The Role of Poetry in Narrative Prose of the Heian Period

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Recommended: Literature in medieval times in Japan

The Heian period in Japan represents the period of time that began in 794 and ended in 1185. During the Heian period, literary styles were flourishing and poetry played a crucial role in society. Two of the most important styles during this period were Monogatari and Nikki Bungaku. Monogatari is a narrative story, similar to an epic of the western world. Nikki bungaku is a form of Japanese diary literature, often offering a chronological order of actual events. The monogatari I will be analyzing is Taketori monogatari and the nikki I will analyze is Kagerō Nikki.

Taketori monogatari is an important piece of literary work for many reasons. It is one of the oldest Japanese narratives, dating back to the 10th century. It is unique in many ways, but one of the more intriguing aspects of the story to me is its science-fiction like traits. Furthermore, Taketori monogatari uses different fictional events to describe the origin of actual idioms. The use of poetry throughout the story is limited yet critically important, and aspects of the bamboo cutter are inspired by poems from Man'yōshū.

In Taketori Monogatari, an old, childless bamboo cutter finds a girl in a stock of glowing bamboo. The girl, known as Kaguya-hime, is unnaturally tiny and taken by the bamboo cutter to his home to be raised. Throughout the story, one learns of Kaguya-hime’s immaculate beauty and she quickly becomes the desire of every man. Under pressure from her ‘earth’ father to get married, she offers herself to any man who can fulfill specific, yet impossible, tasks. At the close of each failed task, the origin of an idiom is revealed. Learning of Kahuya-hime’s unnatural beauty, the Emperor Mikado made it his mission see her and make her his wife. T...

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...Kagerō Nikki were both incredibly important literary works in Japanese literature during the Heian period. On one hand we have what may be considered similar to an epic, giving the reader an entertaining and science fiction-like story to explain idioms and cultural practices. On the other hand we have a true, autobiographical account of a bitter woman’s struggling marriage during the Heian period. When you analyze both of them together, you can begin to paint a more accurate picture of what the Heian period was really like.

Works Cited

The Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 33, Number 1, Winter

2007, pp. 268-273 (Review)

Published by Society for Japanese Studies

DOI: 10.1353/jjs.2007.0013

The Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 34, Number 1, Winter

2008, pp. 167-172 (Review)

Published by Society for Japanese Studies

DOI: 10.1353/jjs.2008.0014

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