Modern Japanese Fiction by Year (2): 1905-1911, First Flourishing in Late Meiji

We continue our survey of the Japanese Novel with Part Two - 1905-1912 . (Part One is here .) In Part One we saw an early-Meiji-p…

The Tale of Genji: the World’s First Full-length Novel

源氏物語 The Tale of Genji ( Genji Monogatari ) is considered to be the world's first full-length novel. It was written in the e…

Lessons From Another World: Three Timeless Folktales From Japan

Life's a mukashi banashi ! Illustration by Benjamin Warren. Whether it’s a turtle ride to an underwater palace, bamboo-born p…

Be Aware Of ‘Mono No Aware’

Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees . © Geiensha Company, Toho Co., Ltd The speed at which cherry blossom petals fall is five cen…