What is the singular greatest piece of Japanese literature?
I vote for Tanizaki's essay, 'In Praise of Shadows', being a mere initiate into the world of JapLit (so far I only have Tanizaki and Murakami under my belt). Hopefully this thread can guide me.
> No matter what complaints we may have, Japan has chosen to follow the West, and there is nothing for her to do but move bravely ahead and leave us old ones behind. But we must be resigned to the fact that as long as our skin is the color it is the loss we have suffered cannot be remedied. I have written all this because I have thought that there might still be somewhere, possibly in literature or the arts, where something could be saved. I would call back at least for literature this world of shadows we are losing. In the mansion called literature I would have the eaves deep and the walls dark, I would push back into the shadows the things that come forward too clearly, I would strip away the useless decoration. I do not ask that this be done everywhere, but perhaps we may be allows at least one mansion where we can turn off the electric lights and see what it is like without them.
Kokoro
Master of Go (or Snow Country)
Makioka Sisters
>>7890184
/lit/'s pretentiousness summarized, making categorical judgments based on self-admitted near total ignorance on the subject.
Which Murakami did you read?
>>7890184
Are you looking for "the greatest work evers" which will always just be something about the most essential struggles like war and love. Or a great entry? Also Murakami, in my country, he is nothing.
>>7890204
it's a pseud trying to pretend to be patrician. of course it's haruhi
he probably doesnt even know any other murakamis
>>7890216
I sincerely don't know if you're stupid or trolling
read the sticky.
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, by far.
>>7890198
I've been looking to read The Makioka Sisters. I've read Some Prefer Nettles and Diary of a Mad Old Man, both of which - for entirely different reasons - were superb. The former is pithy and well-observed, the latter funny in a wonderfully Japanese way.
>>7890236
What makes you say this?
>>7890247
the part about him fucking the crossdresser was hot desu
>>7890234
That just gives recommendations. I want in depth discussion.
>>7890257
youve barely read shit go read more faggot
>>7890184
Probably Kokoro - it's such a great look into a transformative period in Japan. It's not as extravagant as Mishima, nor as existential as Dazai, but it's a masterpiece all the same.
>>7890184
I can't vouch for /lit/, but my favorite is The Setting Sun. That said, I haven't read either Kawabata or Ibuse yet and they both lay claim to what are considered Japanese greats.
>>7890184
Read some Mishima, Dazai, Oe, Akutagawa, and Soseki before making sweeping statements like that, OP.
>replying to this shit thread
/lit/ just let it die. sage is your friend.
>>7890870
>>7890891
in any case it's expanding /lit/ discussion of jp lit beyond the usual murakami/mishima/dazai trifecta so whatever
i maintain kawabata is criminally underrated on this board. both soseki and oe get more attention (not that it's a bad thing, i just think kawabata-chan needs some love)
>>7890198
I tried to read Snow Country but I lost interest after the first few chapters. Does it get more enjoyable later?
>>7890904
uh depends on what you're trying to get out of it. snow country is not exactly plot-driven, and if you can't immerse yourself in the prose and the admittedly very japanese aesthetics of the whole thing it doesn't exactly change much later.
>>7890895
To be fair, Master of Go was listed in the first reply. I put Akutagawa because short stories are completely ignored on this board. I think maybe Borges, and to a far lesser extent, Flannery O'Conner, are the only ones who get any love on /lit/.
>>7890944
>tfw first reply was me
dubliners gets love cause >joycememes
雨月物語
I got a copy of Kenzaburo Oe's "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids" out of a box of books my dad was selling at a yard sale. It's pretty typical WWII era lit about kids living horrible and yet innocent existences, but I enjoyed it.
Spoiler: The dog dies. And then they eat it.
>>7891516I forgot you can actually do spoiler tagging on this board.
I wish Soseki's full body of work got more love here. Kokoro may be his best work, but the trilogy consisting of Sanshiro, And Then, and The Gate is pretty phenomenal as well. The Miner is also a good novel, and of course I Am A Cat is a classic.
tl;dr: Soseki wrote other good books besides Kokoro.
its not the greatest piece of nip lit but its really damn good.
very much tied into french surrealism and post-war idealogy
>>7890184
not claiming to be well read enough to say, but
"Afterimages" by Shinkichi Takahashi is probably the most unique book of poems I've read. Its in the Zen tradition, but is far from the haiku you would tend to think of.
Also, Yukio Mishima's novels are excellent
>>7890184
>buhh give me recs
>but first let me make my grand pronouncement on what I think is the greatest literature in the past millennium of writing, despite not having read almost any of it and knowing virtually nothing about the conditions under which it was produced
>>7890257
>wait no I want real discussion that I can't meaningfully contribute to since I haven't read anything
What exactly did you seek to accomplish by making this thread? Not discussion, obviously, since you can't possibly engage really much about the literary ouvre of Japan; this is just a rec thread with your pretentious proclamation at the top disguised as a quest for discussion and understanding, so you get to have your e-peen around and make yet another pointless recommendation thread instead of reading the sticky or using google like someone who isn't retarded. Rec threads should seriously be a bannable offense like they are on other boards.
Seriously, you barging in here admitting you've only read Murakami and some Tanizaki, then proceeding to nominate one of them as having written one of the best pieces of literature in their language is like someone bursting into an English department and claiming that based on their reading of Neil Gaiman and a couple of F. Scott Fitzgerald books you're qualified to talk about the greatest works of the last 1300 years.
Fuck off.
>>7890184
>reading japanese literature in translation
kek fucking weebs
>>7890904
No, it doesn't get "more enjoyable" because it is quite enjoyable from the very first sentence. The opening scene in the train is one of my favourite openings in all literature (which I have read very little of, it's true).
IMO
>>7891945
holy shit reread OP, particularly where he says:
>I vote
He's saying RIGHT NOW based on what hes read that 'In Praise of Shadows' is his favorite jap lit and wants to discuss it along with other japanese works. WHY THE FUCK IS THAT NOT OK WITH YOU? he didn't 'pronounce' shit, he specified his shortcomings in the field and only threw his vote in because he could immediately follow it with a disclaimer
jesus christ please remove your head from your ass
>>7890184
It's Tale of Genji. That's not even a question. If you're asking personal favorites, the thread already has a good range of them for you to go through.
>>7890184
The old /lit/ collections used to have pretty much all the landmark books. Japlit is still hard as shit to appreciate without reading it in native though
>>7890904
Get better taste.
>>7890184
my favorite jap book that ive read is runaway horses.
>>7890184
>What is the singular greatest piece of Japanese literature?
Bakemonogatari.
Haven't read much Japanese literature, but the sea of fertility tetralogy by Mishima is EXCELLENT
>>7895525
I find his ethics to be stunted and dangerous, and since his works are really just explorations of his ethics if you don't care for them he doesn't leave you with much. The 20th century for Japanese literature is mostly an encountering with nihilism. I just find Mishima's retreat into his selfish egoism a very adolescent response.
I would recommend Kawabata. They have similar descriptive power and style, but Kawabata has a world that can seems richer and less constrained by philosophy. Kawabata seems to capture mono no aware. It feels like his response to the nihilism of the time his to relearn from the sensuous ideas of old.
