Contents
The following table includes the major works of premodern Japanese literature mentioned in study aids for Japanese high school students, with the addition of several titles of interest to the Western reader. The transliteration of the Japanese title is given first, followed by an English translation and the name of the author or compiler, when known. The English translation is fairly literal in most cases (usually based on Keene's versions or those in The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature), although in a number of instances conventional or published titles have been used and definite and indefinite articles (sometimes arbitrarily) attached. Dating is, of course, a vexed problem in the premodern period; approximate dates are so indicated. A timeline with more detailed information is planned for the future.
Date |
Japanese Title |
English Translation (Author/Compiler) |
| 712 | Kojiki | Records of Ancient Matters (Ōe no Yasumaro) |
| ca. 713 | Fudoki | Gazetteers (regional reports on matters of interest to the central government) |
| 720 | Nihon shoki | Chronicles of Japan |
| 751 | Kaifūsō | Fond Recollections of Poetry |
| after 759 | Man'yōshū | A Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves |
| 797 | Shoku nihongi | A Continuation of Chronicles of Japan |
| ca. 822 | Nihon ryōiki (or Nihon reiiki) | An Account of Miracles in Japan (edited by Kyōkai) |
| ca. 901 | Taketori monogatari | The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter |
| 905 | Kokin wakashū | A Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry (Japanese Preface by Ki no Tsurayuki) |
| ca. 930 | Ise monogatari | Tales of Ise |
| ca. 935 | Tosa nikki | The Tosa Diary (Ki no Tsurayuki) |
| 951 | Gosen wakashū | A Later Selection of Japanese Poetry |
| ca. 951 | Yamato monogatari | Tales of Yamato |
| ca. 965 | Heichū monogatari | Tales of Heichū |
| after 974 | Kagerō nikki | The Gossamer Years (Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna) |
| before 984 | Utsuho monogatari | The Tale of the Hollow Tree |
| ca. 989 | Ochikubo monogatari | The Tale of Ochikubo |
| 996 | Makura no sōshi | The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon |
| after 1004 | Izumi Shikibu nikki | The Izumi Shikibu Diary |
| 1005 | Shūi wakashū | A Collection of Gleanings |
| ca. 1008 | Genji monogatari | The Tale of Genji (Murasaki Shikibu) |
| after 1028 | Eiga monogatari | A Tale of Flowering Fortunes (in part by Akazome Emon) |
| after 1059 | Sarashina nikki | The Sarashina Diary (Daughter of Sugawara no Takasue) |
| 1086 | Goshūi wakashū | A Later Collection of Gleanings (compiled by Fujiwara no Michitoshi) |
| ca. 1120 | ōkagami | The Great Mirror |
| ca. 1120 | Konjaku monogatari | Tales of Times Now Past |
| ca. 1127 | Kinyō wakashū | A Collection of Golden Leaves (compiled by Minamoto no Toshiyori) |
| 1151 | Shika wakashū | A Collection of Verbal Flowers of Japanese Poetry (compiled by Fujiwara no Akisuke) |
| 1184 | Ryōjin hishō | Songs to Make the Dust Dance (compiled by Go-Shirakawa) |
| 1188 | Senzai wakashū | A Collection for a Thousand Years (compiled by Fujiwara no Toshinari [Shunzei]) |
| before 1190 | Sankashū | The Mountain Hut Collection (Saigyō) |
| 1205 | Shin kokin wakashū | A New Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry |
| 1212 | Hōjōki | An Account of My Hut (Kamo no Chōmei) |
| ca. 1212 | Mumyōshō | A Nameless Selection (Kamo no Chōmei) |
| 1213 | Kinkai wakashū | The Golden Pagoda-Tree Collection of Japanese Poetry (Minamoto no Sanetomo) |
| before 1216 | Hosshinshū | A Collection to Promote Religious Awakening (edited by Kamo no Chōmei) |
| before 1219 | Heike monogatari | The Tale of the Heike |
| before 1233 | Kenreimon'in Ukyō no Daibu shū | The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu |
| after 1242 | Uji shūi monogatari | Later Tales from Uji |
| 1252 | Jikkinshō (Jikkunshō) | A Miscellany of Ten Maxims |
| 1254 | Kokon chomonjū | A Collection of Tales Heard, Past and Present (edited by Tachibana no Narisue) |
| before 1271 (Late Heian) | Tsutsumi Chūnagon monogatari | The Riverside Counselor's Stories |
| ca. 1279 | Izayoi nikki | The Diary of the Waning Moon (Abutsu) |
| ca. 1330 | Tsurezuregusa | Essays in Idleness (Yoshida Kenkō) |
| before 1350 | Taiheiki | The Record of Great Peace |
| 1400 | Fūshikaden | Style and the Flower (Zeami Motokiyo) |
| 1495 | Shinsen Tsukubashū | The New Tsukuba Collection (compiled by Iio Sōgi, et al.) |
| 1682 | Kōshoku ichidai otoko | A Man Who Devoted His Life to Love (Ihara Saikaku) |
| 1688 | Nippon eitaigura | The Family Storehouse of Japan (Ihara Saikaku) |
| 1692 | Seken munesan'yō | Heartfelt Worldly Reckonings (Ihara Saikaku) |
| 1702 | Oku no hosomichi | The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Matsuo Bashō) |
| 1702 | Sanzōshi | The Three Booklets (Hattori Dohō) |
| 1703 | Sonezaki shinjū | The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Chikamatsu Monzaemon) |
| 1703-05 | Kyoraishō | Conversations with Kyorai |
| 1711 | Meido no hikyaku | The Courier for Hell (Chikamatsu Monzaemon) |
| 1715 | Kokusen'ya kassen | The Battles of Coxinga (Chikamatsu Monzaemon) |
| 1720 | Shinjū ten no Amijima | The Love Suicides at Amijima (Chikamatsu Monzaemon) |
| before 1725 | Oritaku shiba no ki | Told Round a Brushwood Fire (Arai Hakuseki) |
| 1776 | Ugetsu monogatari | Tales of Rain and Moonlight (Ueda Akinari) |
| 1796 | Genji monogatari tama no ogushi | The Tale of Genji: A Jeweled Comb (Motoori Norinaga) |
| 1797 | Shin hanatsumi | A New Gathering of Flowers (Yosa Buson) |
| 1798 | Kojikiden | Commentary on the Kojiki (Motoori Norinaga) |
| 1802 | Tōkaidōchū hizakurige | Shank's Mare Along the Tōkaidō (Jippensha Ikku) |
| 1809-13 | Ukiyoburo | The Bathhouse of the Floating World (Shikitei Sanba) |
| 1813-14 | Ukiyodoko | The Barbershop of the Floating World (Shikitei Sanba) |
| 1814-42 | Nansō satomi hakkenden | Biographies of Eight Dogs (Takizawa Bakin) |
| 1820 | Ora ga haru | The Spring of My Life (Kobayashi Issa) |
| 1825 | Tōkaidō Yotsuya kaidan | Ghost Story of Yotsuya on the Tōkaidō (Tsuruya Nanboku) |