Japan: Natsume Soseki, His Contemporaries, and the Meiji Era

Abe, Ryuichi, and Peter Haskel. Great Fool: Zen Master Ryokan: Poems, Letters, and Other Writings. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996. Zen poems, letters and other writings by Zen Master Ryokan. Soseki admired and wrote his own Zen poems, etc. It is a good insight into the world of Zen through writings. Barthes, Roland. The Empire of Signs. Translated by Richard Howard. New York: Hill & Wang, 1982. ________. Mythologies. Translated by Annette Lavers. New York: Hill & Wang, 1972. ________. The Rustle of Language. Translated by Richard Howard. New York: Hill and Wang, 1986. Borthwick, Mark. Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia, 2d. ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998. An overview of modern East Asian history, starting with the first encounters with the West. Chikamatsu, Monzaemon. The Love Suicides at Amijima. Translated and edited by Donald Keene. In Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964. Doi, Takeo. The Anatomy of Dependence. Translated by John Bester. New York: Kodansha International, 1973. ________. The Psychological World of Natsume Soseki. Translated by William J. Tyler. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976. An exploration of the psychological world of Natsume Soseki and a select group of his characters and novels.

Eagleton, Terry. Criticism and Ideology. London: New Left Books, 1985. ________. Ideology: An Introduction. London: Verso, 1991. ________. The Ideology of the Aesthetic. London: Blackwell, 1990. ________. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1983. Eto, Jun. An Undercurrent in Modern Japanese Literature. Journal of Asian Studies 18 (May 1964): 433-5. ________. Natusme Soseki: A Japanese Meiji Intellectual. American Scholar 34 (1965): 603-19. An insightful article that discusses Sosekis struggles and accomplishments as a Japanese Meiji intellectual. Fogel, Joshua A. Rediscovering Natsume Soseki. Journal of Asian Studies 61, no. 4 (November 2002): 1372. Gessel, Van C. Three Modern Novelists: Soseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1993. Detailed biographies of the three Japanese novelists. Gluck, Carol. Japans Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. Gordon, Andrew. A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. A concise history and breakdown of Japan socially, culturally, economically, and politically from the Tokugawa shogunate to the present. Heinrich, Amy Vladeck, ed. Currents in Japanese Culture: Translations and
2

Transformations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. Hibbett, Howard S. "Soseki and the Psychological Novel. In Tradition and Modernization in Japanese Culture. Edited by Donald S. Shively. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971. Discusses Soseki and the phychological make-up of his novels, paying particular attention to how they reflect tradition and modernization in Japanese culture. ________. The Portrait of the Artist in Japanese Fiction. Far Eastern Quarterly 14 (1955): 347-54. ________. Tradition and Trauma in the Contemporary Japanese Novel. Daedalus, (Fall 1966): 925-40. Irokawa, Daikichi. The Culture of the Meiji Period. Translated and edited by Marius B. Jansen. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. ________. The Survival Struggle of the Japanese Community. In Authority and the Individual Japan: Citizen Protest in Historical Perspective, ed. J. Victor Koschmann. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1978. Kaiko, Takeshi. Darkness in Summer. Translated by Cecelia Segawa Seigle. New York: Knopf, 1973. ________. Into a Black Sun. Translated by Cecelia Segawa Seigle. New York: Kodansha International, 1980. ________. Kagayakeru yami. In Kaiko Takeshi zensakuhin, vol. 8. Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1968. ________. Natsu no yami. In Kaiko Takeshi zensakuhin, vol. 9. Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1971. ________. Ojisama no tanoshimi (The pleasures of being an older guy). In Kaiko Ichiban. Tokyo: Shincho Bunko, 1984.

________. Subete was Yamata no Orochi. In Kaiko Ichiban. Tokyo: Shincho Bunko, 1984. Kawabata, Yasunari. Senbazuru. In Gendai Nihon Bungaku Taikei, vol. 52, Kawabata Yasunari shu. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 1969. ________. Snow Country. Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker. New York: Knopf, 1969. ________. Thousand Cranes. Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker. New York: Knopf, 1968. ________. Utsukushii Nihon no watakushi; Japan the Beautiful and Myself. Bilingual ed. Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1969. ________. Yama no oto. In Kawabata Yasunari Zenshu, vol. 8. Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1959. ________. Yukiguni. In Nihon Bungaju Taikei, vol. 52, Kawabata Yasunari shu. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo. 1969. Keene, Donald. Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984. Detailed discussion of modern Japanese authors, particularly Soseki and his contemporaries. The work provides some comparisons with writers from the past. ________. Japanese Literature: An Introduction for Western Readers. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1958. A wonderful introduction to Japanese literature from all periods, focusing on the Meiji period. ________. Japanese Writers and the Greater East Asia War. In Appreciations of Japanese Culture. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1981 A look at how Japanese authors were influenced by the war and if or how it
4

influenced their writing. ________., comp. and ed. Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1956. A wonderful collection of modern Japanese literature from the Meiji period. Ketelaar, James. Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its Persecution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990. Kinmonth, Earl H. The Self-Made Man in Meiji Japanese Thought: From Samurai to Salary Man. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1981. Mathy, Francis. Kitamura Tokoku: The Early Years. Monumenta Nipponica 18 (1963): 1-44. ________. Kitamura Tokoku: Essays on the Inner Life. Monumenta Nipponica 19 (1964): 66-110. ________. Kitamura Tokoku: Final Essays. Monumenta Nipponica 20 (1965): 41-63. Matsui, Sakuku. Natsume Soseki as a Critic of English Literature. Tokyo: Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, 1975. Discusses Soseki and his feelings toward English literature. Explains how English literature differs and is similar to Japanese works. McClellan, Edwin. The Impressionistic Tendency in Some Modern Japanese Writers, Chicago Review 17 (1965): 48-60. ________. Two Japanese Novelists: Soseki and Toson. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1971. A discussion of the two authors most famous novels, commenting on and analyzing their works. Mitsuo, Nakamura. Modern Japanese Fiction: 1868-1926. Tokyo: Japan Cultural Society,
5

1968. An analysis of modern Japanese fiction broken up into both the Meiji and Taisho eras giving mention to many novelists. Miyoshi, Masao. Accomplices of Silence. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1974. Murphy, Rhoads. East Asia: A New History, 2d ed. New York: Addison, Wesley, and Longman, 2001. A general overview of East Asian history from the start of civilization. Oe, Kenzaburo. Japans Dual Identity: A Writers Dilemma. World Literature Today 62, no. 3 (1988): 359-69. ________. A Personal Matter. Translated by John Nathan. New York: Grove Press, 1969. ________. The Silent Cry. Translated by John Bester. New York: Kodansha International, 1974. Pollack, David. Reading Against Culture: Ideology and Narrative in the Japanese Novel. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992. Discussion of ideology and narrative in certain Japanese novels, spanning from the Meiji period (1868) to contemporary authors. Pyle, Kenneth B. The New Generation in Meiji Japan: Problems of Cultural Identity, 1885-1895. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1969. A wonderful look into the new Meiji generation and the problems they had synthesizing the East and West while remaining Japanese. Ridgeway, William N. Natsume Soseki and Male Identity Crisis. Japan Quarterly 45, no. 2 (April-June 1998): 82.

Rimer, J. Thomas. Modern Japanese Fiction and Its Traditions: An Introduction. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978. A look into modern Japanese fiction and its traditions uses themes and traditions of older works such as The Tale of Genji and compares them to aspects of other more modern works. Roggendorf, Joseph. Shimzaki Toson, a Maker of the Modern Japanese Novel. Monumenta Nipponica 7 (1951): 40-66. Rubin, Jay. Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1984. Discusses how Meiji period writers had to take special care concerning subject matter and tone. Seidensticker, Edward. Kafu the Scribbler: The Life and Writings of Nagai Kafu, 1879-1959. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1965. ________. The Unshapen Ones, The Japan Quarterly 2 (1964):64-9. Soseki, Natsume. The 210th Day. Translated by Sammy I Tsunematsu. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2002. A story concerning two contrasting characters and their adventure over a volcano, Mt. Aso. ________. And Then. Translated by Norma Moore Field. New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1982 ________. Botchan. Translated by Alan Turney. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1972. A story focusing on a young mans rebellion against the systems and ideologies of a country school in Japan. ________. The Civilization of Modern-day Japan. Translated by Jay Rubin. Monumenta
7

Nipponica 34, 1 (Spring 1979): 1-20. A translation of an article, or more likely a speech, concerning Sosekis thoughts on modern day Japan and the direction in which it was heading. ________. Gubijinso. Translated by Sean Driscoll. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Kabushikigaisha, 2001. A story concerning two intellectually contrasting characters who travel over a mountain and become interested in a country girl. ________. I Am a Cat. Translated by Aiko Ito and Graeme Wilson. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, Life through the eyes of a cat without a name who watches people in action. ________. Inside My Glass Doors. Translated by Sammy I. Tsunematsu. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2002. A collection of thirty-nine biographical essays through which Soseki reflects on his past and present, as well as his career as a novelist. ________. Kokoro. Translated by Edwin McClellan. Washington DC: Regnery Gateway, 1957. ________. Light and Darkness. Translated by V.H. Viglielmo. New York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 1982. ________. Sanshiro. Translated by Jay Rubin. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1977. A story of a country-born college intellectual, his professors, and a woman with whom he becomes infatuated. ________. Spring Miscellany and London Essays. Translated by Sammy I Tsunematsu. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2002.

Another collection of short stories from Soseki. It also includes several essays that he wrote while in London. ________. The Three Cornered World. Translated by Alan Turney. Washington DC: Regnery Gateway, 1970. ________. Watakushi no Kojinshugi (My individualism). Translated by Jay Rubin. Monumenta Nipponica 34, 1 (Spring 1979): 21-48. Renown translation of one of Sosekis most famous speeches, which discusses his duties to himself and to the Japanese nation. Suzuki, Daisetz T. Zen and Japanese Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959. A wonderful discussion linking aspects of Zen Buddhism to Japanese culture. Tanizaki, Junichiro. Dairy of a Mad Old Man. Translated by Howard Hibbett. New York: Knopf, 1965. ________. In Praise of Shawdows (Inei raisan). Translated by T.J. Harper and E.G. Seidensticker. New Haven, CT: Leetes Island Books, 1977. ________. Longing for Mother. Translated by Edward Fowler. Monumenta Nipponica 35, no. 4 (1980):467-84. ________. Naomi. Translated by Anthony Chambers. New York: Knopf, 1985. ________. Some Prefer Nettles. Translated by Edward Seidensticker. New York: Knopf, 1955. Tsunoda, Ryusaku, Wm. Theodore de Bary and Donad Keene. Sources of Japanese Tradition Volume II. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1958. A wonderful collection of writings that helps one discover the sources of Japanese traditions.
9

Tsuruta, Kin'ya, and Thomas E. Swann. Approaches to the Modern Japanese Novel. Tokyo: Sophia University, 1976. Ueda, Makoto. Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1976. Discussion of modern Japanese writers and how some of their writings have become true literature. Viglielmo, Valdo H. An Introduction to the Later Novels of Natsume Soseki. Monumenta Nipponica 19 (1964): 1-36. A brief look into Sosekis later novels, including Kokoro, Mon, and Michikusa. Walker, Janet A. The Japanese Novel of the Meiji Period and the Ideal of Individualism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979. Discussion of novels during the Meiji period and how they were influenced by the individualism of the author. Wilson, Michiko N. The Marginal World of Oe Kenzaburo: A Study in Themes and Techniques. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1986. Wolferen, Karel van. The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation. London: MacMillan, 1989. Yoshida, Shigeru. Japans Decisive Century: 1867-1967. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967. An insightful look into the Meiji era, problems of modernization, and other aspects of Japanese history until 1967. Yu, Beongcheon. Natsume Soseki. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1969. A detailed biography and analysis of the life, career, and struggles of Natsume
10

Soseki.

11