Yasunari Kawabata, one of Japan’s most famous authors (Muhleman 1706), was “born in Oasaka, [Japan] on June 11, 1899” (Bourgion 463). “As a [young] boy, [Kawabata] acquired the name ‘master of funerals’” (Muhleman 1706) as a result of “losing many near relatives” (Muhleman 1706) including his mother and father (Smith 1052). After graduating from the Tokyo Imperial University (Smith 1052) he “founded a literary magazine” (Bourgion 463) which led to the beginning “of a new school of writers [known as] the Neoperceptionists” (Bourgion 463). Then “in 1968 he became the first Japanese author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature” (Davis 2485). “Many Japanese readers reacted with confusion” (Smith 1054) “when Kawabata was awarded the … prize” (Smith 1054). This was because of his “experiments with western-based literary techniques” (Smith 1055) which the Japanese “found … difficult to understand” (Smith 1055). Although Yasunari Kawabata used a western style of literature (Smith 1055) he captures the essence of the ever changing cultures and traditions in Japan during his time (Davis 2486).
While Kawabata was writing his many literary works, Japan was engaged in World War II. In the July of 1937 an “undeclared war broken out between China and Japan” (Nish 605) and, for many Japanese this was when the world war began (Daniels 629). Although Kawabata never actively participated in the politics of that time (Aldridge 1345), “the defeat of Japan in World War II profoundly affected [him]” (Muhleman 1707). He tried to include more of the Japanese culture and traditions into his works after this (Muhleman 1707). An example of this can be seen in The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces where he portrays his characters as living during the time of Worl...
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...uzanne Michele. “Yasunari Kawabata.” Encyclopedia of World Biorgraphy. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Cengage Gale, 1998. Print.
Cabell, Charles. Modern Japanese Writers. Ed. Jay Rubin. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001. 165. Print.
Kawabata, Yasunari. “The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces.” World Literature. Ed. Susan Witting Albert. Trans. Lane Dunlop and J. Martin Holman. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2001. 1400.
Muhleman, James V. “Yasunari Kawabata.” Cyclopedia of World Authors. 4th ed. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 3. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2004. 1706 – 1707. Print.
Nish, Ian , and Gordon Daniels. “Japan.” The Oxford Companion to World War II. Ed. I.C.B Dear. Oxford University Press, 1995. 605 & 629. Print.
Smith, Roland E. “Yasunari Kawabata.” Magill’s Survey of World Literature. Ed. Steven G. Kellman. Vol. 3. North Bellmore: Salem Press, 1993. 1052 – 1055. Print.
Much of what is considered modern Japan has been fundamentally shaped by its involvement in various wars throughout history. In particular, the events of World War II led to radical changes in Japanese society, both politically and socially. While much focus has been placed on the broad, overarching impacts of war on Japan, it is through careful inspection of literature and art that we can understand war’s impact on the lives of everyday people. The Go Masters, the first collaborative film between China and Japan post-WWII, and “Turtleback Tombs,” a short story by Okinawan author Oshiro Tatsuhiro, both give insight to how war can fundamentally change how a place is perceived, on both an abstract and concrete level.
Okihiro, Gary Y. Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996.
Starting in the Post-Civil War period, The Great Wave brings to light a cultural schism and pivot to the, at the time, unknown East. As Commodore Perry’s ships pried open Japan to the outside world, out with it came the cultural interactions that make up most of these stories. These make up a cultural wave, much like the title implies, of which all characters seem to be riding upon in one way or another. In a way it can be viewed as two separate waves. First, the surge of the Japanese characters who newly exposed to modernity, seek to process, learn and move forward with these foreign interactions and experiences. Then there is the American wave, an unguided movement of sorts driven by disillusionment with the industrial west, which finds hope and solace in old Japanese culture. The intersections of these two waves is what makes up the two-hundred some pages of Benfey’s book but ultimately it is the unspoken single wave, on the forward path to modernity, that encompasses them both and is the true backbone of the stories.
Sabin, Burritt. "The War's Legacy [sic]: Dawn of a tragic era", Japan Times, February 8, 2004 (
Known for her work as a historian and rather outspoken political activist, Yamakawa Kikue was also the author of her book titled Women of the Mito Domain (p. xix). At the time she was writing this work, Yamakawa was under the surveillance of the Japanese government as the result of her and her husband’s work for the socialist and feminist movements in Japan (p. xx-xxi). But despite the restrictions she was undoubtedly required to abide by in order to produce this book, her work contains an air of commentary on the past and present political, social, and economic issues that had been plaguing the nation (p. xxi). This work is a piece that comments on the significance of women’s roles in history through the example of Yamakawa’s own family and
Greene, Carol. Enchantment of the World Japan, p. 97. 28 Pitts, Forrest R., Japan. p. 78. -. 29. Davidson, Judith.
Damrosch, David and David L. Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature Second Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2009.
Kitasawa, Shinjiro. "Shintoism and the Japanese Nation." The Sewanee Review 23.4 (1915): 479-83. JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Shirane Haruo. et al. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900. New York: Colombia University Press, 2002. Print.
The Japanese medieval age consists of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (from approximately 1185 to 1600). During this time, the political power was switching from the imperial family to a militaristic government. In addition, civil wars (from 1156 to 1568) were increasing throughout Japan. This change of centrality in society’s focus from court to warriors shifted the perception and style of Japanese literature.
Lawall, Sarah,et al. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Volume A (slipcased). Norton, 2001. W.W. Norton and Company Inc. New York, NY.
Domrosch, David. Longman Anthology of World Literature, The, Compact Edition. 1st Edition. Pearson College Div: Longman, 2007. Print.
Cooke, Haruko Taya. & Cook, Theodore F. Japan at War: An Oral History. New York: The New
Literature of the Western World, Volume 2. 4th edition by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997.
This is a writing of an interview of woman’s name Misao Kawabata. This autobiography depicts Misao and her life during pre-World War II, and other Japanese women in rural areas. She describes women’s life as it relates to all facets of life concerning Japanese women such as marriage and extended family relationships, to living on farms, and the state of education in these rural areas.