Japanese literature, the body of written works produced by

Japanese authors in Japanese or, in its earliest beginnings, at a time

when Japan had no written language, in the Chinese
classical language.

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 CE to the present; during all
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 enduring appeal of Japanese literature
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 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 today’s.