1600–1868 The Tokugawa period of relative Japanese isolation witnesses rapid urbanization, the growth of mass markets for an explosion of printed literary works, the flowering of nô theater, the rise of haiku poetry, the emergence of kabuki, and the blossoming of a vibrant professional storytelling tradition.
1854 The U.S. fleet under Commodore Matthew Perry forces the Japanese government to open several ports for trade, leading to an influx of foreign traders and goods into Japan.
1868 Transfer of rule from the Tokugawa shogunate to the Emperor Meiji begins the Meiji Era (through 1912).
1870 Kanagaki Robun’s illustrated, serialized tale Seiyôdôchû hizakurige/Shank’s Mare to the Western Seas depicts two Japanese travelers roaming the globe.
1871 Various grassroots organizations put pressure on the Meiji leaders for a constitution and representative government, paralleling the rise of political novels. Another Kanagaki Robun tale, Aguranabe/The Beefeater, parodies Japanese fascination with Western fashion and culture. Nakamura Masanao publishes a loose translation of Samuel Smiles’ Self Help as Saikoku risshi hen/Success Stories from Western Countries.
1872 Fukuzawa Yukichi publishes Gakumon no susume/An Encouragement of Learning, advocating Japanese mass education and self-reliance.
1878 Despite government suppression, the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement serves as a catalyst for many reforms. Niwa Jun’ichirô publishes Karyû shun’wa/A Springtime Tale of Blossoms and Willows, an adaptation of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s Ernest Maltravers, beginning a decade of adaptive translations of Western fiction. Kawashima Chûnosuke also publishes an adaptation of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days as Hachijûnichikan sekai isshû.
1882 Shintai shishô/Collection of New-Style Poems, an anthology of translated Western poetry, gives new writers a venue for stylistic experimentation.
1883 The government opens an elaborate Western-style guesthouse, the Rokumeikan (Deer Cry Pavilion), that symbolizes Japan’s commitment to modernization.
1884 The invention of Japanese shorthand by Takusari Kôki allows transcription and publication of oral narrative, in particular the serialized ghost tales and stories of professional raconteurs, such as San’yûtei Enchô.
1885 Ozaki Kôyô and colleagues found the Ken’yûsha literary group, with its coterie magazine Garakuta bunko/Library of Trash, which grows to become Japan’s first literary journal. Tsubouchi Shôyô publishes his groundbreaking critique Shôsetsu shinzui/The Essence of the Novel as well as a fledgling novel Tôsei shosei katagi/The Character of Modern Students. Tôkai Sanshi publishes his nationalistic narrative Kajin no kigû/Strange Encounters with Beautiful Women.
1886 Against the backdrop of calls for unification of writing and speech, realist experimental narrative first appears in the works of Suehiro Tetchô (Setchûbai/Plum Blossoms in the Snow), Yamada Bimyô (Musashino/Musashi Plains), and Futabatei Shimei (Ukigumo/The Drifting Clouds).
1887 Tokutomi Sohô founds the influential periodical Kokumin no tomo/Nation’s Friend.
1889 Mori Ôgai publishes Omokage/Vestiges, another anthology of translated poetry, and helps establish the Romanticist literary journal Shigarami-zôshi/The Weir. Romanticism permeates works by Ozaki Kôyô, Kôda Rohan, Yamada Bimyô, and other experimental writers.
1890 The Meiji Constitution, establishing a Prussian-style government and promulgated in 1889, becomes operative. Mori Ôgai publishes two short stories, Maihime/The Dancing Girl and Utakata no ki/A Sad Tale.
1891 Tsubouchi Shôyô founds the literary journal Waseda bungaku/ Waseda Literature. Kitamura Tôkoku publishes Horaikyoku/Song of Paradise, a Byronesque poetic drama.
1893 Shimazaki Tôson and colleagues found the literary journal Bungakkai/The Literary World.
1894 Sino-Japanese War begins (through 1895). Female author Higuchi Ichiyô, writing in the classical style of Ihara Saikaku, publishes her novel Ôtsugomori/The Last Day of the Year. Poet Yosano Tekkan writes a critical manifesto titled Bôkoku no ne/Sounds Ruinous to the Country, urging reform of tanka.
1895 Tsubouchi Shôyô publishes his play Kiri hitoha/A Pawlonia Leaf, a fusion of traditional and Western dramatic conventions. Izumi Kyôka publishes Yakôjunsa/The Patrolman, the first of his “problem novels” that address social issues. Poet Masaoka Shiki publishes Haikai taiyô/Essentials of Haikai (haiku).
1896 Ozaki Kôyô publishes his novel Tajô takon/Passions and Regrets.
1897 Masaoka Shiki founds the haiku magazine Hototogisu/The Cuckoo. Shimazaki Tôson publishes his anthology of poems in the modern style Wakanashû/Collection of Young Herbs. Ozaki Kôyô publishes his novel Konjiki yasha/The Gold Demon.
1898 Kunikida Doppô publishes his narrative sketches Musashino.
1900 Yosano Tekkan founds the literary journal Myôjô/Venus. Izumi Kyôka publishes gothic novella Kôya hijiri/The Kôya Priest. Tokutomi Rôka publishes a series of sketches (Shizen to jinsei/Nature and Life) and a semiautobiographical novel (Omoide no ki/Footprints in the Snow).
1901 Yosano Akiko publishes Midaregami/Tangled Hair, a feminist poetry collection in the waka style. Kunikida Doppô publishes Gyûniku to jagaimo/Beef and Potatoes. Shimazaki Tôson publishes a poetry collection Rakubaishû/Fallen Plum Blossoms.
1902 Nagai Kafû publishes his realist novel Jigoku no hana/The Flowers of Hell.
1904 Russo-Japanese War begins (through 1905). Kinoshita Naoe publishes his vernacular antiwar novel Hi no hashira/Pillar of Fire. Yosano Akiko publishes her antiwar poem Kimishini tamau koto nakare/Brother, Do Not Give Your Life!
1905 Natsume Sôseki publishes the novel Wagahai wa neko de aru/I am a Cat. Ueda Bin publishes Kaichôon/The Sound of the Tide, a collection of translations of Western poetry. Tsubouchi Shôyô is finally able to stage his play Kiri hitoha/A Paulownia Leaf.
1906 Tsubouchi Shôyô forms the Bungei kyôkai to perform translated versions of Shakespeare and other Western dramas. Shimazaki Tôson publishes the naturalist novel Hakai/The Broken Commandment. Natsume Sôseki publishes both Botchan/Master Darling and Kusamakura/The Three-Cornered World.
1907 Tayama Katai publishes his autobiographical, naturalist novel Futon/The Quilt. Futabatei Shimei publishes the novel Heibon/Mediocrity.
1908 Itô Sachio founds the literary journal Araragi/The Yew. Nastume Sôseki publishes his humorous novel Sanshirô. The tenets of naturalism are articulated by Shimamura Hôgetsu in the journal Waseda bungaku. Masamune Hakuchô publishes the novel Doko e/Whither?
1909 Osanai Kaoru and Ichikawa Sadanji II form the modern theater group Jiyû gekijô/Free Theater. Mori Ôgai and Ueda Bin establish the literary journal Subaru/Pleiades, in which tanka poet Kitahara Hakushû publishes his lyric debut Jashumon/Heretics. Nagai Kafû publishes the novel Sumidagawa/River Sumida. Iwano Hômei publishes the autobiographical novel Tandeki/Debauchery.
1910 Japanese annexation of Korea. Literary journal Mita bungaku/Mita Literature founded at Keiô University. Young writers found Shirakaba/White Birches literary magazine. Natsume Sôseki publishes Mon/The Gate. Mori Ôgai publishes Seinen/Youth. Shimazaki Tôson publishes his novel Ie/The Family. Tanizaki Jun’ichirô writes Shisei/The Tatooer. Poet reformer Ishikawa Takuboku publishes a collection of modern tanka titled Ichiaku no suna/A Handful of Sand. Yoshii Isamu also publishes Sakahogai/Revelry, his first collection of new tanka. Nagatsuka Takashi publishes the long novel Tsuchi/The Soil, describing the hardships of agricultural life.
1911 Mori Ôgai publishes Gan/The Wild Geese. Natsume Sôseki publishes a critical essay titled Gendai Nihon no kaika/The Enlightenment of Modern Japan. Kitahara Hakushû publishes a collection of lyric modern poems titled Omoide/Recollections. Playwright Okamoto Kidô completes a new kabuki drama Shûzenji monogatari/Tale of Shûzen Temple. Hiratsuka Raichô founds the feminist literary journal Seitô/Bluestockings.
1912 Death of Emperor Meiji. His son assumes the throne, beginning the Taishô period (through 1926). Natsume Sôseki publishes two novels, Higan-sugi made/To the Equinox and Kôjin/The Wanderer. Ishikawa Takuboku dies, and his innovative collection Kanashiki gangu/A Sad Toy is published posthumously. Shimazaki Tôson publishes his Chikumagawa sukettchi/Chikuma River Sketches.
1913 Shimamura Hôgetsu establishes the Geijutsu-za/Art Theater. Mori Ôgai publishes the historical novel Abe ichizoku/The Abe Clan. Miki Rofû publishes a collection of Symbolist poems titled Shiroke te no ryôjin/The White-Handed Hunter. Saitô Mokichi publishes Shakkô/Red Lights, a collection of modern tanka. Naka Kansuke publishes the memoir-like novel Gin no saji/The Silver Spoon.
1914 Japan joins Allied forces in World War I. The literary journal Shinshichô/New Trends of Thought is founded. Natsume Sôseki publishes his novel Kokoro/The Heart and an essay on criticism Watakushi no kojin shugi/My Individualism. Sculptor Takamura Kôtarô publishes Dôtei/Journey, a collection of poems. Nagai Kafû publishes Sangoshû/Coral Anthology, a collection of translated poetry. Kume Masao produces the modern drama Gyûnyûya no kyôdai/The Milkman’s Brother. Nagatsuka Takashi publishes a tanka collection Hari no gotoku/Like a Needle.
1915 Natsume Sôseki publishes his quasi-autobiographical novel Michikusa/Grass on the Wayside. Mori Ôgai publishes the historical novel Sanshô dayû/Sanshô the Baliff. Akutagawa Ryûnosuke publishes Rashômon/Rashô Gate. Tokuda Shûsei publishes Arakure/Rough Living, a novel about a young seamstress.
1916 Natsume Sôseki dies, leaving his final novel Meian/Light and Darkness unfinished. Nagai Kafû publishes Udekurabe/Geisha in Rivalry. Kurata Hyakuzô publishes his Buddhist play Shukke to sono deshi/The Priest and the Disciples.
1917 Shiga Naoya writes Kinosaki nite/At Kinosaki and Wakai/Reconciliation. Arishima Takeo publishes novel Kain no matsuei/The Descendants of Cain. Poet Hagiwara Sakutarô publishes a collection of colloquial free verse poetry Tsuki ni hoeru/Howling at the Moon. Kikuchi Kan writes a stage play Chichi kaeru/The Father Returns.
1918 Rice riots occur as a result of World War I inflation, leading to several years of agricultural depression. The children’s literary magazine Akai Tori/Red Bird is founded. Akutagawa Ryûnosuke writes Jigokuhen/The Hell Screen. Arishima Takeo publishes the novel Umare izuru nayami/The Anguish of Creation. Satô Haruo writes the prose poem Den’en no Yûutsu/Rural Melancholy. Shimazaki Tôson publishes Shinsei/A New Life. Poet Murô Saisei publishes Jojô shokyokushû/Short Lyrical Songs. Kasai Zenzô publishes the story Ko wo tsurete/With Children on My Hands.
1919 Arishima Takeo’s novel, Aru onna/A Certain Woman, portrays a new kind of heroine resistant to conventional female stereotypes. Mushanokôji Saneatsu writes Kôfukumono/A Happy Man, a novel based on the communal village he founded in 1918. Kikuchi Kan writes the novel Onshû no kanata ni/The Realm Beyond. Uno Kôji writes the novel Kura no naka/In the Storehouse.
1920 Yamamoto Yûzô publishes the play Eijigoroshi/Infanticide. Arishima Takeo publishes the essay Oshiminaku ai wa ubau/Love, the Ruthless Plunderer. Mushanokôji Saneatsu publishes his most popular novel, Yûjô/Friendship.
1921 Ômi Komaki founds the leftist journal Tanemakuhito/The Sower. Shiga Naoya publishes An’ya kôro/A Dark Night’s Passing. Satô Haruo publishes a collection of poetry Junjôshi-shû/Romantic Poems. Kurata Hyakuzô publishes the critical essay Ai to ninshiki to no shuppatsu/The Beginning of Love and Understanding.
1922 Satomi Ton begins serialized publication of his long novel Tajôbusshin/Passions and Piety.
1923 The Great Kantô Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama. Yokomitsu Riichi publishes Nichirin/The Sun, which propels him into the modernist limelight. Ibuse Masuji publishes Sanshôuo/The Salamander. Nagayo Yoshirô publishes Seidô no Kirisuto/The Bronze Christ. Hagiwara Sakutarô publishes a collection of modernist poetry Aoneko/The Blue Cat.
1924 Tsukiji Shôgekijô/Tsukiji Little Theater established by Osanai Kaoru and Hijikata Yoshi. Literary journals Bungei sensen/Literary Front (proletarian) and Bungei jidai/Literary Times (neo-perceptionist) are founded. Tanizaki Jun’ichirô publishes Chijin no ai/Naomi. Miyazawa Kenji publishes free verse poems as Haru to Shura/Spring and Asura. Miyamoto Yuriko publishes the novel Nobuko. Iwata Kunio’s play Chiroru no aki/Tyrol Autumn is performed.
1925 Kajii Motojirô publishes Remon/The Lemon. Horiguchi Daigaku publishes his translation of contemporary French poetry as Gekka no ichigun/A Moonlit Gathering. Kishida Kunio publishes his drama Kamifûsen/Paper Balloon.
1926 Emperor Taishô dies. His son, Hirohito, assumes the throne, beginning the Shôwa period (through 1989). Kawabata Yasunari publishes Izu no odoriko/The Izu Dancer. Hayama Yoshiki writes the proletarian novel Umi ni ikuru hitobito/Life on the Sea. Poet Itô Sei writes Yuki akari no michi/A Road in Snowlight.
1927 Akutagawa Ryûnosuke publishes the dystopian novella Kappa/Water Sprite; commits suicide. Writer and labor organizer Fujimori Seikichi writes proletarian drama Nani ga kanojo wo sô saseta ka/What Caused Her to Do That? Hirabayashi Taiko publishes the proletarian short story Seryôshitsu nite/At the Charity Ward.
1928 Two literary journals appear: Shi to shiron/Poetry and Poetics (modernism) and Ashibi/Andromeda (progressive haiku). Yamamoto Yûzô publishes novel Nami/Waves. Hayashi Fumiko publishes breakthrough bestseller Hôrôki/Diary of a Vagabond. Tanizaki Jun’ichirô publishes the novel Tade kuu mushi/Some Prefer Nettles.
1929 Great Depression affects Japan. Hijikata Yoshi founds the Shin-Tsukiji gekidan/New Tsukiji Theater Troupe. Shimazaki Tôson publishes Yoakemae/Before the Dawn. Kobayashi Takiji publishes Kanikôsen/The Factory Ship, a scathing indictment of capitalist nationalism. Tokunaga Sunao publishes a highly successful proletarian novel, Taiyo no nai machi/The Street without Sunlight. Critic Kobayashi Hideo publishes Samazama naru ishô/All Manner of Designs.
1930 Yokomitsu Riichi publishes the novel Kikai/Machine. Hori Tatsuo publishes Seikazoku/The Saintly Family. Miyoshi Tatsuji publishes the free verse anthology Sokuryôsen/Surveying Boat.
1931 Manchurian Incident expands Japanese military control in China and at home. Nagai Kafû publishes Tsuyu no atosaki/After the Rains.
1932 Tomoda Kyôsuke and Tamura Akiko found the Tsukiji Theater. Kishida Kunio founds the drama journal Gekisaku/Playwriting. Poet Maruyama Kaoru publishes the anthology Ho, rampu, kamome/Sail, Lamp, Seagull.
1933 Founding of the journals Shiki/The Seasons (poetry) and Bungakkai/Literary World (literature). Tanizaki Jun’ichirô publishes a novella, Shunkinshô/A Portrait of Shunkin, and an essay of cultural criticism, In’ei raisan/In Praise of Shadows. Nishiwaki Junzaburô publishes the poetry collection Amubaruwaria/Ambarvaria. Ozaki Kazuo publishes his autobiographical novel Nonki megane/Rosy Glasses.
1934 Maruyama Tomoyoshi and other Marxist dramatists form the Shinkyô gekidan/New Cooperative Theater. Murô Saisei publishes the story Ani imoto/Older Brother Younger Sister. Nakahara Chûya publishes a poetry collection Yagi no uta/Poems of the Goat.
1935 Journals Rekitei/The Traveled Path, Nihon Roman-ha/Japanese Romantics, and Tama (a tanka journal) founded. Kawabata Yasunari publishes Yukiguni/Snow Country. Nakano Shigeharu publishes the proletarian novel Mura no ie/House in a Village as well as a collection of poetry. Itô Shizuo publishes a lyric anthology Waga hito ni atauru aika/Laments Addressed to My Beloved. Yokomitsu Riichi publishes an essay Junsui shôsetsu-ron/On Pure Literature. Kobayashi Hideo publishes his groundbreaking essay Watakushi-shôsetsu ron/On the I-Novel. Ishikawa Tatsuzô publishes the historical novel Sôbô/The Emigrants, which receives the first Akutagawa Prize, established, along with the Naoki Prize, by writer/publisher Kikuchi Kan.
1936 Abe Tomoji publishes the novel Fuyu no yado/A Place to Winter. Hori Tatsuo publishes the novel Kaze tachinu/The Wind Rises.
1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident leads to all-out war with China. Tomoda Kyôsuke founds the Bungaku-za/Literary Theater. Kubo Sakae’s Marxist play Kazanbaichi/Land of Volcanic Ash is first performed to wide acclaim. Nagai Kafû publishes Bokutô kitan/Tales from East of the River. Shimaki Kensaku writes Seikatsu no tankyû/The Quest for Life. Yokomitsu Riichi publishes the long novel Ryoshû/Travel Sadness. Tachihara Michizô issues a collection of sonnet-metered poems Wasuregusa ni yosu/To the Day Lilies.
1938 Hino Ashihei publishes the novel Mugi to heitai/Wheat and Soldiers, which eventually sells 1.2 million copies. Nakahara Chûya publishes the poetry collection Arishihi no uta/Poems from Bygone Days. Critic Miki Kiyoshi writes Jinsei ron nooto/Notes on Life.
1939 Nakano Shigeharu pens the novel Uta no wakare/Leaving Songs Behind. Murano Shirô issues a poetry collection Taisô shishû/Poems on Exercise. Ono Tôsaburô publishes an anthology of poems titled Ôsaka.
1940 Dazai Osamu publishes Hashire Merosu/Run, Melos! Itô Sei publishes an autobiographical novel Tokunô Gorô no seikatsu to iken/The Life and Opinions of Tokunô Gorô.
1941 Pacific War starts with Pearl Harbor attack. Takamura Kôtarô publishes poetry collection Chieko shô/Chieko’s Sky. Masamune Hakuchô pens the essay Sakkaron/On Authors.
1942 Nakajima Atsushi publishes the novella Sangetsuki/Tiger-Poet. Sakaguchi Ango writes the essay Nihon bunka shikan/A Personal View of Japanese Culture.
1943 Nakajima Atsushi publishes the novel Riryô. Critic Karaki Junzô publishes Ôgai no seishin/The Spirit of Ôgai.
1944 Dazai Osamu publishes Tsugaru, an autobiographical novel based on a trip to his remote birthplace. Poetess Nakamura Teijo publishes collection Teijo kushû/Teijo’s Verse Anthology.
1945 Japan surrenders after atomic bombing and is occupied by Allied forces. Miyamoto Yuriko and colleagues form the Shin-Nihon bungakkai/New Japan Literary Association. Morimoto Kaoru completes the commissioned play Onna no isshô/A Woman’s Life.
1946 A new Japanese constitution is promulgated under the Occupation. New journals Shin Nihon bungaku/New Japanese Literature, Kindai bungaku/Modern Literature, and Yakumo/Eight Clouds are founded. Noma Hiroshi pens Kurai e/Dark Pictures. Haniya Yutaka writes Shirei/Death Spirit. Nakamura Shin’ichirô publishes Shi no kage no moto ni/In the Shadow of Death. Umezaki Haruo writes Sakurajima/Sakura Island. Miyamoto Yuriko writes Banshû heiya/Banshû Plain. Oda Sakunosuke publishes Doyô fujin/Madam Saturday. Sakaguchi Ango publishes a novel, Hakuchi/The Innocent, and an essay, Darakuron/On Decadance. Kuwabara Takeo writes an essay Daini geijutsu: gendai haiku ni tsuite/Second-Class Art: On Modern Haiku. Kobayashi Hideo writes an essay Mujô to iu koto/On Transcience.
1947 Dazai Osamu publishes the novel Shayô/The Setting Sun. Takeda Taijun writes Shinpan/The Judgment and Mamushi no sue/This Outcast Generation. Shiina Rinzô writes Shin’ya no shuen/Midnight Banquet. Ishikawa Jun publishes Yakeato no Iesu/The Jesus of the Ruins. Noma Hiroshi writes Seinen no wa/Ring of Youth. Kobayashi Hideo writes the essay Motsuaruto/Mozart. Niwa Fumio publishes the short story Iyagarase no nenrei/The Hateful Age.
1948 Tanizaki Jun’ichirô completes his long novel Sasame Yuki/The Makioka Sisters. Ôoka Shôhei publishes his first novel, Furyoki/A POW’s Memoirs. Dazai Osamu publishes the novel Ningen shikkaku/No Longer Human. Shiina Rinzô writes Eien naru joshô/The Eternal Preface. Poet Kaneko Mitsuharu publishes the collection of antiwar poems Rakkasan/Parachute.
1949 Kawabata Yasunari publishes Yama no oto/The Sound of the Mountain and Senbazuru/Thousand Cranes. Mishima Yukio publishes his first novel, Kamen no kokuhaku/Confessions of a Mask. Mushanokôji Saneatsu writes a comeback novel Shinri sensei/A Teacher of Truth. Inoue Yasushi publishes Tôgyû/Bullfighting. Shimao Toshio publishes Shutsukotô-ki/A Tale of Leaving a Lonely Island. Kinoshita Junji’s play Yûzuru/Twilight Crane is first performed. Tamiya Torahiko publishes the long story Ashizuri misaki/Ashizuri Promontory.
1950 Korean War begins. Ibuse Masuji publishes satirical novel Yôhai taichô/Lieutenant Lookeast. Abe Kôbô publishes the short story Akai mayu/Red Cocoons. Critic Nakamura Mitsuo pens polemical essay Fûzoku shôsetsu-ron/On the Novel of Manners.
1951 Abe Kôbô publishes Kabe: S. Karuma-shi no hanzai/The Crime of S. Karuma. Hotta Yoshie writes the novel Hiroba no kôdoku/Solitude in the Public Square. Ôoka Shôhei publishes the novel Nobi/Fires on the Plains.
1952 The Allied Occupation of Japan ends. Noma Hiroshi publishes Shinkû chitai/Zone of Emptiness. Kobayashi Hideo writes the essay Gohho no tegami/Van Gogh’s Letters.
1953 First commercial television broadcasts begin. Yasuoka Shôtarô publishes Warui nakama/Bad Company.
1954 Yoshiyuki Junnosuke publishes Shû’u/Sudden Shower. Kojima Nobuo writes Amerikan sukûru/American School. Shôno Junzô publishes the award-winning story Pûrusaido shôkei/Evenings at the Pool.
1955 Endô Shûsaku pens Shiroi hito/The White Man. Ishihara Shintarô publishes Taiyô no kisetsu/Seasons in the Sun. Kôda Aya writes Nagareru/Flowing. Agawa Hiroyuki publishes the novel Kumo no bohyô/Burial in the Clouds.
1956 Japan becomes a member of the United Nations. Mishima Yukio publishes Kinkakuji/The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Fukazawa Shichirô writes Narayamabushi-kô/Ballad of Narayama. Etô Jun publishes his groundbreaking study Natsume Sôseki. Critic Katô Shûichi pens his essay Zasshu bunka/Hybrid Culture.
1957 Ôe Kenzaburô publishes Shisha no ogori/Lavish Are the Dead. Kaikô Takeshi writes Panikku/Panic. Enchi Fumiko publishes Onnazaka/The Waiting Years. Mishima Yukio’s commissioned play Rokumeikan/The Deer Cry Pavilion is staged by the Bungaku-za. Nakamura Mitsuo publishes a study titled Futabatei Shimei-den/Life of Futabata Shimei. Inoue Yasushi publishes the novel Tempyô no iraka/Rooftiles of Tempyô.
1958 Ôe Kenzaurô publishes Shiiku/The Catch.
1959 Ariyoshi Sawako publishes Kinokawa/Ki River. Yasuoka Shôtarô writes Kaihen no kôkei/A View by the Sea.
1960 The U.S.–Japan Security Treaty crisis (Anpo). Miura Tetsuo writes Shinobukawa/Shame in the Blood. Kita Morio writes Yoru to kiri no sumi de/The Corner of Night and Fog. Kurahashi Yumiko writes the controversial political satire Parutai/Partei. Yamamoto Shûgorô publishes Aobeka monogatari/This Madding Crowd. Shimao Toshio publishes Shi no toge/The Sting of Death.
1961 Minakami Tsutomu publishes Gan no tera/The Temple of the Wild Geese.
1962 Takahashi Kazumi publishes Hi no utsuwa/Vessel of Sadness. Kita Morio writes Nireke no hitobito/The House of Nire. Abe Kôbô pens Suna no onna/Woman in the Dunes.
1963 Yoshiyuki Junnosuke publishes Suna no ue no shokubutsu-gun/Vegetable Garden in the Sand. Inoue Mitsuharu writes Chi no mure/People of the Land, a novel about Nagasaki atomic bomb victims. Tsuji Kunio publishes Kairô nite/In the Corridor.
1964 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo, mark Japan’s reemergence as a global industrial nation. Ôe Kenzaburô publishes Kojinteki na taiken/A Personal Matter. Shibata Shô publishes the novel Saredo warera ga hibi/Anyway, That Was Our Time. Takami Jun publishes a poetry collection Shi no fuchi yori/By the Abyss of Death. Shôno Junzô publishes the novel Yûbe no kumo/Evening Clouds.
1965 Takahashi Kazumi publishes Jashûmon/Heretical Faith. Ibuse Masuji writes Kuroi ame/Black Rain. Kojima Nobuo publishes Hôyô kazoku/Embracing Family.
1966 Endô Shûsaku publishes Chinmoku/Silence. Ariyoshi Sawako writes novel Hanaoka Seishû no tsuma/The Wife of Hanaoka Seishû.
1967 Absurdist playwright Betsuyaku Minoru writes Matchiuri no shôjo/The Little Match Girl. Ôe Kenzaburô publishes the novel Man’en gan’nen no futtobôru/The Silent Cry.
1968 Kawabata Yasunari is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Kôno Taeko pens Fui no koe/A Sudden Voice. Oba Minako writes the story Sanbiki no kani/The Three Crabs. Critic Yoshimoto Takaaki publishes Kyôdô gensô ron/A Theory of Collective Fantasy.
1969 Kuroi Senji publishes Jikan/Time. Experimental writer Kurahashi Yumiko publishes Sumiyakisuto Q no keiken/The Adventures of Sumiyakisuto Q. Critic Karatani Kôjin writes the essay Ishiki to shizen/Consciousness and Nature.
1970 Furui Yoshikichi publishes Yôko. Abe Akira writes Shirei no kyûka/The Commander’s Holiday. Etô Jun writes the essay Sôseki to sono jidai/Sôseki and His Time. Mishima Yukio writes the novel Hôshô no umi/Sea of Fertility and then commits ritual suicide after calling for a national coup d’etat.
1971 Ôba Minako publishes Tsuga no yume/Hemlock Dreams. Ôoka Shôhei publishes the historical novel Reite senki/Record of the Battle of Leyte.
1972 Normalization of Japanese relations with China. Critic Yamazaki Masakazu publishes Ôgai tatakau kachô/Ôgai: Combative Patriarch. Karatani Kôjin writes the essay Ifu suru ningen/Human in Awe. Ariyoshi Sawako publishes the novel Kôkitsu no hito/The Twilight Years.
1973 Oil crisis affects Japanese industry and economy. Abe Kôbô publishes Hako otoko/The Box Man.
1975 Nakagami Kenji publishes Misaki/The Cape. Sata Ineko publishes a short story about her atomic bomb victimization, Matsuri no ba/Ritual of Death.
1976 Yamazaki Masakazu publishes Fukigen no jidai/The Age of Ill Humor. Ôe Kenzaburô publishes the novel Pinchi rannaa chôsho/Pinch Runner Memorandum. Murakami Ryû publishes the novel Kagirinaku tômei ni chikai buruu/Almost Transparent Blue.
1977 Miyamoto Teru publishes Doro no kawa/Muddy River. Nakagami Kenji writes Kareki nada/Sea of Kareki. Minakami Tsutomu publishes the novel Kinkaku enjô/The Burning of the Golden Pavilion. Yoshiyuki Junnosuke publishes the novel Yûgure made/Until Evening.
1979 Ôe Kenzaburô publishes Dô jidai geemu/Contemporaneity Game. Korean writer Lee Hoesung (Ri Kaisei) publishes the novel Mihatenu yume/Unfulfilled Dream.
1980 Murakami Ryû publishes Koin rokkaa beibiizu/Coin Locker Babies. Ishikawa Jun publishes novel Kyôfûki/Tale of a Mad Wind. Endô Shûsaku writes the novel Samurai/The Samurai. Tanaka Yasuo publishes the postmodern novel Nantonaku, kurisutaru/Somewhat Like Crystal.
1981 Inoue Hisashi writes the satirical novel Kirikirijin/The Kirikirians. Shiba Ryôtarô writes Hitobito no Ashioto/People’s Footsteps.
1982 Critic Maeda Ai publishes the theory treatise Toshi kûkan no naka no bungaku/The Spirits of Abandoned Gardens.
1983 Tsushima Yûko publishes Hi no kawa no hotori de/By the River of Fire. Hikari Agata publishes Uhohho tankentai/The ‘Ahem!’ Expedition Team. Critic Isoda Kôichi publishes Rokumeikan no keifû/Pedigree of the Deer Cry Pavilion. Nakagami Kenji publishes the novel Chi no hate, shijô no toki/The Ends of the Earth, the Supreme Time.
1984 Abe Kôbô publishes the novel Hakobune sakura-maru/The Ark Sakura.
1985 Critic Katô Norihiro publishes Amerika no kage/The American Shadow. Nogami Yaeko publishes the novel Mori/The Forest. Hino Keizô publishes the novel Yume no shima/Dream Island.
1986 Masuda Mizuko publishes Shinguru seru/Single Cell. Ôe Kenzaburô publishes the novel M/T to mori no fushigi no monogatari/M/T and Wonder Tales of the Forest.
1987 Yoshimoto Banana publishes Kitchin/Kitchen. Murakami Ryû publishes Ai to gensô no fashizumu/Fascism in Love and Fantasy. Murakami Haruki publishes Noruwei no mori/Norwegian Wood. Poet Tawara Machi publishes the tanka collection Sarada kinenbi/Salad Anniversary.
1988 Yoshimoto Banana publishes TUGUMI/Goodbye Tsugumi.
1989 Emperor Shôwa dies. His son Akihito assumes the throne, beginning the Heisei Era. Inoue Yasushi publishes the novel Koshi/Confucius. Yamada Eimi publishes the novel Hôkago no kiinooto/After-School Keynote.
1990 Kaikô Takeshi’s novel Shugyoku/The Jewel is published posthumously. Nakagami Kenji publishes Sanka/Songs of Praise. Tsutsui Yasutaka publishes Bungakubu Tadano kyôju/Professor Tadano of the Literature Department.
1993 Endô Shûsaku publishes his last novel, Diipu ribaa/Deep River.
1994 Ôe Kenzaburô receives the Nobel Prize for Literature and publishes Moeagaru midori no ki/A Green Tree with Glittering Flame. Critic Kawamura Minato publishes Nan’yo Karafuto no nihon bungaku/Japanese Literature of the South Sea Islands and Sakhalin.
1995 The Great Hanshin Earthquake hits Kobe. Aum Shinrikyô sect launches Sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway. Murakami Haruki publishes the novel Nejimaki-dori kuronikuru/The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
1996 Korean writer Yu Miri publishes the novel Furu hausu/Full House. Murakami Ryû publishes the novel Hyûga Uirusu/Hyûga Virus.
1997 Journal Araragi/The Yew shuts down. Tawara Machi publishes the tanka collection Chokoreeto kakumei/Chocolate Revolution. Murakami Haruki publishes a collection of accounts of the Aum Shinrikyô attacks as Andaaguraundo/Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.
1999 Ôe Kenzaburô publishes a novel based on Aum attacks, Chûgaeri/Somersault. Poet Maruya Saiichi publishes Shin shinhyakunin isshu/The Second New Collection of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets.
2000 Korean writer Hyeon Wol (Gen Getsu) wins the Akutagawa Prize for Kage no sumika/Where the Shadows Reside. Murakami Haruki publishes Kami no kodomotachi wa mina odoru/After the Quake. Murakami Ryû publishes the novel Kibô no kuni no ekusodasu/Exodus from a Country of Hope.
2001 The Women’s Literature Prize is renamed the Fujin Kōron Literary Prize. Tsushima Yûko publishes the novel Warai-ôkami/The Laughing Wolf.
2002 Higuchi Ichiyô’s portrait appears on the new ¥5,000 bank note. Censor-confiscated Occupation-period works by Ibuse Masuji and other postwar writers are identified in an American library. Works by contemporary women writers, such as Yamada Eimi, begin to replace male Meiji authors, such as Mori Ôgai, in secondary textbooks. Author Yu Miri indicted for libel in an I-Novel. Kôno Taeko awarded the Kawabata Prize for Han-shoyûsha/HalfOwner.
2003 Mizumura Minae awarded the Yomiuri Prize for Honkaku shôsetsu/A Real Novel. Voice recording made by Kikuchi Kan in 1939 is discovered. UNESCO proclaims the Bunraku Puppet Theater as one of its Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
2004 Akutagawa Prize winners 19-year-old Wataya Risa’s Keritai senaka/Kick Me and 20-year-old Kanehara Hitomi’s Hebi ni piasu/Snakes and Earrings are the youngest recipients to ever win the prize. A 1921 documentary film showing Mori Ōgai is discovered.
2005 Literary journal Waseda Bungaku, established in 1891, changes format from commercial to “free paper.” Kôdansha established the Ôe Kenzaburô Prize. The Yahoo Japan Prize for literature is also established, with selection made by online voting. Murakami Ryū wins the Noma Prize for Literature for his novel Hantō o deyo/Leave the Peninsula.
2006 Murakami Haruki wins Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for his collection Buraindo wirô, suriipingu wuuman/Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. Unpublished manuscript by Endō Shūsaku is discovered in a former editor’s library.
2007 Historic first performance of kabuki at the Paris Opera House. The 23-year-old author Aoyama Nanae is awarded the Akutagawa Prize for Hitoribiyori/On My Own. Five of the 10 bestsellers of the year are cell-phone novels.
2008 A large number of previously unpublished tanka composed by Terayama Shûji are discovered and published. Growing economic distress in Japan leads to proletarian novelist Koyanashi Takiji’s 1929 novel Kanikôsen/The Factory Ship becoming a bestseller, appearing as text and in graphic novel format.