Timeline of premodern Japanese literature
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 others 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, editor, or compiler. The English translation is fairly literal in most cases (often based on Donald Keene’s versions or those in The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature), although conventional or published titles have sometimes been used. Dating is, of course, a vexed problem in the premodern period; approximate dates are so indicated.
| Date | Japanese title | English title | Author/ed. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 712 | Kojiki | Records of Ancient Matters | Hieda no Are, Ōe no Yasumaro |
| ca. 713 | Fudoki | Gazetteers | (regional reports on matters of interest to the central government; the only complete report, Izumo fudoki, by one Hiroshima of Izumo) |
| 720 | Nihon shoki (Nihongi) | Chronicles of Japan | Toneri Shinnō et al. |
| 751 | Kaifūsō | Fond Recollections of Poetry | (unknown) |
| after 759 | Man’yōshū | Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves | (unknown, but some editing attrib. to Ōtomo no Yakamochi) |
| 797 | Shoku nihongi | Continuation of Chronicles of Japan | Fujiwara no Tsugitada, Suga no Nomamichi et al. |
| ca. 822 | Nihon ryōiki (or Nihon reiiki) | An Account of Miracles in Japan | Kyōkai |
| ca. 900 | Taketori monogatari | The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter | (unknown) |
| 905 | Kokinwakashū | Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry | Ki no Tsurayuki et al. |
| ca. 930 | Ise monogatari | Tales of Ise | (unknown) |
| ca. 940 | Shōmonki | Chronicle of Taira no Masakado | (unknown) |
| ca. 935 | Tosa nikki | The Tosa Diary | Ki no Tsurayuki |
| 951 | Gosenwakashū | Later Selection of Japanese Poetry | Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobe et al. |
| ca. 951 | Yamato monogatari | Tales of Yamato | (unknown) |
| ca. 965 | Heichū monogatari | Tales of Heichū | (unknown) |
| between 970-999 | Utsuho monogatari (or Utsubo monogatari) | The Tale of the Hollow Tree | (unknown) |
| after 974 | Kagerō nikki | The Gossamer Years | Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna |
| ca. 989 | Ochikubo monogatari | The Tale of Ochikubo | (unknown) |
| ca. 1000 | Makura no sōshi | The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon | Sei Shōnagon |
| after 1004 | Izumi Shikibu nikki | The Diary of Izumi Shikibu | Izumi Shikibu |
| 1005 | Shūiwakashū | Collection of Gleanings | (unknown; thought to expand on a private collection by Fujiwara no Kintō) |
| ca. 1008 | Genji monogatari | The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu |
| ca. 1010 | Murasaki Shikibu nikki | The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu | Murasaki Shikibu |
| after 1028 | Eiga monogatari | A Tale of Flowering Fortunes | Akazome Emon (partly) |
| after 1059 | Sarashina nikki | The Sarashina Diary | Daughter of Sugawara no Takasue |
| 1086 | Goshūiwakashū | Later Collection of Gleanings | Fujiwara no Michitoshi |
| ca. 1120 | Ōkagami | The Great Mirror | (unknown) |
| ca. 1120 | Konjaku monogatari | Tales of Times Now Past | (unknown) |
| ca. 1127 | Kinyōwakashū | Collection of Golden Leaves | Minamoto no Toshiyori |
| 1170 | Imakagami | The Mirror of the Present | Fujiwara no Tametsune |
| 1151 | Shikawakashū | Collection of Verbal Flowers of Japanese Poetry | Fujiwara no Akisuke |
| 1184 | Ryōjin hishō | Songs to Make the Dust Dance | Go-Shirakawa |
| 1188 | Senzaiwakashū | Collection for a Thousand Years | Fujiwara no Toshinari (Shunzei) |
| before 1190 | Sankashū | The Mountain Hut Collection | Saigyō |
| 1205 | Shinkokinwakashū | New Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry | Fujiwara no Teika et al. |
| 1212 | Hōjōki | An Account of My Hut | Kamo no Chōmei |
| ca. 1202 | Mumyōshō | A Nameless Selection | Kamo no Chōmei |
| 1213 | Kinkaiwakashū | The Golden Pagoda-Tree Collection of Japanese Poetry | Minamoto no Sanetomo |
| before 1216 | Hosshinshū | A Collection to Promote Religious Awakening | Kamo no Chōmei |
| before 1219 | Heike monogatari | The Tale of the Heike | (unknown; credited by Yoshida Kenkō to one Shinano-no-zenji Yukinaga) |
| before 1233 | Kenreimon’in Ukyō no Daibu shū | The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu | Kenreimon’in |
| after 1242 | Ujishūi monogatari | Tales from Uji | (unknown) |
| 1252 | Jikkinshō (Jikkunshō) | A Miscellany of Ten Maxims | attrib. to Yuasa Munenari |
| 1254 | Kokon chomonjū | A Collection of Tales Heard, Past and Present | Tachibana no Narisue |
| before 1271 (late Heian through mid-Kamakura) | Tsutsumi Chūnagon monogatari | The Riverside Counselor’s Stories | (unknown, except for one of the 10 tales) |
| ca. 1280 | Izayoi nikki | The Diary of the Waning Moon | Abutsu |
| early Muromachi | Soga monogatari | The Tale of the Soga Brothers | (unknown) |
| ca. 1330 | Tsurezuregusa | Essays in Idleness | Yoshida Kenkō |
| ca. 1370 | Taiheiki | The Record of Great Peace | (unknown, but poss. Priest Kojima, d. 1374, at least in part) |
| 1400 | Fūshikaden | Style and the Flower | Zeami Motokiyo |
| 1495 | Shinsen Tsukubashū | The New Tsukuba Collection | Iio Sōgi et al. |
| ca. 1665 | Ukiyo monogatari | Tales of the Floating World | Asai Ryōi |
| 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 | Mukai 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 |
| 1785 | Edo umare uwaki no kabayaki | Playboy Roasted Edo-style | Santō Kyōden |
| 1790 | Keiseikai shijūhatte | Forty-eight Techniques for Success with Courtesans | Santō Kyōden |
| 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 |
| 1802-1809 | 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 |
| 1829-42 | Nise-Murasaki inaka Genji | The Rustic Genji by the False Murasaki | Ryūtei Tanehiko |
| 1832-33 | Shunshoku umegoyomi | Colors of Spring: The Plum Calendar | Tamenaga Shunsui |
