“The one I knew – If only she had been an ageless pine!
What need then of these grievous farewells?”
-Tosa nikki(935)
In Japan, the pine tree(matsu) is an important symbol of longevity as well as a symbol that appears very often in Japanese poetry(waka) and Japanese literature as a double meaning, one being the literal meaning of a pine tree, and the other meaning to wait or to long for, as the word matsu written in different kanji can mean 'to wait'. Like a pine tree, Japanese travel journals are eternal, providing amazingly well-detailed glimpses into the travel and life experiences of the writers of these diaries to modern readers long after these authors have passed on. Furthermore, these travel journals can also be compared to a flower pressed into the pages of a book, which reveals its beauty and unique qualities each time it is looked upon. Two examples of such travel journals that were very famous in Japanese literary history are Tosa nikki, written by Ki no Tsurayuki during the Heian period in the year 935, and Oku no hosomichi(The Narrow Road to the Deep North) written by the acclaimed haiku and renga(linked verse) poet Matsuo Bashō from the spring of 1689 to December of 1691 during the Tokugawa period. Despite the separation of these two works by over seven hundred years, these works have many similarities, such as the use of poetry as a way to show the thoughts and feelings of the people on the journey and the detailed accounts of the travels of the authors and their companions. This paper will also describe the differences between these two travel journals.
Although Tosa nikki and Oku no hosomichi are similar in the fact that they both detail journeys to distant areas of Japan, their primary differences lie i...
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... same literary genre, are both travel journals which stand on their own as unique works which both involve journeys to different places and for different reasons. On the other hand, Oku no hosomichi and Tosa nikki differ from each other in the overall mood of the individual journals, as Oku no hosomichi is more lighthearted while Tosa nikki has more of a somber mood due to the tragic loss of the governor's daughter in the story.
Works Cited
Keene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese Literature.
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Press, 1969. Print.
Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, First. Introduction to
Classic Japanese Literature. Fourth edition.
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241-250. Print.
Christopher Benfey’s work The Great Wave is a narrative driven by a collection of accounts, stories and curious coincidences tying together The Gilded Age of New England in particular with interactions and connections to the Japan of old and new. In the context of The Great Wave, Benfey's own personal journey to Japan at the age of sixteen should be understood. Embarking on this voyage to learn traditional writing, language and Judo, his story can also be seen as a not only a historical continuation, but also a personal precursor to the vignettes he discovers and presents to the reader.
Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source students may use to enable them to understand institutions like conflicting views Whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the population’s analysis of the Emperor.
Riichi, Yokomitsu. Shanghai. Michigan: The Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan , 2001.
Keene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese literature, from the earliest era to the mid-nineteenth century. Grove Pr, 1955. Print.
The two diaries are similar and different in various ways ranging from the particular influence of the time period, the difference in personal styles, and to the differences in poetic prose. They were both travel journals written over 700 years apart from one another. The poetry in both journals reflected the poetry which was popular at the time the journals were written. I personally feel that Oku no Hosomichi is a much more enjoyable read because I can completely relate to many of the feelings that Bashō is trying to convey in the beginning of the journal.
Shaw, Irwin, and Shinpei Tokiwa. The Girls in Their Summer Dresses and Other Stories. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1988.
Shirane Haruo. et al. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900. New York: Colombia University Press, 2002. Print.
During the Heian period, waka (Japanese poetry) was very prominent in society especially among women of the court. Most were written in kana (language used by women). Waka during this period often used the tanka style which is 5-7-5-7-7 syllables per line totaling 31 syllables for the whole poem. The tanka form was popular for people of every social class but it was especially popular among aristocrats and people of the court. In the courts, poems were used politically to increase one’s status or in competition with a rival from court. It was also commonly used as a form of courtship where you would try to win a girl over with a poem rather than by looks and appearance such as in today’s society. Therefore love poems were especially common during this period where lovers would send poems back and forth to each as a form of communication. Poetry can also be seen in a lot of works during this period such as in monogatari and nikki bungaku. Although many poems and stories during this period deal with love, among other things, very few of them deal with hope or end in happiness. The role that poetry served in these works was to serve as a way to express unhappiness and unfulfilled desires during the period which could be attributed to the strong and constant rivalry in the courts. For the purposes of this paper, I will only go over the monogatari and nikki bungaku found during the Heian period.
Shirane, Harue, and Tomi Suzuki. Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identiy, and Japanese Literature. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 2000. eBook.
... middle of paper ... ... The only main similarity between them is that they are both traveling away from the capital. The main themes are practically opposites, one positive and one negative towards their futures as they go along their journey.
...Tosa Nikki has a more formal feeling to it since it was supposed to be from the perspective of a lady in the Tosa Governor’s party on their return to Kyoto. Both these works of literature are very important in what they represent. While they are both Kiko, they are written in very different ways, which shows the difference in values and opinions between literature written during the Heian period, and literature written during the Medieval period.
Poetry is used to convey one’s feelings in an abstract writing of profound perception. When writing poetry, one’s perception must have inspiration in order to breathe life and produce picturesque imagery upon paper. During late 19th century Japan, a linked-verse form of poetry called haiku, formerly known as hokku, was created. It was utilized to signify an autonomous poetic form originating from medieval comic linked verse. Haikus often describes the occurrences of nature or seasons. A poet by the name of Matsuo Bashō mastered the form of haiku. He wrote a travel narrative called, “Narrow Road of the Interior”, by which haikus were inserted to convey his feelings towards the natural settings. Bashō provokes inspiration for his haikus from the historical foundation of the various landmarks engulfed in its natural setting. By doing this, he enhances the antiquity of the historical sites, while at the same time, appreciating the natural tranquility and beauty.
Short stories like Hisaye Yamamoto’s Seventeen Syllables, reveals something about the time period and how the author lived; we recognize these connotations in her essay “Seventeen Syllables” -- A Symbolic Haiku, through her logical outlook of everything. Yamamoto wants to educate American readers of the multicultural struggles that are brought upon by the immigrated, (mostly women), to America for freedom. She shows her purpose of everything through her special attention, the roles in woman, both Japanese and American, the metaphorical meaning of haikus, the seasons figurative meanings, the number three and seventeen and finally, the social obstacles between both the West and eastern hemispheres.
Written six hundred and fifty years apart from each other, Matsuo Basho’s Oku no Hosomichi and Ki no Tsurayuki’s Tosa Nikki are both examples of nikki bungaku or “diary literature.” Both of these travel diaries reflect the ideas and values of their respective time periods.
When people hear of the countries China or Japan they think of technology or all the products America gets from China and Japan. People don’t realize the connections through literature and writing from Eastern Asia. Many poems and short stories were written in the nineteen hundreds. The musical based poems had a clear structure which was parallelism. The main themes in the poems and short stories were also mainly in the other writings. Many of the themes included nature, true feelings,and hardship.