Movements and schools
Noh theatre and Japanese classicism
The founding forms of classical Japanese stage and narrative.
Around the year one thousand, a lady of the Kyoto court wrote what is held to be the world's first novel, fifty-four chapters on a prince and his loves; another noted in a book what annoyed and what delighted her. Seven centuries later Bashō set out on foot for the north and turned the travel notebook into a poem, Saikaku told of the merchants and courtesans of Osaka, Chikamatsu wrote for the puppet theatre lovers who die together. Court refinement and city life answer each other.
works 5
- 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
- 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