, and The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From 1945 to the Present, this collection offers a concise yet remarkably rich introduction to the fiction, poetry, drama, and essays of Japan's modern encounter with the West. Spanning a period of exceptional invention and transition, this volume is not only a critical companion to courses on Japanese literary and intellectual development but also an essential reference for scholarship on Japanese history, culture, and interactions with the East and West.

The first half covers the three major styles of literary expression that informed Japanese writing and performance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: classical Japanese fiction and drama, Chinese poetry, and Western literary representation and cultural critique. Their juxtaposition brilliantly captures the social, intellectual, and political challenges shaping Japan during this period, particularly the rise of nationalism, the complex interaction between traditional and modern forces, and the encroachment of Western ideas and writing. The second half conveys the changes that have transformed Japan since the end of the Pacific War, such as the heady transition from poverty to prosperity, the friction between conflicting ideologies and political beliefs, and the growing influence of popular culture on the country's artistic and intellectual traditions. Featuring sensitive translations of works by Nagai Kafu, Natsume Soseki, Oe Kenzaburo, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, and many others, this anthology relates an essential portrait of Japan's dynamic modernization.
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • 1. First Experiments
    • Fiction
      • Mori Ōgai
        • “The Dancing Girl”
    • Poetry
      • Ochiai Naobumi
        • “Song of the Faithful Daughter Shiragiku”
      • Shimazaki Tōson
        • “The Fox’s Trick”
        • “First Love”
      • Takeshima Hagoromo
        • “The Maiden Called Love”
  • 2. Beginnings
    • Fiction
      • Izumi Kyōka
        • “The Holy Man of Mount Kōya”
      • Kunikida Doppo
        • “Meat and Potatoes”
      • Masamune Hakuchō
        • “The Clay Doll”
      • Nagai Kafū
        • “The Mediterranean in Twilight”
      • Ozaki Kōyō
        • “The Gold Demon”
    • Poetry in the International Style
      • Kodama Kagai
        • “The Suicide of an Unemployed Person”
      • Ishikawa Takuboku
        • “Better Than Crying”
        • “Do Not Get Up”
        • “A Spoonful of Cocoa”
        • “After Endless Discussions”
      • Kitahara Hakushū
        • “Anesthesia of Red Flowers”
        • “Spider Lilies”
        • “Kiss”
      • Takamura Kōtarō
        • “Bear Fur”
        • “A Steak Platter”
      • Kinoshita Mokutarō
        • “Nagasaki Style”
        • “Gold Leaf Brandy”
      • Yosano Akiko
        • “Beloved‚ You Must Not Die”
        • “In the First Person”
        • “A Certain Country”
        • “From Paris on a Postcard”
        • “The Heart of a Thirtyish Woman”
    • Poetry in Traditional Forms
      • Kanshi
      • Tanka and Haiku
        • Ishikawa Takuboku
      • Masaoka Shiki
        • Tanka
        • Haiku
      • Yosano Akiko
        • “The Dancing Girl”
        • “Spring Thaw”
    • Essays
      • Natsume Sōseki
        • “The Civilization of Modern-Day Japan”
        • “My Individualism”
  • 3. The Interwar Years
    • Fiction
      • Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
        • “The Nose”
        • “The Christ of Nanking”
      • Edogawa Ranpo
        • “The Human Chair”
        • The Wind Has Risen
      • Inagaki Taruho
        • One-Thousand-and-One-Second Stories
      • Kawabata Yasunari
        • “The Dancing Girl of Izu”
        • Page of Madness
      • Kuroshima Denji
        • “A Flock of Circling Crows”
      • Origuchi Shinobu
        • Writings from the Dead
      • Shiga Naoya
        • “The Paper Door”
      • Tanizaki Jun’ichirō
        • “The Two Acolytes”
      • Uchida Hyakken
        • “Realm of the Dead”
        • “Triumphant March into Port Arthur”
    • Poetry in the International Style
      • Takamura Kōtarō
        • “Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain”
      • Hagiwara Sakutarō
        • “On a Trip”
        • “Bamboo”
        • “Sickly Face at the Bottom of the Ground”
        • “The One Who’s in Love with Love”
        • “The Army”
        • “The Corpse of a Cat”
      • Miyazawa Kenji
        • “Spring & Asura”
        • “November 3rd”
      • Nishiwaki Junzaburō
        • Seven Poems from Ambarvalia
        • No Traveler Returns
      • Kitasono Katsue
        • “Collection of White Poems”
        • “Vin du Masque”
        • “Words”
        • “Two Poems”
        • “Almost Midwinter”
        • Kitasono’s First Letter to Ezra Pound
      • Nakano Shigeharu
        • “Imperial Hotel”
        • “Song”
        • “Paul Claudel”
        • “Train”
        • “The Rate of Exchange”
    • Poetry in Traditional Forms
      • Kitahara Hakushū
      • Okamoto Kanoko
      • Saitō Mokichi
      • Sugita Hisajo
      • Taneda Santōka
    • Drama
      • Kishida Kunio
        • The Swing
    • Essay
      • Kobayashi Hideo
        • “Literature of the Lost Home
  • 4. The War Years
    • Fiction
      • Dazai Osamu
        • “December 8th”
      • Ishikawa Tatsuzō
        • “Soldiers Alive”
      • Ōoka Shōhei
        • “Taken Captive”
    • Poetry in the International Style
      • Takamura Kōtarō
        • “The Elephant’s Piggy Bank”
        • “The Final Battle for the Ryūkyū Islands”
      • Kusano Shinpei
        • “Mount Fuji”
      • Oguma Hideo
        • “Long, Long Autumn Nights”
    • Poetry in Traditional Forms
      • Toki Zenmaro
        • “Evidence”
    • Essays
      • Kobayashi Hideo
        • “On Impermanence”
      • Sakagushi Ango
        • “A Personal View of Japanese Culture”
  • 5. Early Postwar Literature
    • Fiction
      • Abe Kōbō
        • “The Red Cocoon”
      • Ariyoshi Sawako
        • “The Village of Eguchi”
      • Enchi Fumiko
        • “Skeletons of Men”
      • Endō Shūsaku
        • “Mothers”
      • Hayashi Fumiko
        • “Blindfold Phoenix”
      • Hirabayashi Taiko
        • “Demon Goddess”
      • Hotta Yoshie
        • “The Old Man”
      • Ibuse Masuji
        • “Old Ushitora”
      • Inoue Yasushi
        • “The Rhododendrons of Hira”
      • Kanai Mieko
        • “Homecoming”
      • Kojima Nobuo
        • “The Smile”
      • Kōno Taeko
        • “Final Moments”
      • Mishima Yukio
        • “Patriotism”
        • “Red Moon in Her Face”
      • Takeda Taijun
        • “The Misshapen Ones”
      • Yasuoka Shōtarō
        • “Prized Possessions”
    • Poetry in the International Style
      • Ayukawa Nobuo
        • “In Saigon”
        • “The End of the Night”
        • “Wartime Buddy”
      • Ishigaki Rin
        • “Roof”
        • “Shijimi Clams”
        • “Life”
      • Katagiri Yuzuru
        • “Christmas, 1960, Japan”
        • “Why Security Treaty?”
        • “Turn Back the Clock”
      • Shiraishi Kazuko
        • “The Phallus”
      • Takamura Kōtarō
        • “End of the War”
        • “My Poetry”
      • Tanikawa Shuntarō
        • “Growth”
        • “Drizzle”
      • Tomioka Taeko
        • “Between—”
        • “Still Life”
      • Yoshioka Minoru
        • “Still Life”
        • “The Past”
    • Poetry in Traditional Forms
      • Baba Akiko
      • Kaneko Tōta
      • Nakajō Fumiko
    • Drama
      • Betsuyaku Minoru
        • The Little Match Girl
      • Kinoshita Junji
        • Twilight Crane
    • Essay
      • Kawabata Yasunari
        • “Japan, the Beautiful, and Myself”
  • 6. Toward a Contemporary Literature, 1971 to the Present
    • Fiction
      • Furui Yoshikichi
        • “Ravine”
      • Hirano Keiichirō
        • “Clear Water”
      • Hoshi Shin’ichi
        • “He-y, Come on Ou-t!”
      • Kaikō Takeshi
        • “The Crushed Pellet”
      • Murakami Haruki
        • “Firefly”
      • Nakagami Kenji
        • “The Wind and the Light”
      • Ogawa Yōko
        • “The Cafeteria in the Evening and a Pool in the Rain”
      • Shima Tsuyoshi
        • “Bones”
      • Shimizu Yoshinori
        • “Jack and Betty Forever”
      • Takahashi Takako
        • “Invalid”
      • Tawada Yōko
        • “Where Europe Begins”
      • Tsushima Yūko
        • “That One Glimmering Point of Light”
      • Yoshimoto Banana
        • “Newlywed”
    • Poetry in the International Style
      • Itō Hiromi
        • “Underground”
        • “Glen Gould Golberg”
        • “Sexual Life of Savages”
      • Shinkawa Kazue
        • “The Door”
        • “When the Water Called Me…”
    • Poetry in Traditional Forms
      • Tawara Machi
    • Drama
      • Inoue Hisashi
        • Makeup
      • Kara Jūrō
        • The 24:53 Train Bound for “Tower” is Waiting in Front of that Doughnut Shop in Takebaya
    • Essay
      • Ōe Kenzaburō
        • “Japan, the Ambiguous, and Myself”
  • Bibliography

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