Thousands of books and monographs have been devoted to the poet and critic Ishikawa Takuboku (1886–1912). Although he died at the age of twenty-six and wrote many of his best-known poems in the space
Rather than resist the vast social and cultural changes sweeping Japan in the nineteenth century, the poet Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) instead incorporated new Western influences into his country's nati
Rather than resist the vast social and cultural changes sweeping Japan in the nineteenth century, the poet Masaoka Shiki (1867--1902) instead incorporated new Western influences into his country's nat
The attack on Pearl Harbor, which precipitated the Greater East Asia War and its initial triumphs, aroused pride and a host of other emotions among the Japanese people. Yet the single year in which Ja
Yoshimasa may have been the worst shogun ever to rule Japan. He was a failure as a soldier, incompetent at dealing with state business, and dominated by his wife. But his influence on the cultural lif
Series: Economic HistoryOriginally published in 1952, this account of the growth and uses of Western learning in Japan has been enlarged by two new chapters that extend the story from 1798 to 1830. Th
The New Yorker has called Donald Keene "America's preeminent scholar of Japanese literature." Now he presents a new book that serves as both a superb introduction to modern Japanese fiction and a memo
Donald Keene, the preeminent authority on Japanese literature, crafts a definitive and vivid history of the life and times of the emperor who opened Japan to the West. When Emperor Meiji began his rul
Originally published in 1952, this account of the growth and uses of Western learning in Japan has been enlarged by two new chapters that extend the story from 1798 to 1830. The author has incorporate
When Emperor Meiji began his rule, in 1867, Japan was a splintered empire, dominated by the shogun and the daimyos, who ruled over the country's more than 250 decentralized domains and who were, in th
Keene (Japanese literature, Columbia U.) provides both scholars and lay readers a history of the vast literary production during the 250 years in which the Tokugawa shoguns kept Japan isolated from th
Donald Keene employs his prodigious wealth of knowledge, critical insight, and narrative aplomb to guide readers through the first nine hundred years of Japanese literature -- a period that not only d
Originally published in 1984 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, reprinted here with a brief new preface by the author. His two Dawn to the west volumes, written over a 15-year period, study the literatu
The fourth book in a multivolume history of modern Japanese literature by one of the world's most accomplished translators and scholars of Japanese culture and literature, this volume offers unparalle
Essays on Japanese diaries written from the ninth to the nineteenth centuries present a literary history of the art of journal writing in Japan while providing insight into Japanese life and culture
Modern Japanese Diaries is a collection of journals written by Japanese who journeyed to America, Europe, and China between 1860 and 1920. It begins with entries by the first Japanese to be sent abroa
This is the third book in a multivolume history of modern Japanese literature by the world's authoritative translator and scholar of Japanese culture and literature. The Columbia paperback edition, wi
Donald Keene combines informative works on two forms of classical Japanese theater into a single volume. The No text looks at all aspects of this traditional theater form including its history, its st
The production and design of this brief introduction to traditional Japanese culture for the general reader is as lovely as the writing is enjoyable and informative. Keene's deep learning illuminates
Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), also known as the story of the Forty-Six (or Forty-Seven) Ronin, is the most famous and perenially popular of all Japanese dramas. Written around 1748 a
This is an account of the growth and uses of Western learning in Japan from 1720 to 1830. These are the dates of the beginning of official interest in Western learning and of the expulsion of Siebold
Set on an island in the South Pacific during the final days of World War II, when the tide has turned against Japan and the war has unmistakably become one of attrition, "The Breaking Jewel" offers a
Set on an island in the South Pacific during the final days of World War II, when the tide has turned against Japan and the war has unmistakably become one of attrition, "The Breaking Jewel" offers a
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725) wrote some 130 plays, chiefly for the puppet theater, many of which are still performed today by puppet operators and Kabuki actors. Chikamatsu is thought to have writ
"Frog in the Well" is a vivid and revealing account of Watanabe Kazan, one of the most important intellectuals of the late Tokugawa period. From his impoverished upbringing to his tragic suicide in ex
In the account which he named "The Narrow Road to Oku," Basho makes a journey lasting 150 days, in which he travels, on foot, a distance of 600 ri.This was three hundred years ago, when the average di
The "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu" is one of Japan's most quoted and illustrated works, as influential to the development of Japanese literary traditions as "The Tale of Genji" and "The Tales of Ise." The tex
Japanese No drama is one of the great art forms that has fascinated people throughout the world. The late Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's outstanding post-war writers, infused new life into the form by
"I sometimes think that if, as the result of an accident, I were to lose my knowledge of Japanese, there would not be much left for me. Japanese, which at first had no connection with my ancestors, my
In this memoir, the renowned scholar Donald Keene shares more than half a century of his extraordinary adventures as a student of Japan. Keene begins with an account of his bittersweet childhood in N
Three plays by one of contemporary Japan's most prominent writers -- Involuntary Homicide, The Green Stockings, The Ghost is Here -- translated for this volume reveal Kobo Abe's deep love of absurdit
In the account which he named The Narrow Road to Oku, Basho makes a journey lasting 150 days, in which he travels, on foot, a distance of 600 ri. This was three hundred years ago, when the average dis
