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Super-Easy Rocky Road Fudge
Rich and truly divine fudge! The easy way is the microwave method. This Rocky Road Fudge is a delicious mixture of chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, marshmallows and walnuts. It is easy to make and perfect to bring to all of your holiday parties!
This "gluten free" recipe was developed using products either labeled as "gluten-free" or likely to be gluten free based on the ingredients typically listed on the products' labels. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee that any non-Nestlé product in this recipe is gluten free. We recommend reading all product labels thoroughly, checking with the food's manufacturer for gluten content if the product is not labeled as "gluten free," and being careful to keep gluten-containing ingredients away from the recipe ingredients and recipe preparation area.
Prep Time
Cooking Time
Skill Level
Other Suggestions
- 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
- 1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
MICROWAVE morsels and sweetened condensed milk in large, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Stir in vanilla extract. Fold in marshmallows and nuts.
PRESS mixture into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into pieces.
Nutritional Information
% Daily Value *
- Total Fat 8g 12%
- Saturated Fat 3g 15%
- Cholesterol 5mg 2%
- Sodium 20mg 1%
- Carbohydrates 20g 7%
- Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
- Vitamin A 0%
- Vitamin C 0%
- Calcium 4%
- Iron 0%
- Sugars 17g
- Protein 2g
* Percentage Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Iannone Design - Graphic Armoire
Note: The stalks are bonded using a formaldehyde free adhesive. The cabinet is...more
2 Recommendations
sallyTV's recommendation
I am so obsessed with Iannone Design! The first time I saw them at the International Contemporary Furniture FairI freaked out. I *love* kirei so much. Kirei is made from the reclaimed stalks of the sorghum plant. Note: The stalks are bonded using a formaldehyde free adhesive. The cabinet is constructed with no added formaldehyde adhesive birch plywood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), denoting that it comes from well-managed, sustainable forests. This material is finished with a durable low VOC topcoat. The gloss white laminate is GREENGUARD certified giving assurance that emissions from this material are well within recommendations set by internationally respected public health organizations.
eternity333's recommendation
I want it.

subset: commoncrawl


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To me that was the difference when I saw that part. You did a switch heel and it just looked good. So to me that changed everything right there.
Did things change for Jump Off a Building ('98)?
The team had changed a lot.
Were you living that Janis Joplin song by then?
Oh yeah. I was mental by then. I remember Ed called me at one point and told me I had a week left to film. I seriously hadn't done anything yet. I remember kind of stressing at that point. Just getting angry and fidgety while I was skating. I wasn't pleased with that part when it came out at all. But it was a lot of fun at the same time. I was hanging out in Philly skating with (Mike) Maldonado, Bam (Margera), and Kerry (Getz). They came down to Fort Myers and stuff. I don't know what happened. I think in some ways I was already thinking I could rest on my laurels (Laughs.) I already thought like, "I don't have to do anything. I'm special (laughs.)" I always wanted to have the best video part; I could just never do it.
I was talking to Marisa Dal Santo yesterday and she claimed Jump Off a Building was the best girl video part of all time. So I guess somebody thought the part was good.
That's rad. I love her. She's amazing.
Elissa Steamer on the cover of Toy Machine video #4 Jump Off a Building ('98).


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Size: 6 months to 8
Price: $59.95
It's a Big Top birthday with this circus themed birthday skirt! Your little one will feel like a star performer with the whimsical circus themed print and star motifs. The bottom hem is accented by two layered ribbons, a picot edge light blue and multi-colored star print. Wow! Elastic waist for a comfy, play-friendly fit. Coordinating barrettes and shirts available separately. Machine-washable cotton. Made with love in the USA.


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First good pics of Adele with baby Angelo!
Singer Adele shows off her eight-month-old son Antonio in New York, the first time he's been photographed since he was born.
It's taken eight long months, but singer Adele has finally given the world its first peek at her adorable 8-month-old son Angelo. The 25 year old chose Central Park Zoo for Angelo's inaugural public outing, with mum and bub joined by four friends as they checked out the parrots and sea lions.
The UK songstress has been at pains to hide her son from the world during his first few months, holing up in her Brighton home with partner Simon Konecki and reportedly just enjoying being a mum.
Her determination to keep her son out of the public eye has been evident since her pregnancy, which wasn't announced until four months before Angelo's October 19 birth. Even then, the private couple refused to confirm the birth and remained tight-lipped about Angelo's name for several months.
'It's just too personal and intimate,' she's believed to have said when quizzed about it at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
The 'Rolling In the Deep' singer is reportedly attending meetings in New York, but fans shouldn't get their hopes up that a follow-up to her best-selling album 21 is imminent.
'I'm not very far along,' the singer told Us Magazine in February. 'I've been having lots of meetings, but I'm out of the loop, really.'
An insider has said, 'She just wants to be a mum right now. It'll be a few years before we see another album.'
One production that might happen sooner than that, though, is a wedding, with the loved-up pair rumoured to be tying the knot at the end of the year.
Adele isn't the only celebrity who has taken a lengthy break from work after giving birth. Check out our gallery of stars who took an extended maternity leave.
A gallery of celebrity mums taking maternity leave
MIA celeb mums
Kim Kardashian
Kimye is yet to be spotted since giving birth to daughter 'North' on 15 June.
The singer took a one year career hiatus when baby Blue was born. "It was great just having the time to be a wife rather than this non-stop traveling career girl," she has said.
Cate Blanchett
The actress has taken a "fatalistic" approach to her career since becoming a mum of three, often turning down film roles because the schedule interferes with family life too much.
"It used to be a question of 'Who's directing it?' Now it's, 'How long is the shoot and where are they filming,'" she told Times Online. "Recently I said yes to something because filming is in the Easter holidays."
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth has famously put her career on the backseat and these days looks for supporting jobs saying she can't juggle back-to-back filming along with her kids. "I look for an interesting supporting part about once a year. That's the most I can manage. Some women can do it and that's fantastic, but I can't. You make choices as a wife and mother, don't you? You can't have it all," she told The Daily Mail.
Sandra Bullock
She won an Oscar for The Blind Side and shortly after adopted her son Louis. Since then the world hasn't seen much of Sandra who is said to be taking some time off to spend with her boy.
Adele was finally spotted out with son Angelo eight months after his birth.
Halle Berry
The star recently appeared in magazines after announcing her surprise pregnancy at the impressive age of 46. Apart from this exciting news, we haven't heard much from Halle, or seen her on the big screen since becoming a mum to daughter Nahla.
Jessica Alba
After Jessica Alba had her daughter, Honor Marie, the Fantastic Four star disappeared for a short while. The star loves to share happy snaps of her young family on Twitter, which now includes second daughter Haven.
Natalie Portman
The Oscar winner proudly announced in her award acceptance speech that motherhood was going to be her greatest role yet. It seems no truer words have been spoken for the actress who is a devoted mum to son Aleph.
Nicole Richie
The ex party girl had an overnight transformation when she became a mum, ditching her old bad girl ways and her reality star fame for motherhood. The fashion designer is now snapped with kids Harlow, Sparrow and husband Joel Madden for all the right reasons.
Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee was trying to carve her own singing career away from the shadow of big sister Jessica before she had her son Bronx Mowgli. Since then, we haven't seen much of her, apart from pap shots of her out and about with the her spunky little boy.
Kate Beckinsale
The Pearl Harbor and Serendipity star has been leading a low-key life with daughter, Lily Mo Sheen since becoming a mum.


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Michał Nos
Więcej pomysłów od użytkownika Michał
Gonna sit in my balboa shorts and watch Rocky Balboa - disappointed with the heavyweight result tonight, Joyce was robbed, Yoka stood like a stone and stumbled like a drunk, to have dared to do the Ali shuffle was an insult! Kinda wishing I'd got me one of those Apollo Creed washington hats though! (Image by Nazar Stefanovic)
Rocky Balboa by Nazar Stefanovic


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Beyond the Bedroom 2013 - Denver
Beyond the Bedroom
Friday, October 18, 2013 at 4:00 PM - Sunday, October 20, 2013 at 6:00 PM (MDT)
Event Details
It is with sadness that Beyond the Bedroom announces the cancellation of its 3-day conference, October 18-20, 2013. So many in our immediate and surrounding community were affected by the strength of the storm, the flooding, mudslides and roadway destruction. Tremendous strength and courage has been shown by those most affected by the disaster. The human spirit shines bright as the community mobilizes in unparalleled effort to support each other during what is expected to be a long phase of recovery. We at Beyond the Bedroom made the best decision to honor all who were effected by the national disaster.
Our thinking turned to what we could contribute to the community that would provide a welcome distraction yet remain sensitive to the needs of the community. We came to a powerful conclusion that providing entertainment and an educational experience might just be what the doctor ordered. To that end, we are thrilled to announce a scaled down, but no less potent, version of the event.
On October 19, 2013 Beyond the Bedroom is offering a single-day event filled with eight presentations to a smaller, more intimate audience. The presenters we have lined up are dynamic and are sure to ignite, excite and deepen your understanding of healthy relationship and sexuality.
Beyond the Bedroom offers this unique opportunity for a significantly reduced price; $67 per person. Register as a couple or group of more than 2 and receive even further discounts. Act quickly…there are only 75 seats available.
Go to www.beyondthebedroomevent.com to learn more
Beyond the Bedroom
Beyond the Bedroom is an exciting one of a kind annual event that dares to explore what is
possible for women and men in their sexuality and in their relationships. The goal of Beyond the
Bedroom is to provide a safe venue for people to learn, explore and find answers that improve
relationships and help people gain insight into human sexual nature. Beyond the Bedroom
will offer an array of lecture and workshops on a variety of topics such as deepening intimacy,
expanding communication in relationships and discovering new ways to embrace sensuality and
sex. This year will expand to a three day event weekend featuring top national relationship and
sexuality experts.
We understand that many people have developed relationship skills and are knowledgable about
sex. Our workshops are designed to improve relationships and sexuality by taking love, romance
and sex to a deeper level of mastery. Our goal is to allow curiosity, exploration and inspire
discussion; all in a safe container for both men and women to experience what is possible. We feel
there is a real need for integrity and frank honest discourse on sexuality and human relations.
Beyond the Bedroom drew over 160 attendees in our first year with a one day Sunday event. The
expanded format allows us to market beyond Colorado to a national audience. Taking direction
from the feedback of past attendees we have designed a full weekend program addressing
the needs of our attendees. The weekend will include a keynote presentation, reception with
entertainment, workshops and lectures to appeal to a broad audience. Based on feedback and
programing we anticipate three to five hundred attendees for Beyond the Bedroom2012.
Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?
Yes, you must be 18 years of age to attend due to the nature of the content at this event.
What is the refund policy?
Cancellations 30-days prior to event start will be reimbursed 100% less a 10% handling fee. At less than 30-days you will be reimbursed 50% of your ticket price. No refunds on cancellations less than 7-days from the event.
When & Where
Ramada Plaza Denver North
10 East 120th Avenue
Friday, October 18, 2013 at 4:00 PM - Sunday, October 20, 2013 at 6:00 PM (MDT)
Add to my calendar
Beyond the Bedroom
Sex, Intimacy and Relationships can be exhilarating and challenging all at once. The divorce rate is at an all-time high with many couples at a loss on what it takes to build sustainable love and connection. Beyond the Bedroom offers numerous educational events where participants can explore what is possible for women and men in their relationships and in their sexuality. Our goal at Beyond the Bedroom is to provide a safe venue for you to learn, explore and find answers that will help you improve yourself, your relationships and ignite your passion.


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RedEye Photo Photographer
Star V CandiModel Female Lenoir, North Carolina, US
My MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/CandiKisses
Mayhem # 2916802
About MeMy name is Candice, I am 24 years old, and somewhat alternative. I have tattoos and piercings which I consider a part of me and who I am! Some of my goals from my MM page is to build a very versatile portfolio so I'm not stuck with just the punk rock look... When I was 8 years old I began to model for Ford Modeling Agency in New York & LOVED every second! Now that I am older & not your "All American Girl" I want to show that there IS beauty and art in women and men with tattoos or any other body modifications!!
I would like to become a model by working with various professional photographers in as many locations as possible. This is something that I always wanted to do and I figured, by trying this out it will help me to become a successful model one day. I always loved the camera and having pictures taken of me is one of my favorite things to do. I am very reliable and have a great follow-up. I will not flake on you. I have my own reliable transportation and will reserve the right to bring an unobtrusive escort to my shoots.
If you contact me about a TFP work let me know about your different style that would add something new to my portfolio.
If you are a GWC (Guy with Camera) and shoot at the park or in a hotel room with a point and click camera, DO NOT WASTE YOUR ENERGY EVEN WRITING ME PLEASE.
When contacting me please include the following information:
Date of shoot
Time of the shoot
Location of shoot (studio, on location etc.)
Length of shoot
Type of Shoot (i.e. Print, Editorial, Fashion, Glamour, etc.)
Wardrobe requests/makeup style requests
Paid or TFP (TFP only with select photographers and specific conditions)
I am mainly interested in paid shoots, but I also want to build my versatile portfolio and help others do the same!
I have a flexable schedule and want to make some great images! Contact me if you even have a feeling I could be what you want... I may suprise you!
Have you worked with Star V Candi? Add Credits for Star V Candi! >>
RedEye Photo Photographer
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Thornton Art and Photo Artist/Painter
- science - Photographer
Chris Carlo Marelli Model
Baron Cooper Photographer
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Welcome to E-Books Directory
This is a freely downloadable e-book.
Introduction to PLC controllers
Read this book online or download it here for free
Custom Search
Introduction to PLC controllers
by Nebojsa Matic
Publisher: mikroElektronika 2003
PLC are industrial microcontroller systems where hardware and software are specifically adapted to industrial environment. The key to their success is the fact that you don't have to learn a new programming language to program them. How do they work exactly? How to connect a simple sensor? How to program in ladder diagram? In this book you will find the answers to these questions and more.
More Sites Like This
|Science Books Online
|Books Fairy
|Maths e-Books
|Programming Books


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Medical Definition of Psychiatric trauma
Psychiatric trauma: An experience that is emotionally painful, distressful, or shocking and which may result in lasting mental and physical effects.
Psychiatric trauma is essentially a normal response to an extreme event. It involves the creation of emotional memories about the distressful event that are stored in structures deep within the brain. In general, it is believed that the more direct the exposure to the traumatic event, the higher the risk for emotional harm.
In a school shooting, for example, the student who is injured probably will be most severely affected emotionally; and the student who sees a classmate shot, even killed, is likely to be more emotionally affected than the student who was in another part of the school when the violence occurred. But even second-hand exposure to violence can be traumatic. For this reason, all children and adolescents exposed to violence or a disaster, even if only through graphic media reports, should be watched for signs of psychiatric trauma. The same applies to adults.Source: MedTerms™ Medical Dictionary
Last Editorial Review: 6/9/2016
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z
Search Medical Dictionary
Mental Health Resources
- Could I Have Binge Eating Disorder?
- Caring for Someone With Schizophrenia
- MS Flares-Ups and Depression Risk


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CommentsBack to Article
Contribute your own thoughts, experience, questions, and knowledge for the benefit of all MedPage Today Healthcare Professionals and Expert Patients™.Post a comment
Jeanne Erdmann
I bought one years ago from a bakery in St. Louis's Central West End. It wasn't for a baby shower, it was for my husband's then boss's retirement party. This boss was apparently an extremely crude person who certainly, and thankfully, wouldn't last long in today's workplace..


text: Explore Colorado Springs' paradise in one magical stop. Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark since 1971. Imagine dramatic views, 300' towering sandstone rock formations against a backdrop of snow-capped Pikes Peak and brilliant blue skies. This world class Visitor & Nature Center is the most visited attraction in the region with an exciting, NEW, HD show: "How Did Those Red Rocks Get There?" shown in the Geo-Trekker Theater. Delight in one of Colorado's most photographed views while eating in our glassed in cafe or from our terrace overlooking Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods. Where else can you eat inside a postcard? Pick up your FREE park map, guided walks, nature talks, bird watching, hiking. Dynamic New Interactive Museum Exhibits Now Open! FREE NATURE CENTER.


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Two bitter rivals in the debate over how to improve schools did something unexpected today during an education conference in Washington: They conceded there's a lot they agree on.
In a 30-minute impromptu interview with USA TODAY and Education Week, Teach For America founder Wendy Kopp and National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel seemed ready to bury the hatchet.
The meeting of the minds today emerged as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan unveiled the Obama administration's new plan to reform the USA's teacher training system.
NEA has been harshly critical of TFA over much of the program's 21-year history, complaining that TFA does little to encourage its bright, young teachers to stay in the classroom past a two-year commitment. It has also accused TFA of undermining the union.
Last summer, NEA moved to limit TFA activity in districts "where there is no teacher shortage or when districts use TFA agreements to reduce teacher costs, silence union voices,or as a vehicle to bust unions," Education Week reported. TFA, in response, countered that "we do not and would not engage in union busting or silencing activities."
On Friday, Van Roekel, a former math teacher, noted that a friend's daughter had been contacted four times by TFA to tempt her into the famed alternative-certification teaching program. "That's a recruitment system," he said.
While taking a share of credit for the growing sophistication of teacher recruitment in school districts nationwide, Kopp said the nation's schools need both alternative and standard teacher-training programs. "We just need to move beyond the overly simplistic idea that it's one form vs. another," she said.
Kopp also said she's glad President Obama is pushing for a new approach to teacher quality, saying a change in tone is essential. "I really could not agree more about the need to move beyond the current state of public discussion on education reform," she said. "I think we will never get where we need to go if we cannot somehow find a way."
For more than a decade, a key topic of disagreement has been the role that poverty plays in education, with many reformers saying a great school can help kids overcome poverty. Many educators say schools are ineffective in the face of poverty.
On Monday, Van Roekel proposed a third way, saying educators "have to recognize that it's impacting these kids," but added, "you don't blame it" for school failure. He said districts that remove obstacles to poor kids' achievement by, for instance, maintaining health clinics, provide a good model.
Kopp listened, then said:
"I'm trying to figure out if there's any air between what he said just now and what we believe. We believe you cannot ignore poverty. We just believe right now the reason we have this problem is we're sending kids who face all these extra challenges into the same setup -- not even, because the kids in the more resourced communities have stronger schools, so we're sending them into a lesser version of the same setup that we send kids with many more privileges into, and that is why we have the achievement gap."
At times, the roles seemed reversed, with Kopp pushing for more education funding and Van Roekel thundering, "The system can only produce what it's designed to produce. ... We built that system and we can change that system."
In the end, disagreements remained, but they seemed outweighed by how much the pair agreed. When a reporter pointed out how often it seemed to happen during the discussion, Van Roekel said, "We like each other." Kopp only smiled.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Also: Follow On Deadline on Twitter


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Manfrotto Advanced Holster Camera Bag - Medium (MBMAHM)
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Manfrotto Advanced Holster Camera Bag - Medium (MBMAHM)
The ideal bag for photographers on the move.
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Designed to carry and protect a DSLR camera body as well as all your essential accessories, this intuituive holster bag is carried by a handle, a detachable shoulder strap or belt connection loops.
- Top opening gives fast, easy access to all your essentials
- Two side pockets and an interior modular media pouch
- Rain protector creates a barrier to keep inside of bag dry
- Water repellant fabric coating
This Product is offered and supplied by Dick Smith pursuant to the Terms and Conditions.


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Determining the Amount of Time Needed for Nelfinavir to Boost the Immune System in Adults
This study has been completed.
Mayo Clinic
Information provided by:
Mayo Clinic
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: June 28, 2006
Last updated: January 19, 2010
Last verified: January 2010
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
Our group has shown that HAART increases the thymic production of naïve T cells in the healthy adult, thereby boosting the immune system. We propose to investigate the amount of and length of Nelfinavir therapy necessary to increase those cells in adults. Subjects will be treated with Nelfinavir, and blood will be sampled at variable times to determine the immune response in peripheral blood.
|Immune Response
|Drug: Nelfinavir
|Phase 1
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Open Label
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|Investigating the Time of Nelfinavir Treatment Necessary for an Increase in Thymic Naive T Cells in Adults.
Resource links provided by NLM:
Drug Information available for: Nelfinavir Nelfinavir MesylateU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Mayo Clinic:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Will confirm that HIV protease inhibitors increase thymic naïve T-cell production and determine the dose and time needed to increase thymic T-cell production in adults.
|Study Start Date:
|October 2005
|Study Completion Date:
|October 2007
|Primary Completion Date:
|October 2007 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Blood will be collected at several time points during the study. DNA will be isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and assessed for signal point (sj) TREC content relative to genomic CCR5 copies by real time PCR in a spectoflourometic thermal cycler. TREC values will be expressed as TREC copy number per copies of CCR5 or TREC/PBLs.
We anticipate that we will confirm our previous observations that nelfinavir therapy will increase TRECs, indicating naive T cell production from the thymus. The proposed study will determine the time course of the anticipated increase in TREC/PBLs.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|20 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Healthy individuals between the ages of 20 and 100. Exclusion criteria include the following: HIV, HBV/HCV positive, known sensitivity to protease inhibitors, oral intake contraindicated, diabetes mellitus diagnosed within the last six months, and any of the following medications: cisapride, amiodarone, terfenadine, rifampin/rifabutin, phenobarbital, pinozide, St. John's wort, ergot derivatives, quinidine, astemazole, carbemazapine, phenytoin, midazolam, triazolam, and simvastatin.
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00346619
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00346619
|United States, Minnesota
|Mayo Clinic
|Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
Sponsors and Collaborators
Mayo Clinic
|Principal Investigator:
|Stacey R. Vlahakis, M.D.
|Mayo Clinic
More Information
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on July 25, 2017
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00346619 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|June 28, 2006
|Last Updated:
|January 19, 2010
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
HIV Protease Inhibitors
Protease Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Anti-HIV Agents
Anti-Retroviral Agents
Antiviral Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on July 25, 2017


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Both in quantity and quality, Japanese literature ranks as one of the major literatures of the world, comparable in age, richness, and volume to English literature, though its course of development has been quite dissimilar. The surviving works comprise a literary tradition extending from the 7th century AD to the present; during all of this time there was never a "dark age" devoid of literary production. Not only do poetry, the novel, and the drama have long histories in Japan, but some literary genres not so highly esteemed in other countries—including diaries, travel accounts, and books of random thoughts—are also prominent. A considerable body of writing by Japanese in the Chinese classical language, of much greater bulk and importance than comparable Latin writings by Englishmen, testifies to the Japanese literary indebtedness to China. Even the writings entirely in Japanese present an extraordinary variety of styles, which cannot be explained merely in terms of the natural evolution of the language. Some styles were patently influenced by the importance of Chinese vocabulary and syntax; , but others developed in response to the internal requirements of the various genres, whether the terseness of haiku (a poem in 17 syllables) or the bombast of the dramatic recitation.
The difficulties of reading Japanese literature can hardly be exaggerated; even a specialist in one period is likely to have trouble deciphering a work from another period or genre. Japanese style has always favoured ambiguity, and the particles of speech necessary for easy comprehension of a statement are often omitted as unnecessary or as fussily precise. Sometimes the only clue to the subject or object of a sentence is the level of politeness in which the words are couched; for example, the verb mesu (meaning "to eat," "to wear," "to ride in a carriage," etc.) designates merely an action performed by a person of quality. In many cases, ready comprehension of a simple sentence depends on a familiarity with the background of a particular period of history. The verb miru, "to see," had overtones of "to have an affair with" or even "to marry" during the Heian period in the 10th and 11th centuries, when men were generally able to see women only after they had become intimate. The long period of Japanese isolation in the 17th and 18th centuries also tended to make the literature provincial, or intelligible only to persons sharing a common background; the phrase "some smoke rose noisily" (kemuri tachisawagite), for example, was all readers of the late 17th century needed to realize that an author was referring to the Great Fire of 1682 that ravaged the shogunal capital of Edo (the modern city of Tokyo).
Despite the great difficulties arising from such idiosyncrasies of style, Japanese literature of all periods is exceptionally appealing to modern readers, whether read in the original or in translation. Because it is prevailingly subjective and coloured by an emotional rather than an intellectual or moralistic tone, its themes have a universal quality almost unaffected by time. To read a diary by a court lady of the 10th century is still a moving experience, because she described with such honesty and intensity her deepest feelings that the modern-day reader forgets the chasm of history and changed social customs separating her world from his owntoday's.
The "pure" Japanese language, untainted and unfertilized by Chinese influence, contained remarkably few words of an abstract nature. Just as English borrowed words such words as morality, honesty, justice, and the like from the Continent, the Japanese borrowed these terms from China; but if the Japanese language was lacking in the vocabulary appropriate to a Confucian essay, it could express almost infinite shadings of emotional content. A Japanese poet who was dissatisfied with the limitations imposed by his native language or who wished to describe unemotional subjects—whether the quiet outing of aged gentlemen to a riverside or the poet's awareness of his insignificance as compared to the grandeur of the universe—naturally turned to writing poetry in Chinese. For the most part, however, Japanese writers, far from feeling dissatisfied with the limitations on expression imposed by their language, were convinced that virtuoso perfection in phrasing and an acute refinement of sentiment were more important to poetry than the voicing of intellectually satisfying concepts.
From the 16th century on, many words that had been excluded from Japanese poetry because of their foreign origins or their humble meanings, following the dictates of the codes "codes" of poetic diction established in the 10th century, were adopted by the practitioners of the haiku, originally an iconoclastic, popular verse form. For the most part, however, the Japanese writers, far from feeling dissatisfied with the limitations on expression imposed by their language, were convinced that virtuoso perfection in phrasing and an acute refinement of sentiment were more important to poetry than the voicing of intellectually satisfying conceptsThese codes of poetic diction, accompanied by a considerable body of criticism, were the creation of an acute literary sensibility, fostered especially by the traditions of the court, and were usually composed by the leading poets or dramatists themselves. These codes exerted an inhibiting effect on new forms of literary composition, but they also helped to preserve a distinctively aristocratic tone.
The Japanese language itself also shaped poetic devices and forms. Because it Japanese lacks a stress accent , and meaningful rhymes (all words end in one of five simple vowels), or quantity, poetry was two traditional features of poetry in the West. By contrast, poetry in Japanese is distinguished from prose mainly in that it consisted consists of alternating lines of five and seven syllables; however, if the intensity of emotional expression was is low, this distinction alone could not cannot save a poem from dropping into prose. The difficulty of maintaining a high level of poetic intensity may account for the preference for short verse forms that could be polished with perfectionist care. But however moving a tanka (verse in 31 syllables) is, it clearly cannot fulfill some of the functions of longer poetic forms; , and there are no Japanese equivalents to the great longer poems of Western literature, such as John Milton's Paradise Lost, The Rape of the Lock, or Tintern Abbey and Dante's The Divine Comedy. Instead, the Japanese poets devoted their efforts to perfecting each syllable of their compositions, expanding the content of a tanka by suggestion and allusion, and prizing shadings of tone and diction more than originality or boldness of expression.
The fluid syntax of the prose affected not only style but content as well. Japanese sentences are sometimes of inordinate length, responding to the subjective turnings and twistings of the author's thought; , and the writers considered smooth transitions from one statement to the next, rather than structural unity, are considered the mark of excellent prose. The longer works accordingly betray at times a lack of overall structure of the kind associated in the West with Greek concepts of literary form but consist instead of episodes linked chronologically or by other associations. The difficulty experienced by Japanese writers in organizing their impressions and perceptions into sustained works may explain the development of the diary and travel account, genres in which successive days or the successive stages of a journey provide a structure for otherwise unrelated descriptions. Japanese literature contains some of the world's longest novels and plays; , but its genius is most strikingly displayed in the shorter works, whether the tanka, the haiku, the Nō Noh plays (also called No, or nō), or the poetic diaries.
An acute literary sensibility, fostered especially by the traditions of the court, encouraged the creation of "codes" of poetic practice and of a considerable body of criticism, extending back to the 10th century, that was usually composed by the leading poets or dramatists themselves. These codes exerted an inhibiting effect on new forms of literary composition, but they also helped to preserve a distinctively aristocratic tone.
Japanese literature absorbed much direct influence from China, but the characteristic literary works are strikingly dissimilar. The tradition of feminine writing, especially of such introspective works as diaries, gave a colouring to Japanese prose quite unlike the more objective, masculine Chinese writings. Although the Japanese have been criticized (even by some Japanese) for their imitations of Chinese examples (even by some Japanese), the earliest Japanese novel novels in fact antedates any antedate their Chinese novels counterparts by centuries; , and the Japanese theatre developed quite independently. Because the Chinese and Japanese languages are unrelated, the Japanese poetry naturally took different forms, although Chinese poetic examples and literary theories were often in the minds of the Japanese poets. Japanese and Korean are probably may be related languages, but Korean literary influence was negligible, though Koreans served an important function in transmitting Chinese literary and philosophical works to Japan. Poetry and prose written in the Korean language were unknown to the Japanese until relatively modern times.
From the 8th to the 19th century Chinese literature enjoyed greater prestige among educated Japanese than their own; but a love for the Japanese classics, especially those composed at the court in the 10th and 11th centuries, gradually spread among the entire people and influenced literary expression in every form, even the songs and tales composed by humble people totally removed from the aristocratic world portrayed in classical literature.
The first writing of literature in Japanese was occasioned by influence from China. The Japanese were still comparatively primitive and without writing when, in the first four centuries AD, knowledge of Chinese civilization gradually reached them. They rapidly assimilated much of this civilization, and the Japanese scribes adopted Chinese characters as a system of writing, although an alphabet (if one had been available to them) would have been infinitely better suited to the Japanese language. The characters, first devised to represent Chinese monosyllables, could be used only with great ingenuity to represent the agglutinative forms of the Japanese language. The ultimate results were chaotic, giving rise to one of the most complicated systems of writing ever invented. The use of Chinese characters enormously influenced modes of expression and led to an association between literary composition and calligraphy lasting many centuries.
The earliest Japanese texts were written in Chinese because no system of transcribing the sounds and grammatical forms of Japanese had been invented. The oldest known inscription, on a sword that dates from about AD 440, already showed some modification of normal Chinese usage in order to transcribe Japanese names and expressions. The most accurate way of writing Japanese words was by using Chinese characters not for their meanings but for their phonetic values, giving each character a pronunciation approximating that used by the Chinese themselves. In the oldest extant works, the Kojiki (712; "Records The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters"Matters) and Nihon shoki, or Nihon-gi (720; "Chronicles of Japan" Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697), more than 120 songs, some perhaps dating back to perhaps the 5th century AD, are given in phonetic transcription, doubtless because the Japanese attached great importance to the sounds themselves. In these two works, both officially commissioned "histories" of Japan, many sections are were written entirely in Chinese; but parts of the Kojiki were composed in a complicated mixture of language languages that made use of the Chinese characters sometimes for their meaning and sometimes for their sound.
Most of the surviving Japanese myths are recorded in these two works. They tell of the origin of the ruling class and were apparently aimed at strengthening its authority. Therefore, they are not pure myths but have much political colouring. They are based on two main traditions: the Yamato Cycle, centred around the sun goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami, and the Izumo Cycle, in which the principal character is Susanoo (or Susanowo) no Mikoto, the brother of Amaterasu.
Genealogies and mythological records were kept in Japan, at least from the 6th century AD and probably long before that. By the time of the emperor Temmu (7th century), it became necessary to know the genealogy of all important families in order to establish the position of each in the eight levels of rank and title modelled after the Chinese court system. For this reason, Temmu ordered the compilation of myths and genealogies that finally resulted in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki. The compilers of these and other early documents had at their disposal not only oral tradition but also documentary sources. A greater variety of sources was available to the compiler of the Nihon shoki. While the Kojiki is richer in genealogy and myth, the Nihon shoki adds a great deal to scholarly understanding of both the history and the myth of early Japan. Its purpose was to give the newly Sinicized court a history that could be compared with the annals of the Chinese.
The purpose of the cosmologies of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki is to trace the Imperial genealogy back to the foundation of the world. The myths of the Yamato Cycle figure prominently in these cosmologies. In the beginning, the world was a chaotic mass, an ill-defined egg, full of seeds. Gradually, the finer parts became heaven (Yang), the heavier parts earth (Yin). Deities were produced between the two: first, three single deities, and then a series of divine couples. According to the Nihon shoki, one of the first three "pure male" gods appeared in the form of a reed that connected heaven and earth. A central foundation was now laid down for the drifting cosmos, and mud and sand accumulated upon it. A stake was driven in, and an inhabitable place was created. Finally, the god Izanagi (He Who Invites) and the goddess Izanami (She Who Invites) appeared. Ordered by their heavenly superiors, they stood on a floating bridge in heaven and stirred the ocean with a spear. When the spear was pulled up, the brine dripping from the tip formed Onogoro, an island that became solid spontaneously. Izanagi and Izanami then descended to this island, met each other by circling around the celestial pillar, discovered each other's sexuality, and began to procreate. After initial failures, they produced the eight islands that now make up Japan. Izanami finally gave birth to the god of fire and died of burns. Raging with anger, Izanagi attacked his son, from whose blood such deities as the god of thunder were born. Other gods were born of Izanami on her deathbed. They presided over metal, earth, and agriculture. In grief, Izanagi pursued Izanami to Yomi (analogous to Hades) and asked her to come back to the land of the living. The goddess replied that she had already eaten food cooked on a stove in Yomi and could not return. In spite of her warning, Izanagi looked at his wife and discovered that her body was infested with maggots. The angry and humiliated goddess then chased Izanagi from the underworld. When he finally reached the upper world, Izanagi blocked the entrance to the underworld with an enormous stone. The goddess then threatened Izanagi, saying that she would kill a thousand people every day. He replied that he would father one thousand and five hundred children for every thousand she killed. After this, Izanagi pronounced the formula of divorce.
Izanagi then returned to this world and purified himself from the miasma of Yomi no Kuni. From the lustral water falling from his left eye was born the sun goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami, ancestress of the Imperial family. From his right eye was born the moon god Tsukiyomi no Mikoto and from his nose, the trickster god Susanoo. Izanagi gave the sun goddess a jewel from a necklace and told her to govern heaven. He entrusted the dominion of night to the moon god. Susanoo was told to govern the sea. According to the Kojiki, Susanoo became dissatisfied with his share and ascended to heaven to see his older sister. Amaterasu, fearing his wild behaviour, met him and suggested that they prove their faithfulness to each other by bringing forth children. They agreed to receive a seed from each other, chew it, and spit it away. If gods rather than goddesses were born, it would be taken as a sign of the good faith of the one toward the other. When Susanoo brought forth gods, his faithfulness was recognized, and he was permitted to live in heaven.
Susanoo, becoming conceited over his success, began to play the role of a trickster. He scattered excrement over the dining room of Amaterasu, where she was celebrating the ceremony of the first fruits. His worst offense was to fling into Amaterasu's chamber a piebald horse he had "flayed with a backward flaying" (a ritual offense).
Enraged at the pranks of her brother, the sun goddess hid herself in a celestial cave, and darkness filled the heavens and the earth. The gods were at a loss. Finally, they gathered in front of the cave, built a fire, and made cocks crow. They erected a sacred evergreen tree, and from its branches they hung curved beads, mirrors, and cloth offerings. A goddess named Amenouzume no Mikoto then danced half-nude. Amaterasu, hearing the multitudes of gods laughing and applauding, became curious and opened the door of the cave. Seizing the opportunity, a strong-armed god dragged her out of the cave.
The myths of the Izumo Cycle then begin to appear in the narration. Having angered the heavenly gods and having been banished from heaven, Susanoo descended to Izumo, where he rescued Princess Marvellous Rice Field (Kushiinada Hime) from an eight-headed serpent. He then married the Princess and became the progenitor of the ruling family of Izumo. The most important member of the family of Susanoo was the god Ōkuninushi no Mikoto, the great earth chief, who assumed control of this region before the descent to earth of the descendants of the sun goddess.
Before long, Amaterasu, the leader of the celestial gods—the gods of Izumo were known as earthly gods—asked Ōkuninushi to turn over the land of Izumo, saying that "the land of the plentiful reed-covered plains and fresh rice ears" was to be governed by the descendants of the heavenly gods. After the submission of Izumo, Amaterasu made her grandson Ninigi no Mikoto (ninigi is said to represent rice in its maturity) descend to earth. According to the Nihon shoki, Amaterasu handed Ninigi some ears of rice from a sacred rice field and told him to raise rice on earth and to worship the celestial gods. The grandson of the sun goddess then descended to the peak of Takachiho (meaning high thousand ears) in Miyazaki, Kyushu. There he married a daughter of the god of the mountain, named Konohana-sakuya Hime (Princess Blossoms of the Trees).
When Ninigi's wife became pregnant and was about to give birth, all in a single night, he demanded proof that the child was his. She accordingly set fire to her room, then safely produced three sons. One of them, in turn, became the father of the legendary first emperor, Jimmu, who is considered to mark the watershed between the "age of the gods" and the historical age; but Jimmu's eastern expedition and conquest of the Japanese heartland was also a myth.
The Kojiki, though revered as the most ancient document concerning the myths and history of the Japanese people, was not included in collections of literature until well into the 20th century. The myths in the Kojiki are occasionally beguiling (see Japanese mythology), but the only truly literary parts of the work are the songs. The early songs lack a fixed metrical form; the lines, consisting of an indeterminate number of syllables, were strung out to irregular lengths, showing no conception of poetic form. Some songs, however, seem to have been reworked—perhaps when the manuscript was transcribed in the 8th century—into what became the classic Japanese verse form, the tanka (short poem), consisting of five lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables. Various poetic devices employed in these songs, such as the makura kotoba ("pillow word"), a kind of fixed epithet, remained a feature of later poetry.
Altogether, some 500 primitive songs have been preserved in various collections. Many describe travel, and a fascination with place-names, evident in the loving enumeration of mountains, rivers, and towns with their mantic epithets, was developed to great lengths in the gazetteers (fudoki) compiled at the beginning of the 8th century. These works, of only intermittent literary interest, devote considerable attention to the folk origins of different place-names, as well as to other local legends.
A magnificent anthology of poetry, the Man'yōshū (compiled after 759; "Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves"Leaves), is the single great literary monument of the Nara period (710–784), although it includes poetry written in the preceding century, if not earlier. Most of the 4,500 or so poems are tankas; tanka, but the masterpieces of the Man'yōshū are the 260 chōka ("long poems"), ranging up to 150 lines in length and cast in the form of alternating lines in five and seven syllables followed by a concluding line in seven syllables. The amplitude of the chōka permitted the poets to treat themes impossible within the compass of the tanka—whether the death of a wife or child, the glory of the Imperial imperial family, the discovery of a gold mine in a remote province, or the hardships of military service.
The greatest of the Man'yōshū poets, Kakinomoto Hitomaro, served as a kind of poet laureate in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, accompanying the sovereigns on their excursions and composing odes of lamentation for deceased members of the Imperial imperial family. Modern scholars have suggested that the chōka may have originated as exorcisms of the dead, quieting the ghosts of recently deceased persons by reciting their deeds and promising that they will never be forgotten. Some of Hitomaro's masterpieces so convincingly describe the glories of princes or princesses he may never have met so convincingly as to that they transcend any difference between "public" expressions of grief and his private feelings. Hitomaro's chōka are unique in Japanese poetry thanks to their superb combination of imagery, syntax, and emotional strength; they are works of truly masculine expression. He showed in his tanka, however, that he was also capable of the evocative, feminine qualities typical of later Japanese poetry.
The chōka often concluded with one or more hanka ("envoys") that resumed resume central points of the preceding poem. The hanka written by the 8th-century poet Yamabe Akahito are so perfectly conceived as to make the chōka they follow at times seem unnecessary; the concision and evocativeness of these poems, identical in form with the tanka, are close to the ideals of later Japanese poetry. Nevertheless, the supreme works of the Man'yōshū are the chōka of Hitomaro, Ōtomo Tabito, Ōtomo Yakamochi (probably the chief compiler of the anthology), and Yamanoue Okura. The most striking quality of the Man'yōshū is its powerful sincerity of expression. The poets were certainly not artless songsmiths exclaiming in wonder over the beauties of nature, a picture that is often painted of them by sentimental critics; , but their emotions were stronger and more directly expressed than in later poetry. The corpse of an unknown travellertraveler, rather than the falling of the cherry blossoms, stirred in Hitomaro an awareness of the uncertainty of human life.
The Man'yōshū is exceptional in the number of poems composed outside the court, whether by frontier guards or persons of humble occupation. Perhaps some of these poems were actually written by courtiers in the guise of commoners, but the use of dialect and familiar imagery contrasts with the strict poetic diction imposed in the 10th century. The diversity of themes and poetic forms also distinguishes the Man'yōshū from the more polished but narrower verse of later times. In Okura's famous "Dialogue Dialogue on Poverty," for example, two men—one poor and the other destitute—describe their miserable lots, revealing a concern over social conditions that would be absent from the classical tanka. Okura's visit to China early in the 8th century, as the member of a Japanese embassy, may account for Chinese influence in his poetry. His poems are also prefaced in many instances by passages in Chinese stating the circumstances of the poems or citing Buddhist parallels.
The Man'yōshū was transcribed in an almost perversely complicated system that used Chinese characters arbitrarily, sometimes for meaning and sometimes for sound. The lack of a suitable script probably inhibited literary production in Japanese during the Nara period. The growing importance, however, of Chinese poetry as the mark of literary accomplishment in a courtier may also have interrupted the development of Japanese literature after its first flowering in the Man'yōshū.
Eighteen Man'yōshū poets are represented in the collection Kaifūsō (751), an anthology of poetry in Chinese composed by members of the court. These poems are little more than pastiches of ideas and images borrowed directly from China; the composition of such poetry reflects the enormous prestige of Chinese civilization at this time.
The foundation of the city of Heian-kyō (later known as Kyōto) as the capital of Japan marked the beginning of a period of great literary brilliance. The earliest writings of the period, however, were almost all in Chinese because of the continued desire to emulate the culture of the continent. Three Imperially imperially sponsored anthologies of Chinese poetry appeared between 814 and 827, and it seemed for a time that writing in Japanese would be relegated to an extremely minor position. The most distinguished writer of Chinese verse, the 9th-century poet Sugawara Michizane, gave a final lustre to this period of Chinese learning by his erudition and poetic gifts; , but his refusal to go to China when offered the post of ambassador, on the grounds that China no longer had anything to teach Japan, marked a turning point in the response to Chinese influence.
The invention of the kana phonetic syllabary, traditionally attributed to the celebrated 9th-century Shingon priest and Sanskrit scholar Kūkai, enormously facilitated writing in Japanese. Private collections of poetry in kana began to be compiled about 880; , and in 905 the Kokinshū ("Collection from A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern Times"), the first major work of kana literature, was compiled by the poet Ki Tsurayuki and others. This anthology contains 1,111 poems divided into 20 books arranged by topics, including six 6 books of seasonal poems, five 5 books of love poems, and single books devoted to such subjects as travel, mourning, and congratulations. The two prefaces are clearly indebted to the theories of poetry described by the compilers of such Chinese anthologies as the Shih Ching and Wen hsüan Shijing ("Classic of Poetry") and Wen xuan ("Selections of Refined Literature"), but the preferences they express would be shared by most tanka poets for the next 1,000 years. The preface by Tsurayuki, the oldest work of sustained prose in kana, enumerated the circumstances that move men to write poetry; he believed that melancholy, whether aroused by a change in the seasons or by a glimpse of white hairs reflected in a mirror, provided a more congenial mood for writing poetry than the harsher emotions treated in the earlier, pre-kana anthology Man'yōshū. The best tanka in the Kokinshū captivate the reader by their perceptivity and tonal beauty, but these flawlessly turned miniatures obviously lack the variety of the Man'yōshū.
Skill in composing tanka became an asset in gaining preference at court; it was also essential to a lover, whose messages to his mistress (who presumably could not read Chinese, still the language employed by men in official documents) often consisted of poems describing his own emotions or begging her favours. In this period the tanka almost completely ousted the chōka, the length of which was indefinite, because the shorter poems tanka were more suited to the lover's billet-doux or to competitions on prescribed themes.
For the poets of the Kokinshū and the later court anthologies, originality was less desirable than perfection of language and tone. The critics, far from praising novelty of effects, condemned deviations deviation from the standard poetic diction (diction—which was established by the Kokinshū) and consisted of some 2,000 words and words—and insisted on absolute adherence to the poetic conventionscodes first formulated in the 10th century. Although these restrictions saved Japanese poetry from lapses into bad taste or vulgarity, they froze it for centuries in prescribed modes of expression. Only a skilled critic can distinguish a typical tanka of the 10th century from one of the 18th century. The Kokinshū set the precedent for later court anthologies, and a knowledge of its contents was indispensable to all poets as a guide and source of literary allusions.
Love poetry occupies a prominent place in the Kokin-shū Kokinshū, but the joys of love are seldom celebrated; instead, the poets wrote write in the melancholy vein prescribed in the preface, describing the uncertainties before a meeting with the beloved, the pain of parting, or the sad realization that an affair had has ended. The invariable perfection of diction, unmarred by any indecorous cry from the heart, may sometimes make one doubt the poet's sincerity. This is not true of the great Kokinshū poets of the 9th century—Ono Komachi, Lady Ise, Ariwara Narihira, and Tsurayuki himself—but even Buddhist priests, who presumably had renounced carnal love, wrote love poetry at the court competitions; , and it is hard to detect any difference between such poems and those of sincere actual lovers.
The preface of the Kokinshū lists judgments on the principal poets of the collection. This criticism is unsatisfying to a modern reader because it is so terse and unanalytical; , but it nevertheless marks a beginning of Japanese poetic criticism, an art that developed impressively during the course of the Heian period.
Ki Tsurayuki is celebrated also for his Tosa nikki (935936; The Tosa Diary), the account of his homeward journey to Kyōto from the province of Tosa, where he had served as governor. Tsurayuki wrote this diary in Japanese, though men at the time normally kept their diaries in Chinese (perhaps it was in order to escape reproach for adopting this unmanly style that he pretended a woman in the governor's entourage was the author). Events of the journey are interspersed with the poems composed on various occasions. The work is affecting especially because of the repeated, though muted, references to the death of Tsurayuki's daughter in Tosa.
Tosa nikki is the earliest example of a literary diary. Although Tsurayuki pretended that it was written by a woman, most of the later Heian diarists who wrote in the Japanese language were, in fact, court ladies; their writings include some of the supreme masterpieces of the literature. Kagerō nikki (The Gossamer Years) describes the life between 954 and 974 of the second wife of Fujiwara Kaneie, a prominent court official. The first volume, related long after the events, is in the manner of an autobiographical novel; even the author confesses that her remembrances are probably tinged with fiction. The second next two volumes approach a true diary, with some entries apparently made on the days indicated. The writer (known only as "the mother of Michitsuna") describes, with many touches of self-pity, her unhappy life with her husband. She evidently assumed that readers would sympathize, and often this is the case, though her self-centred complaints are not endearing. In one passage, in which she gloats over the death of a rival's child, her obsession with her own griefs shows to worst advantage; yet . Yet her journal is extraordinarily moving precisely because the author dwells exclusively on universally recognizable emotions and omits the details of court life that must have absorbed the men.
Other diaries of the period include the anecdotal Murasaki Shikibu nikki ("The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu"; Eng. trans. , Murasaki Shikibu: Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs), at once an absorbing literary work and a source of information on the court life the author (Murasaki Shikibu) described more romantically in her masterpiece Genji monogatari (c. 1010; The Tale of Genji) , and in Izumi Shikibu nikki (The Diary of Izumi Shikibu), which is less a diary than a short story liberally ornamented with poetry.
These "diaries" are closely related in content and form to the uta monogatari ("poem tales") that emerged as a literary genre later in the 10th century. Ise monogatari (c. 980; Tales of Ise) consists of 143 episodes, each containing one or more poems and an explanation in prose of the circumstances of composition. The brevity and often the ambiguity of the tanka gave rise to a need for such explanations, and, when these explanations became extended or (as in the case of Ise monogatari) were interpreted as biographical information about one poet (Ariwara Narihira), they approached the realm of fiction.
Along with the poem tales, there were works of religious or fanciful inspiration going back to Nihon ryōiki (822; Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition), an account of Buddhist miracles in Japan compiled by the priest Kyōkai. These Priests probably used these stories, written in Chinese, were probably used as a source of sermons by the priests with the intent of persuading ordinary Japanese, incapable of reading difficult works of theology, that they must lead virtuous lives if they were not to suffer in hell for present misdeeds. No such didactic intent is noticeable in Taketori monogatari (10th century; Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), a fairy tale about a princess who comes from the moon Moon to dwell on earth Earth in the house of a humble bamboo cutter; the various tests she imposes on her suitors, fantastic though they are, are described with humour and realism.
The first lengthy work of fiction in Japanese, Utsubo monogatari ("The Tale of the Hollow Tree"), was apparently written between 970 and 983, although the last chapter may have been written later. This uneven, ill-digested work is of interest chiefly as an amalgam of elements in the poem tales and fairy tales; it contains 986 tanka, and its episodes range from early realism to pure fantasy.
The contrast between this crude work and the sublime Genji monogatari is overwhelming. Perhaps the difference is best explained in terms of the feminine traditions of writing, exemplified especially by the diaries, which enabled Murasaki Shikibu to discover depths in her characters unsuspected by the male author of Utsubo monogatari. The Genji monogatari is the finest work not only of the Heian period but of all Japanese literature and merits being called the first important novel written anywhere in the world. Genji monogatari was called a work of mono no aware ("a sensitivity to things") by the great 18th-century literary scholar Motoori Norinaga; the hero, Prince Genji, is not remarkable for his martial prowess or his talents as a statesman but as an incomparable lover, sensitive to each of the many women he wins. The story is related in terms of the successive women Genji loves; each of them evokes a different response from this marvellously marvelously complex man. The last third of the novel, describing the world after Genji's death, is much darker in tone; , and the principal figures, though still impressive, seem no more than fragmentations of the peerless Genji.
The success of Genji monogatari was immediate. The author of the touching Sarashina nikki (mid-11th century; "Sarashina Diary"; Eng. trans. , As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams) described describes how as a girl she longed to visit the capital so that she might read the entire work (which had been completed some 10 years earlier). Imitations and derivative works based on Genji monogatari, especially on the last third of it, continued to be written for centuries, inhibiting the fiction composed by the court society.
Makura no sōshi (c. 1000; The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon) is another masterpiece of the Heian period that should be mentioned with Genji monogatari. Japanese critics have often distinguished the aware of Genji monogatari and the okashi of Makura no sōshi. Aware meant means sensitivity to the tragic implications of a moment or gesture, okashi the comic overtones of perhaps the same moment or gesture. The lover's departure at dawn evoked many wistful passages in Genji monogatari, but in Makura no sōshi the author Sei Shōnagon noted with unsparing exactness the lover's fumbling, ineffectual leave-taking and his lady's irritation. Murasaki Shikibu's aware can be traced through later literature—sensitivity always marked the writings of any author in the aristocratic tradition—but Sei Shōnagon's wit belonged to the Heian court alone.
The Heian court society passed its prime by the middle of the 11th century, but it did not collapse for another 100 years. Long after its political power had been usurped by military men, the court retained its prestige as the fountainhead of culture. But in the 12th century, literary works belonging to a quite different tradition began to appear. Konjaku monogatari (early 12th century; "Tales of Now and Then"; partially translated into English as Ages Ago and as Tales of Times Now Past), a massive collection of religious stories and folktales drawn not only from the Japanese countryside but also from Indian and Chinese sources, described elements of society that had never been treated in the court novels. These stories, though crudely written, provide glimpses of how the common people spoke and behaved in an age marked by warfare and new religious movements. The collection of folk songs Ryōjin hishō, compiled in 1179 by the emperor Go-Shirakawa, suggests the vitality of this burgeoning popular culture even as the aristocratic society was being threatened with destruction.
The warfare of the 12th century brought to undisputed power military men (samurai) whose new regime was based on martial discipline. Though the samurai expressed respect for the old culture, some of them even studying tanka composition with the Kyōto masters, the capital of the country moved to Kamakura. The lowered position of women under this feudalistic government perhaps explains the noticeable diminution in the importance of writings by court ladies; indeed, there was hardly a woman writer of distinction between the 13th and 19th centuries. The court poets, however, remained prolific: 15 Imperially imperially sponsored anthologies were completed between 1188 and 1439; , and most of the tanka followed the stereotypes established in earlier literary periods.
The finest of the later anthologies, the Shin kokinshū (c. 1205), was compiled by Fujiwara Sadaie, or Teika, among others, and is considered by many as the supreme accomplishment in tanka composition. The title of the anthology—"the new Kokinshū"—indicates the confidence of the compilers that the poets represented were worthy successors of those in the 905 collection; they included (besides the great Teika himself) Teika's father, Fujiwara Toshinari (Fujiwara Shunzei), ; the priest Saigyō, ; and the former emperor Go-Toba. These poets looked beyond the visible world for symbolic meanings. The brilliant colours of landscapes filled with blossoms or reddening leaves gave way to monochrome paintings; the poet, instead of dwelling on the pleasure or grief of an experience, sought in it some deeper meaning he could sense if not fully express. The tastes of Teika especially dominated Japanese poetic sensibility, thanks not only to his poetry and essays on poetry but to his choices of the works of the past most worthy of preservation.
Teika is credited also with a novel, Matsura no miya monogatari ("Tale of Matsura Shrine"Shrine," Eng. trans. The Tale of Matsura). Though it is unfinished and awkwardly constructed, its dreamlike atmosphere lingers in the mind with the overtones of Teika's poetry; dreams of the past were indeed the refuge of the medieval romancers, who modelled modeled their language on the Genji monogatari, though it was now archaic, and borrowed their themes and characters from the Heian masterpieces. Stories about wicked stepmothers are fairly common; perhaps the writers, contrasting their neglect with the fabled lives of the Heian courtiers, identified themselves with the maltreated stepdaughters; , and the typical happy ending of such stories—the stepdaughter in Sumiyoshi monogatari is married to a powerful statesman and her wicked stepmother humiliated—may have been the dream fulfillment of their own hopes.
Various diaries describe travels between Kyōto and the shogun's capital in Kamakura. Courtiers often made this long journey in order to press claims in lawsuits, and they recorded their impressions along the way in the typical mixture of prose and poetry. Izayoi nikki ("Diary of the Waning Moon"; Eng. trans. in Translations from Early Japanese Literature) tells of a journey made in 1277 by the nun Abutsu. A later autobiographical work that also contains extensive descriptions of travel is the superb Towazu-gatari (c. 1307; "Uninvited Remarks""A Story Nobody Asked For"; Eng. trans. , The Confessions of Lady Nijō) by Lady Nijō, a work (discovered only in 1940) that provides a final moment of glory to the long tradition of introspective writing by women at court.
Although these writings in the aristocratic manner preserved much of the manner of Heian literature, works of different character became even more prominent in the medieval period. There are many collections of Buddhist and popular tales, of which the most enjoyable is the Uji shūi monogatari (A Collection of Tales from Uji)—a , a compilation made over a period of years of some 197 brief stories. Although the incidents described in these tales are often similar to those found in Konjaku monogatari, they are told with considerably greater literary skill.
An even more distinctive literary genre of the period is the gunki monogatari, or war tale. The most famous, Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike), was apparently first written at the court about 1220, probably by a nobleman who drew his materials from the accounts recited by priests of the warfare between the Taira (Heike) and the Minamoto (Genji) families in the preceding century. The celebrated opening lines of the work, a declaration of the impermanence of all things, also states the main subject, the rise and fall of the Taira family. The text, apparently at first in three 3 books, was expanded to 12 in the course of time, as the result of being recited with improvisations by priest-entertainers. This oral transmission may account not only for the unusually large number of textual variants but also for the exceptionally musical and dramatic style of the work. Unlike the Heian novelists, who rarely admitted words of Chinese origin into their works, the reciters of the Heike monogatari employed the contrasting sounds of the imported words to produce what has been acclaimed as the great classic of Japanese style. Although the work is curiously uneven, effective scenes being followed by dull passages in which the narrator seems to be stressing the factual accuracy of his materials, it is at least intermittently superb; , and it provided many later novelists and dramatists with characters and incidents for their works.
Heike monogatari was by no means the earliest literary work describing warfare; , and other writings, mainly historical in content, were graced by literary flourishes uncommon in similar Western works. Ōkagami (c. 1120?; "The Great Mirror"; Eng. trans. , Ōkagami), the most famous of the "mirrors" of Japanese history, undoubtedly influenced the composition of Heike monogatari, especially in its moralistic tone. Hōgen monogatari (Eng. trans. , Hōgen monogatari) and Heiji monogatari (partial Eng. trans. in Translations from Early Japanese Literature) chronicle warfare that antedates the events described in Heike monogatari but were probably written somewhat later.
War tales continued to be composed throughout the medieval period. The Taiheiki ("Chronicle of the Great Peace"; Eng. trans. , Taiheiki), for example, covers about 50 years, beginning in 1318, when the emperor Go-Daigo ascended the throne. Though revered as a classic by generations of Japanese, it possesses comparatively little appeal for Western readers, no doubt because so few of the figures come alive.
Characters are more vividly described in two historical romances of the mid- to late 14th century, : Soga monogatari, an account of the vendetta carried out by the Soga brothers, and Gikeiki ("Chronicle of Gikei"; Eng. trans. , Yoshitsune), describing the life of the warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune. Though inartistically composed, these portraits of resourceful and daring heroes caught the imaginations of the Japanese; , and their exploits are still prominent on the Kabuki stage.
Another important variety of medieval literature was the reflective essays of Buddhist priests. Hōjō-ki (1212; The Ten Foot Square Hut) by Kamo Chōmei is a hermit's description of his disenchantment with the world and his discovery of peace in a lonely retreat. The elegiac beauty of its language gives this work, brief though it is, the dignity of a classic. Chōmei was also a distinguished poet, and his essay Mumyōshō (c. 1210–12; "Nameless Notes") is perhaps the finest example of traditional Japanese poetic criticism.
A later priest, Yoshida Kenkō, writing during the days of warfare and unrest that brought an end to the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, the brief restoration of Imperial imperial authority under the emperor Go-Daigo from 1333 to 1335, and the institution of the Ashikaga shogunate in 1338, barely hints at the turmoil of the times in his masterpiece Tsurezuregusa (c. 1330; Essays in Idleness); instead, he looks back nostalgically to the past, seeking out the survivals of happier days of the past. Kenkō's aesthetic judgments, often based on a this-worldly awareness rather surprising in a Buddhist priest, gained wide currency, especially after the 17th century, when Tsurezuregusa was widely read.
In the 15th century a poetic form of plebeian origins multiple authorship displaced the tanka as the preferred medium of the leading poets. Renga (linked verse) had begun as the composition of a single tanka by two people and was a popular pastime even in remote rural areas. One person would compose the first three lines of a tanka, often giving obscure or even contradictory details in order to make it harder for the second person to complete the poem intelligibly. Gradually, renga spread to the court poets, who saw the artistic possibilities of this diversion and drew up "codes" intended to establish renga as an art. These codes made possible the masterpieces of the 15th century, but their insistence on formalities (e.g., how often a "link" on about the moon Moon might appear in 100 links , and which links must end with a noun and which with a verb) inevitably diluted the vigour and freshness of the early renga, itself a reaction against the excessively formal tanka. Nevertheless, the renga of the great 15th-century master Iio Sōgi and his associates are unique in their shifting lyrical impulses, moving their moves from link to link like successive moments of a landscape seen from a boat, avoiding any illusion that the whole was conceived in one person's mind.
The While of considerable historical interest, the short stories of the 15th and 16th centuries, commonly known as otogi-zōshi, cannot be said to have possess high literary value. Many still Some look back to the world of the Heian court, but ; others introduce contain folk materials or else elements of the miraculous in the attempt that may have been included to interest readers who lacked the education to appreciate the conventional literary manner. Even though many promising stories are barely literate readers. Promising stories are sometimes ruined by absurdities before their course is run, for a few moments they often give unforgettable but even the less successful stories provide valuable glimpses of a society torn by disorderthat, though afflicted by warfare, enjoyed the possibility of welcome change. The stories are anonymous, but the authors seem to have been both courtiers and Buddhist priests.
Unquestionably the finest literary works of the 15th century are the Nō Noh dramas, especially those by Zeami Motokiyo (see East Asian arts: Nō music). They were written in magnificent poetry (often compared to "brocade" because of the rich pattern created by many allusions to the poetry of the past) and were provided with a structure that is at once extremely economical and free. Many are concerned with the Buddhist sin of attachment: an inability to forget his life in this world prevents a dead man from gaining release but forces him to return again and again as a ghost to relive the violence or passion of his former existence. Only prayer and renunciation can bring about deliverance. Zeami's treatises on the art of Nō Noh display extraordinary perceptivity. His stated aims were dramatic conviction and reality, but these ideals meant ultimates to him and not superficial realism. Some Nō Noh plays, it is true, have little symbolic or supernatural content, but the central elements of . But, in a typical program of five Nō Noh plays were found in the , the central elements are the highly poetic and elusive masterpieces that suggest a world which is invisible to the eye but evocable can be evoked by the actors through the beauty of movements and speech. Unhappiness over a world torn by disorder may have led writers to suggest in their works truths that lie too deep for words. This seems to have been the meaning of yūgen ("mystery and depth"), the ideal of the Nō Noh plays. Parallel developments occurred in the tea ceremony, the landscape garden, and monochrome painting, all arts that suggest or symbolize rather than state.
The restoration of peace and the unification of Japan were achieved in the early 17th century, and for approximately 250 years the Japanese enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace. During the first half of the Tokugawa period, the cities of Kyōto and Ōsaka dominated cultural activity; , but from about 1770 Edo (the modern Tokyo) became paramount. From the mid-1630s to the early 1850s Japan was closed, by government decree, to contact with the outside world. Initially, this isolation encouraged the development of indigenous forms of literature; , but, eventually, in the virtual absence of fertilizing influence from abroad, it resulted in provincial writing. The adoption of printing in the early 17th century made a popular literature possible. The Japanese had known the art of printing since at least the 8th century, but they had reserved it exclusively for reproducing Buddhist writings. The Japanese classics existed only in manuscript form. It is possible that the demand for copies of literary works was so small that it could be satisfied with manuscripts, costly though they were; or perhaps aesthetic considerations made the Japanese prefer manuscripts in beautiful calligraphy, sometimes embellished with illustrations. Whatever the case, not until 1591 was a nonreligious work printed. About the same time, Portuguese missionaries in Nagasaki were printing books in the Roman alphabet. In 1593, in the wake of the Japanese invasion of Korea, a printing press with movable type was sent as a present to the emperor Go-Yōzei. Printing soon developed into the hobby or extravagance of the rich, and many examples of Japanese literature began to appear in small editions. Commercial publication began in 1609; by the 1620s even works of slight literary value were being printed for a public eager for new books.
Poetry underwent many changes during the early part of the Tokugawa period. At first the court poets jealously maintained their monopoly over the tanka, but gradually other men, many of them kokugakusha ("scholars of national learning"), changed the course of tanka composition by attempting to restore to the form the simple strength of Man'yōshū poetry. The early 18th-century poet Kamo Mabuchi was the best of the neo-Man'yōshū school, but his tanka rarely rise above mere competence in the ancient language waka poets in the courtly tradition was Kagawa Kageki, a poet of exceptional skill, though he is less likely to leave an impression on modern readers than the unconventional Ōkuma Kotomichi or Tachibana Akemi, both of whom died in 1868, during the first year of the Meiji era.
The chief development in poetry during the Tokugawa shogunate was the emergence of the haiku as an important genre. This exceedingly brief form (17 syllables arranged in lines of five5, seven7, and five 5 syllables) had originated in the hokku, or opening verse of a renga sequence, which had to contain in its three lines mention of the season, the time of day, the dominant features of the landscape, etc.and so on, making it almost an independent poem. The hokku became known as the haiku late in the 19th century, when it was entirely divested of its original function of opening a sequence of verse; , but today even the 17th-century hokku are usually called haiku.
As early as the 16th century haikai no renga, or comic renga, had been composed by way of diversion after an evening of serious renga composition, reverting to the original social, rather than literary, purpose of making linked verse. As so often happened in Japan, however, a new art, born as a reaction to the stultifying practices of an older art, was "discovered," codified, and made respectable by practitioners of the older art, generally at the cost of its freshness and vitality. Matsunaga Teitoku, a conventional 17th-century poet of tanka and renga who revered the old traditions, became almost in spite of himself the mentor of the new movement in comic verse, largely as the result of pressure from his eager disciples. Teitoku brought dignity to the comic renga and made it a demanding medium, rather than the quip of a moment. His haikai were distinguishable from serious renga not by their comic conception but by the presence of a haigon—a word of Chinese or recent origins origin that was normally not tolerated in classical verse.
Inevitably, a reaction arose against Teitoku's formalism. The poets of the Danrin school, headed by Nishiyama Sōin and Ihara Saikaku, insisted that it was pointless to waste months if not years perfecting a sequence of 100 verses. Their ideal was rapid and impromptu composition; , and their verses, generally colloquial in diction, were intended to amuse for a moment rather than to last for all time. Saikaku especially excelled at one-man composition of extended sequences; in 1684 he composed the incredible total of 23,500 verses in a single day and night, too fast for the scribes to do more than tally.
The haiku was perfected into a form capable of conveying poetry of the highest quality by Matsuo Bashō. After passing through an apprenticeship in both Teitoku and Danrin schools, Bashō founded a school of his own , insisting and insisted that a haiku must contain both a perception of some eternal truth and an element of contemporaneity, combining the characteristic features of the two earlier schools. Despite their brief compass, Bashō's haiku often suggest, by means of the few essential elements he presents, the whole world from which they have been extracted; the reader must participate in the creation of the poem. Bashō's best-known works are travel accounts interspersed with his verses; of these, Oku no hosomichi (1694; The Narrow Road Through the Deep North) is perhaps the most popular and revered work of Tokugawa literature.
The general name for the prose composed between 1600 and 1682 is kana-zōshi, or "kana "kana books," the name originally having been used to distinguish popular writings in the Japanese syllabary from more-learned works in Chinese. The genre embraced not only fiction but also works of a near-historical nature, pious tracts, books of practical information, guidebooks, evaluations of courtesans and actors, and miscellaneous essays. Only one writer of any distinction is associated with the kana-zōshi—Asai Ryōi, a samurai who became the first popular and professional writer in Japanese history. Thanks to the development of relatively cheap methods of printing and a marked increase in the reading public, Ryōi was able to make a living as a writer. Although some of his works are Buddhist, he wrote in a simple style, mainly in kana. His most famous novel, Ukiyo monogatari (c. 1661; "Tales of the Floating World"), is primitive both in technique and in plot; , but under his mask of frivolity Ryōi attempted to treat the hardships of a society where the officially proclaimed Confucian philosophy concealed the gross inequalities in the lots of different men.
The first important novelist of the new era was Ihara Saikaku. Some Japanese critics rank him second only to Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji, in all Japanese literature, and his works have been edited with the care accorded only to great classics. Such attention would surely have surprised Saikaku, whose fiction was dashed off almost as rapidly as his legendary performances of comic renga, with little concern for the judgments of posterity. Saikaku's His first novel, Kōshoku ichidai otoko (1682; The Life of an Amorous Man), changed the course of Japanese fiction. The title itself had strong erotic overtones, and the plot describes the adventures of one man, from his precocious essays at lovemaking as a child of seven to his decision at the age of 60 to sail to an island populated only by women. The licensed quarters of prostitution established in various Japanese cities by the Tokugawa government (despite its professions of Confucian morality), in order to help control unruly samurai by dissipating their energies, became a centre of the new culture. Expertise in the customs of the brothels was judged the mark of the man of the world. The old term ukiyo, which had formerly meant the "sad world" of Buddhist stories, now came to designate its homonym, the "floating world" of pleasure; this was the chosen world of Saikaku's hero, Yonosuke, who became the emblematic figure of the era.
Saikaku's masterpiece, Kōshoku gonin onna (1686; Five Women Who Loved Love), described the loves of women of the merchant class, rather than prostitutes; this was the first time that women of this class were given such attention. In other works he described, sometimes with humour but sometimes with bitterness, the struggles of merchants to make fortunes. His combination of a glittering style and warm sympathy for the characters lifted his tales from the borders of pornography to high art.
Saikaku was a central figure in the renaissance of literature of the late 17th century. The name Genroku (an era name designating the period 1688–17031688–1704) is often used of the characteristic artistic products: paintings and prints of the Ukiyoukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") style; the ukiyo-zōshi, ("tales of the floating world"); the Kabuki and ; jōruri, or puppet theatrestheatre; and haiku poetry. Unlike its antecedents, this culture prized modernity above conformity to the ancient traditions; to be abreast of the floating world was to be up-to-date, sharing in the latest fashions and slang, delighting in the moment rather than in the eternal truths of Nō Noh plays of or medieval poetry.
Another, darker side to Genroku culture is depicted in Saikaku's late works, with their descriptions of the desperate expedients to which men people turned in order to pay their bills. Saikaku seldom showed much sympathy for the prostitutes he described; , but the chief dramatist of the time, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, wrote his best plays about unhappy women, driven by poverty into their lives as prostitutes, whose only release from the sordid world in which they were condemned to dwell came when they joined their lovers in double suicides. In the world of merchants treated by Chikamatsu, a lack of money, rather than the cosmic griefs of the Nō Noh plays, drove men to death with the prostitutes they loved but could not afford to buy.
Chikamatsu wrote most of his plays for the puppet theatre, which, in the 18th century, enjoyed even greater popularity than Kabuki. His plays fell into two main categories: those based, however loosely, on historical facts or legends, and those dealing with contemporary life. The domestic plays are rated much higher critically because they avoid the bombast and fantastic displays of heroism that mark the historical dramas; , but the latter, adapted for the Kabuki theatre, are superb acting vehicles.
The mainstays of the puppet theatre were written not by Chikamatsu but by his successors; his plays, despite their literary superiority, failed to satisfy the audiences' craving for displays of puppet techniques and for extreme representations of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and other virtues of the society. The most popular puppet play (later also adapted also for the Kabuki actors) was Chūshingura (1748; "The Treasury of Loyal Retainers"; Eng. trans. , Chūshingura) by Takeda Izumo and his collaborators; the same men were responsible for half a dozen other perennial favourites of the Japanese stage. The last great 18th-century writer of puppet plays, Chikamatsu Hanji, was a master of highly dramatic, if implausible, plots.
The literature of the late Tokugawa period is generally inferior to earlier achievements, especially those of the Genroku masters. Authentic new voices, however, were heard in traditional poetic forms. Later neo-Man'yōshū poets such as Ryōkan, Ōkuma Kotomichi, and Tachibana Akemi proved that the tanka was not limited to descriptions of the sights of nature or disappointed love but could express joy over fish for dinner or wrath at political events. Some poets who felt that the tanka did not provide ample scope for the display of such emotions turned, as in the past, to writing poetry in Chinese. The early 19th-century poet Rai Sanyō probably wrote verse in Chinese more skillfully than any previous Japanese.
Later Tokugawa poets also added distinctive notes of their own to the haiku. Yosa Buson, for example, introduced a romantic and narrative element, and Kobayashi Issa employed the accents of the common people.
A great variety of fiction was produced during the last century of the Tokugawa shogunate, but it is commonly lumped together under the somewhat derogatory heading of gesaku ("playful composition"). The word "playful" playful did not necessarily refer to the subject matter but to the professed attitude of the authors, educated men who disclaimed responsibility for their compositions. Ueda Akinari, the last master of fiction of the 18th century, won a high place in literary history mainly through his brilliant style, displayed to best advantage in Ugetsu monogatari (1776; Tales of Moonlight and Rain), a collection of supernatural tales. The gesaku writers, however, did not follow Akinari in his perfectionist attention to style and construction; instead, they many of them produced books of almost formless gossip, substituting the raciness of daily speech for the elegance of the classical language , and relying heavily on the copious illustrations for success with the public.
The gesaku writers were professionals who made their living by sale of their books. They aimed at as wide a public as possible, and, when a book was successful, it was usually followed by as many sequels as the public would accept. The most popular of the comic variety of gesaku fiction was Tōkai dōchū hizakurige (1802–22; "Travels on Foot on the Tōkaidō"; Eng. trans. , Shank's Mare), by Jippensha Ikku, an account of the travels and comic misfortunes of two irrepressible men from Edo along the Tōkaidō, the great highway between Kyōto and Edo. Shunshoku umegoyomi (1832–33; "Spring Colours: The Plum Calendar"), by Tamenaga Shunsui, is the story of Tanjirō, a peerlessly handsome but ineffectual young man for whose affections various women fight. The author at one point defended himself against charges of immorality: "Even though the women I portray may seem immoral, they are all imbued with deep sentiments of chastity and fidelity." It was the standard practice of gesaku writers, no matter how frivolous their compositions might be, to pretend that their intent was didactic.
The yomihon ("books for reading"—so called to distinguish them from works enjoyed mainly for their illustrations) were much more openly moralistic. Although they were considered to be gesaku, no less than the most trivial books of gossip, their plots were burdened with historical materials culled from Chinese and Japanese sources, and the authors frequently underlined their didactic purpose. But despite Despite the serious intent of the yomihon, they were romances , rather than novels; , and their characters, highly schematized, tended to be include witches , and fairy princesses , and as well as impeccably noble gentlemen. Where they succeeded, as in a few works by Takizawa Bakin, they are absorbing as examples of storytelling rather than as embodiments of the principle of kanzen chōaku ("the encouragement of virtue and the chastisement of vice"), Bakin's professed aim in writing fiction.
Japanese literature in general was at one of its lowest levels at the end of the Tokugawa period. A few tanka poets and the Kabuki dramatist Kawatake Mokuami are the only writers of the period whose works are still read today. It was an exhausted literature that could be revived only by the introduction of fresh influences from abroad.


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S16 Ep12: The Homestretch
Video duration: 56:01Expires: 05/14/15Video has closed captioning.
<i>The Homestretch</i> follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious youths — Roque, Kasey, and Anthony — will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness. As they work to complete their education and recover from a life of abandonment, they create new, surprising definitions of home.