Japan All works

All works 82

• PoetryMan'yōshū万葉集Anonymous · 759An anthology in twenty books compiled after 759, in which voices from the court and from the countryside answer one another.Literature
• EssayThe Pillow Book枕草子Sei Shōnagon · 1002Notes taken around the year one thousand by a lady of the imperial palace, made up of lists, court scenes and forthright opinions.Literature
• NovelThe Tale of Genji源氏物語Murasaki Shikibu · 1008A narrative in fifty-four chapters, written at the beginning of the eleventh century by a court lady, about the love life of a prince kept from the throne.Literature
• EssayEssays in Idleness徒然草Yoshida Kenko · 1330Fragments written down around 1330 by a monk who had served at court, on the ephemeral and on customs that are being lost.Literature
• EpicThe Tale of the Heike平家物語Anonymous · 1371A warrior epic chanted to the lute by blind monks, on the rise and fall of a warrior house in the twelfth century.Literature
• NovelThe Life of an Amorous Woman好色一代女Ihara Saikaku · 1686A narrative of 1686 in which an old woman tells two visitors of the positions she has held, from the court to the pleasure quarters.Literature
• PoetryThe Narrow Road to the Deep North奥の細道Matsuo Bashō · 1702Account of a five-month walk towards the north of the country in 1689, alternating prose and very short poems.Literature
• TheatreThe Love Suicides at Sonezaki曾根崎心中Chikamatsu Monzaemon · 1703A puppet play of 1703, drawn from a news item in Ōsaka, about a clerk and a courtesan whom their love puts in danger.Literature
• TaleTales of Moonlight and Rain雨月物語Ueda Akinari · 1776Nine fantastic tales of 1776, drawn in part from Chinese collections and transposed to Japan.Literature
• NarrativePlayboy, Roasted à la Edo江戸生艶気樺焼Santo Kyoden · 1785An illustrated booklet in three volumes published in Edo in 1785, whose title plays on the name of the grilled eel that was the city's speciality.Literature
• NovelShank's Mare東海道中膝栗毛Jippensha Ikku · 1822A comic narrative published in instalments from 1802 to 1822, built on the fifty-three stations of the great road between Edo and Kyoto.Literature
• NovelEight Dogs, or Hakkenden南総里見八犬伝Kyokutei Bakin · 1842A sprawling novel of one hundred and six volumes, published in instalments over twenty-eight years, from 1814 to 1842.Literature
• NovelThe Gold Demon金色夜叉Koyo Ozaki · 1897A serial begun in 1897 and left unfinished, in which a promise of marriage gives way before a banker's fortune.Literature
• NarrativeA Song by Lantern Light歌行燈Izumi Kyōka · 1910A narrative published in a magazine in January 1910, which opens with a nod to a comic travel narrative of Edo and unfolds over the course of one evening in Kuwana.Literature
• PoetryA Handful of Sand一握の砂Ishikawa Takuboku · 1910A tanka collection published in 1910, which made a newspaper proofreader into a widely read poet.LiteraturePublic domain
• NovelThe Wild Geese雁Mori Ōgai · 1913A novel serialised from 1911 to 1913, about a kept woman and a student who greet each other every day.Literature
• NovelKokoroこころNatsume Soseki · 1914A novel from 1914 in which a student befriends a silent man who promises to tell him everything one day, in writing.LiteraturePublic domain
• NarrativeThe Nose鼻Ryūnosuke Akutagawa · 1916A short narrative from 1916 drawn from a thirteenth-century collection of tales, about a monk wholly preoccupied by the length of his nose.Literature
• NovelReconciliation和解Naoya Shiga · 1917A narrative of 1917 drawn from what its author had just lived through, about a son and a father long estranged.Literature
• CinemaSouls on the Road路上の霊魂Minoru Murata · 1921A silent film of 1921, one of the first Japanese films to interweave several stories, produced under the auspices of a man of the theatre.Cinema
• CinemaA Diary of Chuji's Travels忠次旅日記Daisuke Ito · 1927A silent swordplay film of 1927, in three parts, about a gambler turned outlaw, two parts of which have been partly recovered.Cinema
• CinemaChushingura: The True Story忠魂義烈 実録忠臣蔵Shōzō Makino · 1928A silent swordplay film of 1928, made for its author's fiftieth birthday and partly destroyed by a fire before its release.Cinema
• NovelThe Crab Cannery Ship蟹工船Takiji Kobayashi · 1929Novel from 1929 with no main character, the entire crew playing that role; it was banned shortly after its publication.LiteraturePublic domain
• NovelMilitarized Streets武装せる市街Kuroshima Denji · 1930A novel of 1930 on the Japanese expedition to Jinan, banned as soon as it appeared.LiteraturePublic domain
• CinemaThe Neighbor's Wife and Mineマダムと女房Heinosuke Gosho · 1931A comedy of 1931, the first fully talking Japanese feature film, in which the noise of the neighbourhood drives the plot.Cinema
• NarrativeNight on the Galactic Railroad銀河鉄道の夜Kenji Miyazawa · 1934An unfinished narrative, reworked over many years and published in 1934 in the collected works of its author.LiteraturePublic domain
• Novel蒼氓Ishikawa Tatsuzō · 1935not translated into EnglishA narrative from 1935 about Japanese emigrants waiting in Kobe, before a long voyage to the plantations.Literature
• Poetry小熊秀雄詩集Hideo Oguma · 1935not translated into EnglishThe author's first collection, published in Tokyo in 1935, the very year in which a long narrative poem finally established him.Literature
• CinemaThree Sisters with Maiden Hearts乙女ごころ三人姉妹Mikio Naruse · 1935A film from 1935, the first of its director in which the characters are heard speaking, about three sisters of Asakusa.Cinema
• CinemaMr. Thank You有りがたうさんHiroshi Shimizu · 1936A 1936 film shot on location, on a mountain bus, in the time of the crisis.Cinema
• Poetry鮫Mitsuharu Kaneko · 1937not translated into EnglishA collection of 1937, born of nearly five years of wandering outside Japan.Literature
• CinemaHumanity and Paper Balloons人情紙風船Sadao Yamanaka · 1937A film of 1937 played by an entire theatre company, the last by its director, who was called up for military service on the day of its release.Cinema
• NarrativeMars' Songマルスの歌Ishikawa Jun · 1938A narrative of January 1938, banned shortly after its publication.Literature
• NovelMusashi宮本武蔵Eiji Yoshikawa · 1939Pre-war serial novel about the formative years of a swordsman who has remained legendary.Literature
• Novel播州平野Yuriko Miyamoto · 1947not translated into EnglishA novel of the weeks following the capitulation, first serialised in a magazine and then published in book form in 1947.LiteraturePublic domain
• NovelThe Setting Sun斜陽Osamu Dazai · 1947A novel from 1947 about a noble family brought down in the world after the defeat, whose daughter looks for a reason to go on.LiteraturePublic domain
• NovelConfessions of a Mask仮面の告白Yukio Mishima · 1949A novel from 1949 in which a narrator looks back on his childhood, his desires and the learning of concealment.Literature
• CinemaRashomon羅生門Akira Kurosawa · 1950A film from 1950 in which four witnesses tell the same crime in four ways that do not agree.Cinema
• NovelFires on the Plain野火Shohei Ooka · 1951A novel from 1951 about a soldier lost on an island in the Philippines during the Japanese rout, written by a man who was held prisoner there.Literature
• CinemaCarmen Comes Homeカルメン故郷に帰るKeisuke Kinoshita · 1951A comedy from 1951, shot in colour, about a country girl who has come back from the city with a trade she cannot admit to.Cinema
• NovelTwenty-Four Eyes二十四の瞳Sakae Tsuboi · 1952A novel of 1952 that follows a class of twelve children and their teacher from the prewar village to the years of defeat.Literature
• CinemaChildren of Hiroshima原爆の子Kaneto Shindo · 1952A 1952 film about a schoolteacher who returns to Hiroshima to find out what has become of her former pupils.Cinema
• CinemaTokyo Story東京物語Yasujiro Ozu · 1953A 1953 film about parents who travel from the provinces to see, in Tokyo, children who have no time to receive them.Cinema
• CinemaGate of Hell地獄門Teinosuke Kinugasa · 1953A 1953 colour film about a twelfth-century warrior who asks as his reward a woman who is already married.Cinema
• CinemaUgetsu雨月物語Kenji Mizoguchi · 1953Film of 1953 in which two men leave their village in wartime, one to sell, the other to bear arms.Cinema
• CinemaLove Letter恋文Kinuyo Tanaka · 1953A film of 1953 about a former sailor who earns his living, in postwar Tokyo, from the correspondence of abandoned women.Cinema
• CinemaGodzillaゴジラIshirō Honda · 1954A 1954 film in which a beast risen from the sea, awakened by the H-bomb, marches on Tokyo.Cinema
• CinemaSamurai I: Musashi Miyamoto宮本武蔵Hiroshi Inagaki · 1954A film of 1954, the first part of a trilogy drawn from a prewar novel about a young man who wants to become a samurai.Cinema
• CinemaBloody Spear at Mount Fuji血槍富士Tomu Uchida · 1955A 1955 film in which a samurai and his two servants meet other travellers on the road to Edo.Cinema
• NovelThe Key鍵Jun'ichirō Tanizaki · 1956A 1956 novel made of the private diaries of a husband and his wife, each writing to be read by the other.Literature
• CinemaGiants and Toys巨人と玩具Yasuzo Masumura · 1958A 1958 film about the advertising war waged by three confectioners, and about the saleswoman who is manufactured to win it.Cinema
• CinemaFires on the Plain野火Kon Ichikawa · 1959Film of 1959 based on a novel of 1951, about a sick soldier whom his army abandons on an island in the Philippines.Cinema
• CinemaThe Human Condition人間の條件Masaki Kobayashi · 1959A fresco in three films, made from 1959 to 1961, about a man who wants to remain just in occupied Manchuria.Cinema
• NovelHouse of the Sleeping Beauties眠れる美女Yasunari Kawabata · 1961A 1961 story about a discreet house where very old men pay to spend the night beside sleeping young women whom they must not wake.Literature
• CinemaThe Last War世界大戦争Shūe Matsubayashi · 1961A 1961 film in which an ordinary Tokyo family follows the escalation of two blocs towards nuclear confrontation.Cinema
• NovelThe Woman in the Dunes砂の女Kobo Abe · 1962A novel of 1962 in which a man trapped in the dunes must learn to live with the sand.Literature
• CinemaAkitsu Springs秋津温泉Yoshishige Yoshida · 1962A 1962 film in which a man returns, from one season to the next and from one year to the next, to the woman of a mountain inn.Cinema
• NovelEmbracing Family抱擁家族Nobuo Kojima · 1965A novel of 1965 about a Japanese professor whose household falls apart under the American occupation, when his wife takes a soldier as a lover.Literature
• NovelSilence沈黙Shūsaku Endō · 1966A novel of 1966 about two Portuguese missionaries who secretly enter Japan during the persecutions, in the seventeenth century.Literature
• CinemaThe Face of Another他人の顔Hiroshi Teshigahara · 1966A film of 1966 about a disfigured man who has a borrowed face made for himself and puts his own wife to the test.Cinema
• CinemaBranded to Kill殺しの烙印Seijun Suzuki · 1967A film noir of 1967 about a hired killer who becomes the target of his own organisation, with an increasingly unhinged logic.Cinema
• CinemaFuneral Parade of Roses薔薇の葬列Toshio Matsumoto · 1969A 1969 film shot among the transvestites of Tokyo, which interrupts its fiction with interviews of those who play in it.Cinema
• Short storiesBetty-sanベティさんの庭Michiko Yamamoto · 1972A 1972 short story about the exile of a Japanese woman married to a foreigner, drawn from its author's stay in Darwin.Literature
• CinemaBattles Without Honor and Humanity仁義なき戦いKinji Fukasaku · 1973A 1973 film drawn from the prison memoirs of a former gang boss, about the clan wars of the Hiroshima region after the defeat.Cinema
• CinemaIn the Realm of the Senses愛のコリーダNagisa Oshima · 1976A film from 1976 based on a news item from 1936, shot in Japan and developed in France to escape censorship.Cinema
• CinemaHouseハウスNobuhiko Obayashi · 1977A 1977 horror film in which seven teenage girls spend the summer at an aunt's house in the countryside, the first feature film by a man from advertising.Cinema
• Novel同時代ゲームKenzaburo Oe · 1979not translated into EnglishA novel of 1979 in which a narrator tells his twin sister the myth of a village in Shikoku that stood up as a country against the Empire.Literature
• CinemaThe Ballad of Narayama楢山節考Shohei Imamura · 1983A 1983 film about an old woman who prepares to go off and die in the mountain, following the custom of her village.Cinema
• CinemaNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind風の谷のナウシカHayao Miyazaki · 1984An animated film of 1984 drawn from a comic story that its author was still publishing, set in a world where a poisoned forest is gaining ground on mankind.Cinema
• CinemaTampopoタンポポJuzo Itami · 1985A film from 1985, presented as a ramen western, in which cooking mingles with desire.Cinema
• NovelNorwegian Woodノルウェイの森Haruki Murakami · 1987A novel from 1987 about a student torn between a friend who is being treated far from everything and a lively classmate.Literature
• Novel熟れてゆく夏Shizuko Tōdō · 1988not translated into EnglishA 1988 narrative about two young people who wait, in a hotel in northern Japan, for a woman on whom they depend.Literature
• CinemaAkiraアキラKatsuhiro Otomo · 1988An animated film from 1988 based on a comic story that its author had not finished publishing, and which he put into images himself.Cinema
• CinemaGrave of the Fireflies火垂るの墓Isao Takahata · 19881988 animated film drawn from a postwar story, about a brother and sister left to fend for themselves in 1945.Cinema
• TheatreThe Face of Jizo父と暮せばHisashi Inoue · 1994A 1994 play in which a young Hiroshima survivor talks with the ghost of her father.Literature
• CinemaFireworks花火Takeshi Kitano · 1997Film from 1997 in which a former policeman robs a bank to take his sick wife on a journey.Cinema
• CinemaCureキュアKiyoshi Kurosawa · 1997A 1997 film about identical murders committed by people who do not know one another, and about the man found at the end of the chain.Cinema
• CinemaPerfect BlueパーフェクトブルーSatoshi Kon · 1997An animated film of 1997 about a singer turned actress who stops distinguishing what she lives from what she shoots.Cinema
• CinemaSuzaku萌の朱雀Naomi Kawase · 1997A film from 1997 shot in a mountain village in Nara, with local people in most of the roles.Cinema
• CinemaRingリングHideo Nakata · 1998A 1998 film based on a 1991 book, about a tape that kills those who watch it after a week.Cinema
• CinemaAfter LifeワンダフルライフHirokazu Kore-eda · 1998A 1998 film in which the dead have one week to choose the single memory they will take with them, and in which employees recreate it for them.Cinema
• CinemaAuditionオーディションTakashi Miike · 1999A 1999 film, based on a book, in which a widower uses a fake film casting to choose a second wife.Cinema

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