Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Literature

Though Japan has produced some of mankind's most refined works of poetry and prose, until recent years the insularity of Japanese language and culture has limited both translation and appreciation of this country's literature. Throughout the world the number of students of this field is rapidly growing, and the day may come when names such as Fujiwara no Teika, Dogen, and Ihara Saikaku will be as familiar as Chaucer, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Cervantes. This dictionary presents background material in convenient form on the major figures in Japanese literature. The 320 entries span the history of Japan-from Emperor Jimmu, the legendary founder of the imperial line, to the late Yasunari Kawabata, 1968 Nobel laureate. Each entry includes a biography of the literary figure, a description of the literary and historical setting, and a summary of the writer's work. Numerous translations of poetry have also been included. Research and compilation work was done by a team of Japanese experts under the direction of Sen'ichi Hisamatsu, one of Japan's leading scholars of literature. This ambitious project was initiated in 1970 by the International Society for Educational Information, an organization that promotes standards of accuracy in foreign language publications about Japan. The glossary of selected terms, diagrams of important schools, comprehensive bibliography and index make this a unique, invaluable work for all students and lovers of the world of letters. Sen'ichi Hisamatsu was born in 1894 and graduated from the Literature Department of the Faculty of Japanese Language and Literature of Tokyo Imperial University in 1919. After receiving his Ph. D. in literature in 1934, he studied in the U.S.A., Britain, and Germany for one year. From 1936 to 1955 he was professor of Japanese Language and Literature at Tokyo University. Publishing extensively in Japanese and Western languages, Dr. Hisamatsu was known internationally as one of Japan’s foremost scholars in his field. In 1947 he was elected to the Japan Academy; in 1964 he became Chairman of the Library of Modern Japanese Literature; in 1966 he was elected a member of the Council on Japanese Language and received the Award of Cultural Merit. He was Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University and a member of the faculties of Keio, Japan Woman’s, Rikkyo, and Kokugakuin universities until his death in March, 1976, when this book was in the final stages of production.