Factbook

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Literary History

Japan’s ‘first modern novel’ was written by Futabatei Shimei in 1887

[UPDATED: 2-5-2018]

Ukigumo, The Drifting Cloud, by Futabatei Shimei (1864-1909) is considered by academics as Japan’s ‘first modern novel’ due to its realism and focus on the psychology and personalities of the novel’s four characters, as opposed to being a chronicle of deeds and actions.

An English translation, by Marleigh Grayer Ryan, was published in 1967 by Columbia University Press as Japan’s first modern novel: Ukigumo of Futabatei Shimei.

Futabatei Shimei, born Tatsunosuke Hasegawa, a student of Russian literature, wrote in a colloquial style about the society around him. The Drifting Cloud was published in three volumes in 1887 and 1888 and was in fact never completed. Nevertheless, its realism, style and critique of growing materialism in Japan were highly influential.

Japan’s ‘first modern novel’ was written by Futabatei Shimei in 1887 Posted January 1st, 2018 by Richard Nathan

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Factbook

Japan’s ‘first modern novel’ was written by Futabatei Shimei in 1887

‘The Life of an Amorous Man’ written by a 17th-century Japanese poet spawned the genre now known as ‘Floating World’ publishing[UPDATED: 1-16-2024]

A poem about a frog written in 1686 by Japan’s most famous poet is Japan’s best known poem[UPDATED: 10-2-2023]

In the 1960s a member of the Japanese Imperial Family started moonlighting as a science fiction author[UPDATED: 8-22-2023]

Writing about the plight of women in Japan is not a new trend. In the 1870s visitors to Japan were already pontificating on the topic in print[UPDATED: 8-4-2023]

New international standards for measuring time, weights and measures encouraged some to call for Japan to adopt a Westernised writing system abandoning traditional alphabets[UPDATED: 7-7-2023]

In 1841 Shakespeare’s name appeared in print in Japan in Japanese for the first time[UPDATED: 6-14-2023]

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