Examines the historical situation and developments in Japan and points out the parallels between English Romanticism and the poetics of the Kambun and Genroku periods, and especially shomon poets of the Japanese 17th century.

Books like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha have signaled the current fascination with the discreetly private side of Japan during the evocative age of dynasties and imperial rule. Ariake, a stunning gift book, offers up the passionate words of the elegant and cultured female courtesans of ancient Japan. It was customary in the late 1st and early 2nd century Japanese courts for women to express their hearts' greatest desires and sorrows through poetry. Translated and compiled in Ariake, these lyrical and poignant verses of seduction, love, and lament are both simple and extraordinary. Illustrated throughout with gorgeous collages that evoke the color, fabric, and textures of the East, Ariake brings to life the subtle eloquence of ancient Japan and the universal passions and torments of love. Ariake is an exquisite and timeless volume of the heart's longing.

The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature provides, for the first time, a history of Japanese literature with comprehensive coverage of the premodern and modern eras in a single volume. The book is arranged topically in a series of short, accessible chapters for easy access and reference, giving insight into both canonical texts and many lesser known, popular genres, from centuries-old folk literature to the detective fiction of modern times. The various period introductions provide an overview of recurrent issues that span many decades, if not centuries. The book also places Japanese literature in a wider East Asian tradition of Sinitic writing and provides comprehensive coverage of women's literature as well as new popular literary forms, including manga (comic books). An extensive bibliography of works in English enables readers to continue to explore this rich tradition through translations and secondary reading.

What CHOICE says: The Ryoojinhishoo provides rare insight into the lives and culture of common people in the Heian period. Songs of prostitutes, cormorant fishermen, children, gamblers, and mothers voice timeless emotions. The other scholarly monograph in English on the Ryoojinhishoo, Yung-Hee Kim's outstanding Songs to Make the Dust Dance (CH, Jul'94), provides a translation of 222 of the extant songs and gives a full account of Emperor Go-Shirakawa's relationship to the collection. Nakahara includes translations of all 571 extant songs, and her introduction sets the songs in the context of a masterfully reconstructed history of the folk-song genre. The previously untranslated songs include many on Buddhist themes. These songs are a priceless record of how ordinary people in the Heian period understood Buddhism; indeed, their existence refutes the notion that popular Buddhism began in the Kamakura period. Nakahara's translations, accompanied by romanized versions of the original, are fluid and well annotated. This fine work is both scholarly and imminently accessible in style and content. When the print-run of this hard-cover edition is exhausted, some press should consider it for a paperback edition. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections supporting the study of Japanese literature and culture.

In the West, classical art—inextricably linked to concerns of a ruling or dominant class—commonly refers to art with traditional themes and styles that resurrect a past golden era. Although art of the early Edo period (1600–1868) encompasses a spectrum of themes and styles, references to the past are so common that many Japanese art historians have variously described this period as a "classical revival," "era of classicism," or a "renaissance." How did seventeenth-century artists and patrons imagine the past? How did classical manners relate to other styles and themes found in Edo art? In considering such questions, the contributors to this volume hold that classicism has been an amorphous, changing concept in Japan—just as in the West. The authors of the essays collected here are by no means unanimous in their assessment of the use of the label "classicism." Although they may not agree on a definition of the term and its applicability to seventeenth-century Japanese art, all recognize the relevance of recent scholarly currents that call into question methods that privilege Western culture. Their various approaches—from stylistic analysis and theoretical conceptualization to assessment of related political and literary trends—greatly increase our understanding of the art of the period and its function in society. Contributors: Laura Allen, Karen Gerhart, Elizabeth Lillehoj, Sam Morse, Joshua Mostow, Keiko Nakamachi, Quittman Eugene Phillips, Satoko Tamamushi, Melanie Trede.