The book is arranged topically in a series of short, accessible chapters for easy access and reference, giving insight into both canonical texts and many lesser known, popular genres, from centuries-old folk literature to the detective ...

Kokugaku in Meiji-period Japan elucidates kokugaku's gradual shift from a politico-religious movement to an educational and academic discipline.

"There has been no truly major study of twentieth-century Japanese intellectual life in either Japanese or English, until now. Overcome by Modernity is the product of a major scholar working at full stretch at the height of his career.

This book places love and sex in Japan in social and historical context and includes four case studies A lot of Ryang's claims are potentially very controversial so the book is guaranteed to stir up debate It will be of interest to those in ...

Basho (1644-94) is perhaps the best known Japanese poet in both Japan and the West, and this book establishes the ground for badly needed critical discussion of this critical figure by placing the works of Basho and his disciples in the ...

His analysis of a literary narrative, the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, for example, shows how Kaguyahime's exile from the "Capital of the Moon" to earth implicitly portrays the world of the Heian court as a polluted periphery.

His skillful weaving of literary theory, textual interpretation, and cultural history makes this a book that students and scholars of modern Japanese culture will refer to for years to come.

A pioneering look at same-sex desire in Japanese modernist writing.