Factbook

A Dynamic Compendium of Interesting Japanese Literary and Publishing Facts
If you would like to contribute to this compendium please submit your ideas here.
All will be considered for publication by our expert panel.
  • Factbook Keyword Search:
  • Share
    • Educational

    Yukio Mishima considered ‘The Handkerchief’ by Ryunosuke Akutagawa to be the ultimate Japanese short story[UPDATED: 3-11-2026]

    Japan has an incredible history of short-form fiction that is as rich as it is diverse. There is everything here from verse to the modern short story. Going back to the 10th century, Japanese readers have been captivated by tales of time-travel and shape-shifting and Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927), who one of Japan’s most important literary prizes is named after, is considered the father of the modern Japanese short story.

    The modern short story arrived in Japan relatively late, in 1890, some time after most other countries. It is generally agreed that the first one written was ‘Maihime‘ (The Dancing Girl) by Ogai Mori (1862-1922). And its impact on both Japanese readers and writers was not insignificant. Many Japanese authors including some of the nation’s most able are fans of the short story format.

     ‘It is,’ Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), one of Japan’s most notorious authors, said in a talk he gave in English: ‘a sort of, four round match for green boy in boxing. If he can fight four rounds, he can fight five rounds, six rounds, and more and more.’ In other words, if you can take the criticism and the knocks and stay on your feet you have a potential writing career ahead of you.  

    According to Donald Keene, one of his translators and a highly regarded professor of Japan literature, Mishima thought that Akutagawa’s The Handkerchief, hankachi, was the ultimate Japanese short story.

    The story, which has the following opening line: “Hasegawa Kinzo, professor in the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University, was sitting in a rattan chair on the veranda, reading Stringberg’s Dramturgy”, was published in 1916 inChuokoron – an influential monthly magazine that is now one of Japan’s oldest continuously published magazines.

    The Handkerchief is a story replete with cynicism about a Japanese professor of colonial policy married to an American woman who loves Japanese culture, and the narrative concerns itself with the struggle of modernization.

    The professor is said to be modeled on the celebrated international statesman Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933) and a criticism of his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan published in 1900.

    Akutagawa is, however, best known outside Japan for his first published short story In a Grove, which cleverly employs multiple narrative viewpoints in the form of witness statements of a single crime, a rape – giving the impression that reality is never what it first seems.

    This story’s unique multi-perspective structure and ambiguous narrative was unlike most typical translated Western stories available at the time in Japan. Readers of In a Grove are left totally unsure as to the true outcome of this intriguing but compact tale. An authentic reflection perhaps of the real world in which the true nature of things cannot always be readily determined.

    The award-winning film Rashomon based on Akutagawa’s story directed by Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), who was an avid reader, introduced similar techniques to the world of cinematic storytelling. Akutagawa, also wrote many other brilliant short stories including, for example, The Hell Screen, ‘Kappa’ and The Life of a Holy Fool.

    An English translation of The Handkerchief can be found within the collection The beautiful and the Grotesque republished by Liveright in 2010.

    Yukio Mishima considered ‘The Handkerchief’ by Ryunosuke Akutagawa to be the ultimate Japanese short story Posted by Richard Nathan
  • Share
    • Educational

    Since 1947 the Japanese government has approved and paid for all Japanese school level student textbooks[UPDATED: 3-2-2018]

    The Japanese government pays for all student textbooks for the millions of students participating in its compulsory education system. It sets guidelines for certified publishers and approves textbooks before publication. Schools, teachers and local educational boards, depending on the type of school, are free to select which publishers’ textbook they want to adopt and use in their classes. 

    The current system for textbook approval, which is open and transparent, was created after the Second World War in 1947, when Japan was occupied by US forces and run by Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). 

    Under this system, like other countries, the government sets curriculum guidelines and certified publishers in the private sector submit their books for approval. Mexico, for example, has a very similar system, which like Japan also requires all books to be printed locally. It is known locally as CONALITEG. Revisions are sometimes requested, but in Japan most books are generally approved. 

    Japan has one of the world’s highest school participation rates of 99.8% and nine years of compulsory education, generally from age 6 to 15. With more than 6 million students attending elementary schools and more than 3 million lower secondary, this means that the Japanese government is one of the largest book buyers in Japan. 

    Despite the system being very similar to that in other countries, it is not uncontroversial, as textbooks that do not cover history in the manner that some of Japan’s neighbours would like or think appropriate, have been approved in the past. And some criticise these particular books for ignoring Japan’s actions in Asia during the Second World War. 

    The textbook market is competitive and there is considerable choice of textbooks to choose from. Commonly used textbooks do mention and reference the Nanking Massacre for instance; and schools often do not select the more controversial history textbooks generally published by nationalist groups seeking attention and controversy, which the media often focus on. The issue has become so sensitive that Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now publishes information on its website in English, Korean and Chinese on how textbooks are approved and distributed in Japan to help clarify the situation.
    Since 1947 the Japanese government has approved and paid for all Japanese school level student textbooks Posted by Richard Nathan
  • Share
    • Educational

    Japan’s first medical textbook, written in 984, is considered Asia’s first book on medical ethics[UPDATED: 2-14-2018]

    Japan’s first medical textbook was written in 984 by Yasunori Tamba (912- 995), who is sometimes referred to as the Hypocrates of Japan, during Japan’s Heian Period (794-1185). 

    The book, known as Ishimpo or Ishinpo was written in kanbun, the Chinese writing system used during this period in Japan, and presented to the Emperor of Japan. 

    The text consisting of 30-volumes is a systemised compilation of medical knowledge, theory, techniques and practice. It is partly based on and cites ancient Chinese texts, which no longer exist. 

    It covers sexual disease and practice, dental and oral problems – such as bad breath, cleft palate, toothache, and tooth decay – as well as pharmacology, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, moxibustion and acupuncture. 

    The Cambridge World History of Medical Ethics lists the Ishimpo as the first Asian text in its 77-page Chronology of Medical Ethics, which starts from 4,000 BCE. 

    The first three individuals the chronology cites are: Moses (circa 1,200 BCE) Kong Qiu or Confucius (551-479 BCE) and Buddha (563-482 BCE). The first text included is the Hippocratic Corpus including its famous oath written in 400 BCE. 

    The type of traditional medical practice, including acupuncture and moxibustion, described in the Ishimpo now falls within the Japanese definition of Kampo (Chinese Medicine), which was originally used to distinguish this form of medical practice from Rampo (Dutch Medicine), the Western medical practices and techniques that Dutch traders and sailors brought with them to Japan in the 16th Century. 

    The oldest and most complete copy of the Ishimpo, which is illustrated in parts, is preserved at the Tokyo National Museum and is designated as a National Treasure of Japan.
    Japan’s first medical textbook, written in 984, is considered Asia’s first book on medical ethics Posted by Richard Nathan