DOCSLIB.ORG

How Junbungaku Affects the Akutagawa Prize and Japan's

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How Junbungaku Affects the Akutagawa Prize and Japan's EDITORS’ INTENTIONS AND AUTHORS’ DESIRES: HOW JUNBUNGAKU AFFECTS THE AKUTAGAWA PRIZE AND JAPAN’S COMMERCIAL LITERARY WORLD by Masumi Abe El-Khoury B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2005 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2011 © Masumi Abe El-Khoury, 2011 Abstract In this thesis I explore the current literary culture of Japan by examining the commercialization and politicization of junbungaku, “pure” literature. In particular, I focus on the most prominent award for new authors, the Akutagawa Prize, which is widely acknowledged as authoritative. My intention is to shed some useful light on the role of publishing company editors as the masterminds of the publishing industry. Chapter One provides an overview of issues surrounding junbungaku and taish! bungaku (“mass-oriented literature”). At present, junbungaku is defined in opposition to taish! bungaku, but ambiguities and boundary issues remain. This survey will enable us to identify the situations where the notion of junbungaku is defended as authoritative and how its relationship with the Akutagawa Prize increases its legitimacy. Chapter Two examines the origin and history of junbungaku, and discusses how the notion has changed over time. I also address questions such as what junbungaku is and how it can be defined, and uncover how junbungaku came under question as the Akutagawa Prize became more successful and began to overshadow junbungaku itself. The ultimate purpose of the Prize is to sell books and magazines; this affects not only literature but to some extent Japanese society as a whole. Chapter Three therefore deals with the Akutagawa Prize and junbungaku as a business. I examine the “Akutagawa Prize industry” led by the editors and Bungeishunju Ltd., including the nomination, selection, and announcement processes; distribution and sales; winning works; and judging. I analyze the process from the viewpoint of the publishing houses and editors. Finally, in the Conclusion I argue that the Akutagawa Prize endangers the very concept of pure literature by tying it to a commercial enterprise, compromising writers by making ii them dependent upon the financial goals of a corporation, which trains a reading public conditioned to accept the Prize as authoritative to receive the work in particular ways through the process of commercialization and commodification. As a result, “amateurization” is inevitable. I also examine the implications of this project for future research on Japanese literature and on the intersections of Japanese literary culture and commercial literary awards. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... iv! List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vi! Glossary ................................................................................................................................. vii! Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. ix! Dedication ................................................................................................................................. x! Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1! 1.1 Junbungaku in Contemporary Japan ............................................................................ 1! 1.2! The Akutagawa Prize: Japan’s Most Prestigious Literary Award ................................ 3! 1.3! “Catch 22” .................................................................................................................... 8! Chapter! 2: Junbungaku: The Significance of Obscurity .................................................. 13! 2.1 The Worship of “Purity” and the Origin of Junbungaku ........................................... 13! 2.2! Modernization in/of Literature ................................................................................... 15! 2.3! “Large Masses” and “Small Masses” ......................................................................... 17! 2.4! Junbungaku Disputes .................................................................................................. 19! 2.5! “Artistic Vulgarity” Versus “Poetic Purity” ............................................................... 26! 2.6! Rich Authors/Poor Authors ........................................................................................ 33! 2.7! The Role of the Bundan .............................................................................................. 37! 2.8! The Rise of Japanese Modern Publishing Capitalism ................................................ 42! 2.9! “Junbungaku-ism”: Philosophy and Technique ......................................................... 43! Chapter! 3: Publishing Houses and Editors ........................................................................ 46! 3.1 Junbungaku Utopia: Kakioroshi ................................................................................. 46! 3.2! Contemporary Japanese Junbungaku ......................................................................... 48! 3.3! The Horizontal Distribution of Winning Works ........................................................ 50! 3.4! A Purely Commercial Endeavour ............................................................................... 53! 3.5! Literary Award Culture .............................................................................................. 55! 3.6! The Selection Process ................................................................................................. 57! 3.7! Simmering Resentment .............................................................................................. 58! 3.8! The Role of Editors .................................................................................................... 61! 3.9! Male Editors and Female Authors .............................................................................. 66! ! ! iv Chapter 4: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 71 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………80 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 89 ! v List of Tables Table 1 Three Junbungaku Disputes ...................................................................................... 20! Table 2 Reasons for Tanizaki Jun’ichir! Being Considered a Junbungaku Writer or Taish! Bungaku Writer .......................................................................................................... 28! Table 3 Differences between Kikuchi’s Junbungaku and Taish! Bungaku Works ................ 35! Table 4 Junbungaku in Jeopardy ............................................................................................ 77! Table 5 Initial Appearances of the Word, Junbungaku, in the Academic Writings in the Meiji Era …………………………………………………………………………... 90 Table 6 Historical Roots of the Division between “High” and “Low” Literature …………. 90 Table 7 Shift in Definitions of Junbungaku and Taish! Bungaku ………............................. 92 Table 8 Some Reasons Why the Five Primary Authors (Tsubouchi Sh!y!, Futabatei Shimei, Yamada Bimy!, Ozaki K!y! and K!da Rohan) Might be Considered Proto- Junbungaku Writers ……………………………………………………...…………93 vi Glossary Akutagawa Prize ( & Akutagawa sh") One of the two most prestigious Japanese literary prizes (of a total of about 260, as of 2011), officially for junbungaku short stories (junbungaku tanpen) though in reality short novels/novellas win most often. Founded in 1935 by Bungeishunj" Ltd. to commemorate the death of Akutagawa Ry"nosuke. The prize has been given semi- annually (January and July) to emerging writers of junbungaku for seventy-seven years. Akutagawa Ry"nosuke ( ) 1892-1927) A noted writer who was considered the “father of the Japanese short story,” he committed suicide in 1927. Known for classics such as “Rash!mon” (1915), “Yabu no naka” (In A Grove, 1921), and “Kappa” (1927). Bundan ( ) The literary world of writers, critics, and editors. The word has strong connotations of exclusivity and elitism. K"dansha Encyclopaedia of Japan defines bundan as “a small, exclusive community of professional writers” and says bundan is “dedicated to the ideal of pure literature.” Bungei ( ) This word refers to literature (poetry, novels and/or plays) in general; however, when it is used in terms such as “bungei shuppansha” (literary publishing company) or “bungei zasshi” (literary magazine), bungei refers specifically to junbungaku. Bungeishunj! ( !) An exceptionally successful monthly general interest magazine that has been published by Bungeishunj"sha since 1923. Winners of the Akutagawa Prize are announced and their works published in this magazine. Bungeishunj"sha (Bungeishunj", Ltd. !) The publishing house established by Kikuchi Kan in 1923. A mid-sized publishing company with 365 employees as of 2010. Ch!kan sh"setsu (' $) Literally, “in-between literature.”
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Commercial E-Books of Japanese Language : an Approach to E-Book Collection Development
    Deep Blue Deep Blue https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/documents Research Collections Library (University of Michigan Library) 2020-03-16 Commercial E-books of Japanese language : an approach to E-book collection development Yokota-Carter, Keiko https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/166309 Downloaded from Deep Blue, University of Michigan's institutional repository Commercial E-books of Japanese language an approach to E-book collection development March 16, 2020 (canceled) NCC Next Generation Japanese Studies Librarian Workshop Cambridge, MA, USA Keiko Yokota-Carter Japanese Studies Librarian, University of Michigan Graduate Library ● Why E-book format? ● Types of E-book providers In this presentation ● E-book platforms EBSCO Kinokuniya Maruzen ● Comparisons of two platforms The presentation aims to share ● Collection development strategy information and some examples only among librarians. ● Build professional relationship with It does not support any representatives commercial company product. Why E-book format? Increase Accesss, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Japanese Studies E-resources can increase accessibility to Japanese language texts for visually impaired users. Screen Reader reads up the texts of E-books. Support digital scholarship Data science Types of E-book providers 1. Newspaper database including E-journals and E-books ● KIKUZO II bijuaru for libraries – Asahi shinbun database ○ AERA, Shukan Asahi ● Nikkei Telecom 21 All Contents version ○ Magazines published by Nikkei – Nikkei Business, etc ○ E-books published by Nikkei Types of E-book providers 2. Japan Knowledge database – E-books Statistics books E-dictionaries E-journals images, sounds, maps E-book platforms – Japanese language E-books available for libraries outside Japan EBSCO - contact EBSCO representative at your institution ● Japanese language books supplied by ● English translation of Japanese NetLibrary until December, 2017 books; ● 5,100 titles added since January, 2018 Literature ● 10,940 titles available as of Feb.
    [Show full text]
  • The Book of Abstract
    JADH 2018 “Leveraging Open Data” September 9-11, 2018 Hitotsubashi Hall, Tokyo https://conf2018.jadh.org Proceedings of the 8th Conference of Japanese Association for Digital Humanities Co-hosted by: Center for Open Data in the Humanities, Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research, Research Organization of Information and Systems Hosted by: JADH2018 Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities TEI 2018 “TEI as a Global Language” September 9-13, 2018 Hitotsubashi Hall, Tokyo https://tei2018.dhii.asia Book of Abstracts The 18th Annual TEI Conference Hosted by: Center for Evolving Humanities, Graduate School of and Members’ Meeting Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo Joint Keynote Session JADH and TEI Joint Keynote Session The NIJL Database of Pre-modern Japanese Works .................................................. iv Robert Campbell Amsterdam 4D: Navigating the History of Urban Creativity through Space and Time .......................................................................................................................................... v Julia Noordegraaf Creating Collections of Social Relevance ................................................................... vii Susan Schreibman iii Joint Keynote Session The NIJL Database of Pre-modern Japanese Works Robert Campbell1 Abstract NIJL (the National Insitute of Japanese Literature) is currently engaged in digitizing, tagging and developing new ways to search the uniquely rich heritage of pre-modern (prior to
    [Show full text]
  • The Literature of Kita Morio DISSERTATION Presented In
    Insignificance Given Meaning: The Literature of Kita Morio DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Masako Inamoto Graduate Program in East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2010 Dissertation Committee: Professor Richard Edgar Torrance Professor Naomi Fukumori Professor Shelley Fenno Quinn Copyright by Masako Inamoto 2010 Abstract Kita Morio (1927-), also known as his literary persona Dokutoru Manbô, is one of the most popular and prolific postwar writers in Japan. He is also one of the few Japanese writers who have simultaneously and successfully produced humorous, comical fiction and essays as well as serious literary works. He has worked in a variety of genres. For example, The House of Nire (Nireke no hitobito), his most prominent work, is a long family saga informed by history and Dr. Manbô at Sea (Dokutoru Manbô kôkaiki) is a humorous travelogue. He has also produced in other genres such as children‟s stories and science fiction. This study provides an introduction to Kita Morio‟s fiction and essays, in particular, his versatile writing styles. Also, through the examination of Kita‟s representative works in each genre, the study examines some overarching traits in his writing. For this reason, I have approached his large body of works by according a chapter to each genre. Chapter one provides a biographical overview of Kita Morio‟s life up to the present. The chapter also gives a brief biographical sketch of Kita‟s father, Saitô Mokichi (1882-1953), who is one of the most prominent tanka poets in modern times.
    [Show full text]
  • Writing As Aesthetic in Modern and Contemporary Japanese-Language Literature
    At the Intersection of Script and Literature: Writing as Aesthetic in Modern and Contemporary Japanese-language Literature Christopher J Lowy A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2021 Reading Committee: Edward Mack, Chair Davinder Bhowmik Zev Handel Jeffrey Todd Knight Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Asian Languages and Literature ©Copyright 2021 Christopher J Lowy University of Washington Abstract At the Intersection of Script and Literature: Writing as Aesthetic in Modern and Contemporary Japanese-language Literature Christopher J Lowy Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Edward Mack Department of Asian Languages and Literature This dissertation examines the dynamic relationship between written language and literary fiction in modern and contemporary Japanese-language literature. I analyze how script and narration come together to function as a site of expression, and how they connect to questions of visuality, textuality, and materiality. Informed by work from the field of textual humanities, my project brings together new philological approaches to visual aspects of text in literature written in the Japanese script. Because research in English on the visual textuality of Japanese-language literature is scant, my work serves as a fundamental first-step in creating a new area of critical interest by establishing key terms and a general theoretical framework from which to approach the topic. Chapter One establishes the scope of my project and the vocabulary necessary for an analysis of script relative to narrative content; Chapter Two looks at one author’s relationship with written language; and Chapters Three and Four apply the concepts explored in Chapter One to a variety of modern and contemporary literary texts where script plays a central role.
    [Show full text]
  • View / Open Hirao Oregon 0171N 11721.Pdf
    BINDING A UNIVERSE: THE FORMATION AND TRANSMUTATIONS OF THE BEST JAPANESE SF (NENKAN NIHON SF KESSAKUSEN) ANTHOLOGY SERIES by AKIKO HIRAO A THESIS Presented to the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts September 2016 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Akiko Hirao Title: Binding a Universe: The Formation and Transmutations of the Best Japanese SF (Nenkan Nihon SF Kessakusen) Anthology Series This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures by: Alisa Freedman Chairperson Glynne Walley Member and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2016. ii © 2016 Akiko Hirao This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (United States) License. iii THESIS ABSTRACT Akiko Hirao Master of Arts Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures September 2016 Title: Binding a Universe: The Formation and Transmutations of the Best Japanese SF (Nenkan Nihon SF Kessakusen) Anthology Series The annual science fiction anthology series The Best Japanese SF started publication in 2009 and showcases domestic writers old and new and from a wide range of publishing backgrounds. Although representative of the second golden era of Japanese science fiction in print in its diversity and with an emphasis on that year in science fiction, as the volumes progress the editors’ unspoken agenda has become more pronounced, which is to create a set of expectations for the genre and to uphold writers Project Itoh and EnJoe Toh as exemplary of this current golden era.
    [Show full text]
  • Illustration and the Visual Imagination in Modern Japanese Literature By
    Eyes of the Heart: Illustration and the Visual Imagination in Modern Japanese Literature By Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in Japanese Literature in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Daniel O’Neill, Chair Professor Alan Tansman Professor Beate Fricke Summer 2018 © 2018 Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe All Rights Reserved Abstract Eyes of the Heart: Illustration and the Visual Imagination in Modern Japanese Literature by Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe Doctor of Philosophy in Japanese Literature University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel O’Neill, Chair My dissertation investigates the role of images in shaping literary production in Japan from the 1880’s to the 1930’s as writers negotiated shifting relationships of text and image in the literary and visual arts. Throughout the Edo period (1603-1868), works of fiction were liberally illustrated with woodblock printed images, which, especially towards the mid-19th century, had become an essential component of most popular literature in Japan. With the opening of Japan’s borders in the Meiji period (1868-1912), writers who had grown up reading illustrated fiction were exposed to foreign works of literature that largely eschewed the use of illustration as a medium for storytelling, in turn leading them to reevaluate the role of image in their own literary tradition. As authors endeavored to produce a purely text-based form of fiction, modeled in part on the European novel, they began to reject the inclusion of images in their own work.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of the SVM Based Multi-Fonts Kanji Character Recognition Method for Early-Modern Japanese Printed Books
    Evaluation of the SVM based Multi-Fonts Kanji Character Recognition Method for Early-Modern Japanese Printed Books Manami Fukuo1, Yurie Enomoto1†, Naoko Yoshii1, Masami Takata1, Tsukasa Kimesawa2, and Kazuki Joe 1, 1 Dept. of Advanced Information & Computer Sciences, Nara Women’s University, Nara, Japan 2 Digital Library Division, National Diet Library, Kyoto, Japan Abstract - The national diet library in Japan provides a web The information including titles and author names of the based digital archive for early-modern printed books by books in the digital library is given as text data while main image. To make better use of the digital archive, the book body is image data. There are no functions for generating text images should be converted to text data. In this paper, we data from image data. Thus full-text search is not supported evaluate the SVM based multi-fonts Kanji character yet. To make early-modern printed and valuable books data recognition method for early-modern Japanese printed books. more accessible, their main body should be given as text data, Using several sets of Kanji characters clipped from different too. As described above, the number of the target books is so publishers’ books, we obtain the recognition rate of more than large that auto conversion is required. 92% for 256 kinds of Kanji characters. It proves our recognition method, which uses the PDC (Peripheral If the conversion targets were general text images, they would Direction Contributivity) feature of given Kanji character have been converted into text data easily with some software images for learning and recognizing with an SVM, is effective of optical character recognition (OCR).
    [Show full text]
  • System for Adaptive Learning of Japanese Based on Language Data
    Masaryk University Faculty of Informatics System for adaptive learning of Japanese based on language data Bachelor’s Thesis Alexander Macinský Brno, Spring 2020 Masaryk University Faculty of Informatics System for adaptive learning of Japanese based on language data Bachelor’s Thesis Alexander Macinský Brno, Spring 2020 This is where a copy of the official signed thesis assignment and a copy ofthe Statement of an Author is located in the printed version of the document. Declaration Hereby I declare that this paper is my original authorial work, which I have worked out on my own. All sources, references, and literature used or excerpted during elaboration of this work are properly cited and listed in complete reference to the due source. Alexander Macinský Advisor: doc. RNDr. Aleš Horák, Ph.D. i Acknowledgements This way I would like to thank my advisor for directing me in the process of creation of this thesis. Also, my thanks go to all the respon- dents who were willing to take part in the testing process and helped me evaluate the project. ii Abstract Japanese language learners need to deal with a substantial amount of repetitive mental work. One of the solutions is to create a web browser application to simplify the process. The inspiration comes from other systems with similar functionality, a summary of these is provided. The created application tries to take the best from the existing solutions, as well as implement some original ideas. The result is a dictionary viewer, Japanese text reading aiding tool, flashcards editor and a tool for learning with flashcards all in one application.
    [Show full text]
  • Inciting Difference and Distance in the Writings of Sakiyama Tami, Yi Yang-Ji, and Tawada Yōko
    Inciting Difference and Distance in the Writings of Sakiyama Tami, Yi Yang-ji, and Tawada Yōko Victoria Young Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of East Asian Studies, School of Languages, Cultures and Societies March 2016 ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2016 The University of Leeds and Victoria Young iii Acknowledgements The first three years of this degree were fully funded by a Postgraduate Studentship provided by the academic journal Japan Forum in conjunction with BAJS (British Association for Japanese Studies), and a University of Leeds Full Fees Bursary. My final year maintenance costs were provided by a GB Sasakawa Postgraduate Studentship and a BAJS John Crump Studentship. I would like to express my thanks to each of these funding bodies, and to the University of Leeds ‘Leeds for Life’ programme for helping to fund a trip to present my research in Japan in March 2012. I am incredibly thankful to many people who have supported me on the way to completing this thesis. The diversity offered within Dr Mark Morris’s literature lectures and his encouragement as the supervisor of my undergraduate dissertation in Cambridge were both fundamental factors in my decision to pursue further postgraduate studies, and I am indebted to Mark for introducing me to my MA supervisor, Dr Nicola Liscutin.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Geishas Sample 4.Pdf
    Literature/Asian Studies Digital Geishas Digital Digital Geishas and Talking Frogs THE BEST 21ST CENTURY SHORT STORIES FROM JAPAN Digital Geishas and Talking Frogs With a foreword by Pico Iyer and Talking Frogs THE BEST 21ST CENTURY SHORT STORIES FROM JAPAN This collection of short stories features the most up-to-date and exciting writing from the most popular and celebrated authors in Japan today. These wildly imaginative and boundary-bursting stories reveal fascinating and unexpected personal responses to the changes raging through today’s Japan. Along with some of the THE BEST 21 world’s most renowned Japanese authors, Digital Geishas and Talking Frogs includes many writers making their English-language debut. ST “Great stories rewire your brain, and in these tales you can feel your mind C E shifting as often as Mizue changes trains at the Shinagawa station in N T ‘My Slightly Crooked Brooch…’ The contemporary short stories in this URY SHO collection, at times subversive, astonishing and heart-rending, are brimming with originality and genius.” R —David Dalton, author of Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol T STO R “Here are stories that arrive from our global future, made from shards IES FR of many local, personal pasts. In the age of anime, amazingly, Japanese literature thrives.” O M JAPAN —Paul Anderer, Professor of Japanese, Columbia University About the Editor H EDITED BY Helen Mitsios is the editor of New Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan, which was twice listed as a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. She has recently co-authored the memoir Waltzing with the Enemy: A Mother and Daughter Confront the Aftermath of the Holocaust.
    [Show full text]
  • Bungei Shunjū in the Early Years and the Emergence
    THE EARLY YEARS OF BUNGEI SHUNJŪ AND THE EMERGENCE OF A MIDDLEBROW LITERATURE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Minggang Li, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2008 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Richard Torrance, Adviser Professor William J. Tyler _____________________________ Adviser Professor Kirk Denton East Asian Languages and Literatures Graduate Program ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the complex relationship that existed between mass media and literature in pre-war Japan, a topic that is largely neglected by students of both literary and journalist studies. The object of this examination is Bungei shunjū (Literary Times), a literary magazine that played an important role in the formation of various cultural aspects of middle-class bourgeois life of pre-war Japan. This study treats the magazine as an organic unification of editorial strategies, creative and critical writings, readers’ contribution, and commercial management, and examines the process by which it interacted with literary schools, mainstream and marginal ideologies, its existing and potential readership, and the social environment at large. In so doing, this study reveals how the magazine collaborated with the construction of the myth of the “ideal middle-class reader” in the discourses on literature, modernity, and nation in Japan before and during the war. This study reads closely, as primary sources, the texts that were published in the issues of Bungei shunjū in the 1920s and 1930s. It then contrasts these texts with ii other texts published by the magazine’s peers and rivals.
    [Show full text]
  • Agency for Cultural Affairs/Ebooks Project Subject Works to Be Distributed Online
    Attachment-2 Agency for Cultural Affairs/eBooks Project Subject Works to be Distributed Online Seven works to be distributed online in the first phase of project from Friday, 1 February 2013 (1) “Edo Murasaki Picture Book” written by Tokusoshi Naniwa in 1765 with illustrations by Toyonobu Ishikawa The picture book has a high user access rate among National Diet Library digital archives. The work composed in three volumes depicts the lifestyle and culture of women in the mid-Edo Period, including women’s fashion and the moral values of women during 18th century Japan. Valuable illustrations by Toyonobu Ishikawa are also included. (2) ”Heiji Monogatari” Picture Scroll (first scroll: Sanjoden yakiuchi no maki) copied by Naiki Sumiyoshi in 1798 A precious piece among classical works with a high user access rate among the National Diet Library digital archives. Under the project, the digitalized first picture scroll depicts a war story on details from the Heiji Rebellion (Heiji no ran). The electronic version makes full use of the characteristics of picture scrolls, enabling the user to continuously scroll through the entire piece as if he/she were looking at the actual work. (3) Kazutoshi Ueda’s translation of Grimm’s Fairy Tale “Okami” (werewolf), published in 1889 by Yoshikawa Hanshichi Publishers The first Grimm’s Fairy Tale translated into Japanese in the middle of the Meiji era. The translation is a precious piece showing Japan’s embrace of foreign culture. Picture books in the 19th century have a unique sense of humor, written in a blend of Japanese and Western style as seen in animals wearing kimonos.
    [Show full text]