JAPANDrama, Novels and Short Stories

-Jerine Aina Lugami

• Atsumori (敦盛 Atsumori) is a Japanese Noh

play by Zeami Motokiyo which focuses on

Taira no Atsumori, a young samurai who was

killed in the Genpei War, and his killer,

Kumagai Naozane. Atsumori's death is

portrayed tragically in the Heike monogatari

(Tale of the Heike), from which this and many

other works stem.

Kabuki- lively, melodramatic acting and is staged

using elaborate and colorful costumes and sets.

Jorori- using puppets and was a great influence on

the development of the kabuki

Kyogen- is a farce traditionally performed between

the Noh tragedies.

Novels and Short Stories• Snow Country - is a full-length novel by theJapanese author YasunariKawabata. The novel isconsidered a classic work ofJapanese literature. It is astark tale of a love affairbetween a Tokyo dilettanteand a provincial geisha thattakes place in the remotehot spring town of Yuzawa.

• House of the Sleeping

Beauties- is a 1961

novella by the Japanese

author Yasunari

Kawabata. It is a story

about a lonely man, Old

Eguchi, who continuously

visits the House of the

Sleeping Beauties in hope

of something more.

• The Makioka Sisters

by Tanizaki is the

story of four sisters

whose chief concern is

finding husband for the

third sister, a woman of

traditional beliefs who

has rejected several

suitors.

• The Sea of

fertility-

is a tetralogy of novels

written by the Japanese

author Yukio Mishima.

The four novels are

Spring Snow (1969),

Runaway Horses

(1969), The Temple of

Dawn (1970), and The

Decay of the Angel

(1971).

The Setting Sun is a

Japanese novel by

Osamu Dazai. It was

published in 1947 and is

set in Japan after World

War II. Principal

characters are Kazuko,

her brother Naoji, and

their elderly mother

In the Grove by

Akutagawa is the

author’s famous made

into the film Rashomon

• The wild Geese

by Oagi is a

melodramatic

novel set in

Tokyo at the

treshold of the

20th century. The

novel explore the

blighted life of

Otama, daughter

of a cake vendor.

The Buddha Tree by

Fumio alludes to the

awakening of Buddha

under the Bo tree when

he gets enlightened

after fasting 40 days

and nights.