Japanese Literature Essays Examples For College & High School Students in PDF

95 total results

The Representation of Japanese Tradition and the Feeling of Isolation and Alienation in Kokoro, a Novel by Natsume Soseki (1226 words, 5 pages)

Tradition and Alienation in KokoroNatsume Sosekis Kokoro takes place in the end of Japans Meiji era. This was a time of significant cultural change for the country, as modernization and industrialization grew and Western ideas gained influence. The novel makes tension between older and younger generations, rural and urban areas, ... Read More

A Short Review of Facing the Bridge, a Novel by Yoko Tawada (496 words, 3 pages)

Yoko Tawada, born in 1960 in Tokyo, serves as an inspiration to all aspiring authors she has been awarded literature prizes for her works written in Japanese and German. One of her lesser known novels, Facing the Bridge, perfectly illustrates the frustration of being in a place where one does ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of Naomi, a Novel by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki (917 words, 3 pages)

Japanese Reactions to NaomiDuring the 1920s, Japan undergoes a tremendous post-war period of prosperity, development and westernization. Young women entered the working class, gaining significant economic power, and challenged the common societal notions for females. Many adopted western fashions and lifestyles, albeit not without blowback from traditionalists. While these girls ... Read More

The Image of Conflict in The Battles of Coxinga, a Play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1295 words, 5 pages)

The Narrator, Flower Scene, and fictionalization in The Battles of Koxinga The famous Japanese play, The Batles of Koxinga, is Chikamatsu's mostpopular play, and well acclaimed among Japanese audiences. When it debutedin the early 1700s, Japan was experiencing stability under the TokugawaShogunate. Meanwhile, China recently emerged from chaos to be ... Read More

A Review of Picture Bride, a Novel by Yoshiko Uchida (1172 words, 5 pages)

Picture BrideAs a historical novel, Picture Bride, by Yoshiko Uchida (1988) alludes to Japanese immigration into the U.S. via arranged marriages (miai kekkon) and the Japanese internment of 1941-1943. The novel covers the period 1917-1943, in which a Japanese man and woman, Taro and Hana, coupled by the arranged picture ... Read More

The Cursed Duty in the Story of Yuki-Onna (1334 words, 3 pages)

Urami Midterm 1The story of Yuki-Onna, as told in Hearns Kwaidan, most accurately follows Kawais theory of the disappearing woman trope, as defined in his analysis of The Bush Warblers Home and The Woman Who Eats Nothing. Yuki-Onna has in common with both stories the plot of a man breaking ... Read More

The Multiple Elements in Never Let Me Go, a Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (413 words, 1 pages)

The novel Never Let Me Go, by Ishiguro contains various elements which contribute to the creation of a post-human science fiction environment. The first element that is presented is that they have no choice in their lives. Miss Lucy says, None of you will be working in supermarkets as I ... Read More

An Analysis of Zen Buddhism in Kokoro, a Novel by Natsume Sōseki (380 words, 2 pages)

Zen Buddhism in KokoroIn the book Kokoro, Zen Buddhism helped me understand the character K in a variety of ways. Ks background is influenced by the practice because his dad is a Buddhist priest. When he gets adopted by a family of doctors he doesnt want to study medicine, instead ... Read More

The Adaptive Nature of Humans in Kitchen, a Novel by Banana Yoshimoto (1275 words, 4 pages)

All people have to live through tough times at some point in their life. These times may cause us pain or stress, disturbing our well-being and mental balance. But one thing being true, is that we all eventually learn to adapt to the harsh changes in our lives. This is ... Read More

The Theme of Life and Death in Norwegian Wood, a Novel by Haruki Murakami (1567 words, 5 pages)

Life and death are opposing forces in the novel Norwegian Wood, and for Toru, they are constantly pulling at him. Throughout the novel, Toru struggles with reaching towards one, either life or death, and is constantly unable move forward in life, instead allowing life to simply happen to him. Thus ... Read More

An Analysis of the Haiku of Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa, and Masuo Basho (932 words, 2 pages)

My arm for a pillowI really like myselfUnder the hazy moon,This haiku by Yosa Buson stood out for its relatability, simplicity and imagery. It raises images of lying in a backyard in the summer time when summer time meant something greater than a season. When it meant I was free ... Read More

The Use of Poetry in the Tale of Genji, a Novel by Murasaki Shikibu (283 words, 1 pages)

Poetry in The Tale of GenjiDuring the eleventh century in Japan, poetry was used as a form of courting and as a matter of social necessity, where both men and women memorized poetry and created their own. All of Genjis messages to the women he was seeing or attempting to ... Read More

Gender Inequality in The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (312 words, 1 pages)

Men always have the upper-hand over women in The Tale of Genji. Although different from many societies at the time, women still had some rights. The events that occur in The Tale of Genji further clarifies this statement. One of the predominant examples that exhibits this assertion is the same ... Read More

The Will to Hold on Happiness and Humanity Despite Oppression in Desert Exile, a Book by Yoshiko Uchida (683 words, 2 pages)

Desert Exile The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family is a primary source written by Yoshiko Uchida. Uchida and her family were one of the many Japanese-American families who were forced to live in concentration camps within the United States during World War two. In these relocation centers, Uchida and other ... Read More

The Significant Presence of Yukiko in One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children’s Peace Statue, a Novel by Takayuki Ishii (518 words, 2 pages)

. These symbols mean presence in Japanese. No matter how large or small the presence does not matter you appear or appeared for a reason, and that reason was deliberate. In the novel, One Thousand Paper Cranes the Story of Sadako and the Childrens Peace Statue, Yukiko is one of ... Read More

The Effects of the Letter of Kiyoaki in Spring Snow, a Novel by Yukio Mishima (422 words, 1 pages)

Cause and Effect in Spring Snow Spring Snow is the first novel in a tetralogy of novels written byYukio Mishima. The first novel is about a young man named Kiyoaki. When themain part of the story begins, Kiyoaki is eighteen years old. He has grownup in the house of a ... Read More

The Four Reincarnations of a Being in Sea of Fertility, a Novel Series by Yukio Mshima (1051 words, 3 pages)

Born in Tokyo in 1925, Hiraoka Kimitake, better known by his pseudonym Yukio Mishima, was a writer whom many critics consider one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century (Mishima Yukio). Perhaps his most famous and masterful work was the Sea of Fertility tetralogy he wrote in the ... Read More

A Summary of The Dancing Girl, a Short Story by Ogai Mori (1265 words, 4 pages)

The title, The Dancing Girl signifies the difficulty of Elises life it was mentioned in the text that the dancers are todays slaves who are often dressed beautifully when they are performing but then they go back to their lives and are hard pressed to earn a living for themselves ... Read More

The Quest for Freedom from Grief and Emptiness in Deep River, a Book by Shusaku Endo (1117 words, 4 pages)

Search for the Divine Paths of Grief and LonelinessIn Shusaku Endos book, Deep River, there are four main characters, all with their own intriguing back stories. They are tourists immersed in their own private spiritual struggles, and all travel to India to the river Ganges in search of freedom from ... Read More

An Analysis of Aristotle’s Character and Theme Elements of Dramatic Literature in The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, a Love-Suicide Play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1066 words, 4 pages)

The very first love-suicide play, written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, is a representational drama (Jacobus 345). The characters in The Love Suicides at Sonezaki are represented as middle-class and speak as if they would if they were actual citizens (Jacobus 345). The Love Suicides at Sonezaki involves a young man who ... Read More

The Themes of Despair and the Notions of Being Trapped in Two Japanese Novels: Kenzaburo Oe’s A Personal Matter and Kobo Abe’s The Woman in the Dunes (1517 words, 5 pages)

Despair, the inescapable feeling of endlessness, and both the physical and metaphorical notions of being trapped these themes are what make Kenzabur es A Personal Matter and Kb Abes The Woman in the Dunes similar. But perhaps these are themes prevalent in all products of 20th Century literature, not just ... Read More

Finding the Villain In “The Key”, a 1956 Novel by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki Portraying the Differences of Tradition and Modernity between Ikuko and the Professor (1565 words, 5 pages)

Double Standards and Villainy in The KeyThe differences between tradition and modernity find their way into Jun'ichir Tanizakis 1956 novel The Key as something of a double standard where the ways of old help retain the feelings of goodness within its female protagonist, Ikuko, her husband seeks pleasure in what ... Read More

Mitsuko Naruse’s Pursuit of an Intact Self in the Novel Deep River by Shusaku Endo (1269 words, 5 pages)

Mitsuko Naruse is a woman lost within herself, battling between who she is and who she wants to be. In Deep River we see Mitsuko embark on a journey to understand Otsu which in turn helps her understand herself and what she believes. Although the woman weve come to understand ... Read More

An Analysis of the Short Story The Second Bakery Attack by Haruki Murakami, a Piece That Helps Its Readers Understand Their Own Lives (1583 words, 6 pages)

Literature often helps people to understand their own lives through the experiences of another. Quite often people can read a story about a character in a similar situation the reader themselves are in and gain some insight as to how to deal with the situation based on how the characters ... Read More

The Use of Imagery in Impassionate Gods by Ariwara No Narihara (646 words, 2 pages)

In a time where your status is the only meaning to your life, the Japanese would turn to poetry as a way to escape that life. Poetry gave new meaning to life in which poets would use to express their own free will without losing their current status. Ariwara No ... Read More

The Unconventional Marriage in the Novel Naomi by Junichiro Tanizaki (1154 words, 5 pages)

In Junichiro Tanizakis novel, Naomi, both husband and wife choose to press on with their very unconventional marriage despite the frustration and conflict that stems from it. For Joji, the choice to do so is far more distressing and disruptive to his way of life than it is for Naomi, ... Read More

The Use of Buddhism in the Tales of Genji, Novel by Murasaki Shikibu (1520 words, 6 pages)

The Heian Period of Japanese history in which Murasaki Shikibu wrotewas the culmination of a particular ferment of Eastern political andreligious cultures. Isolation, scholarship, and gossip occupied the bulkof the aristocratic lifestyle which Shikibu and her quasi-fictionalcharacters lived. In between poem writing and intrigue, religious ritualsboth Buddhist and Shinto were ... Read More

An Analysis of Soseki Natsume’s Botchan and the Meiji Era (931 words, 3 pages)

Connection the book Botchan and Meiji eraNatsume Sosekis novels mainly deal with the theme social morality and hypocrisy moreover he touches individual struggle, questions of social direction and cultural identity. Botchan is the main character in the novel being born in a family where he isnt favored like his elder ... Read More

The Fight Against Western Influences of Industrialization, Capitalism, and Culture in the Novel Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima (2784 words, 8 pages)

Yukio Mishima's landmark novel, Runaway Horses, the second part ofhis The Sea of Fertility cycle, examines the passions of a small, yetzealous ultra-conservative faction within Japan, struggling to combat therapidly expanding Western influences of industrialization, capitalism, andculture during the 1930's. One of the most intricately-developed themeswithin the novel centers around ... Read More

An Analysis of Poverty in Three Japanese Literary Works (1275 words, 4 pages)

For countless generations, those members of society who are fortunate enough to have been born into stable lifestyles have seen the horrors of poverty second-hand through art in all forms. Though they can look upon and consider these depictions and realizations with disgust and revulsion, their empathy can never progress ... Read More

Japanese Literature Essay Examples