Japanese literature and theater

PSYCHOLOGICAL LITERATURE

As early as the Tale of Genji (ca. 1008), Japanese literature has explored the inner workings of the human psyche. During the Meiji period, when Western translations and adaptations made their way to Japan, writers and intellectuals were struck by the psychological realism found therein, and early narrative experiments, such as those in the writing of Futabatei Shimei and Natsume Soseki, focus heavily on point of view and employ self-conscious narration. Indeed, the I-Novel can be read as a type of psychological literature. Plot development has long been secondary to the inner emotions of Japanese protagonists, so it is unsurprising that many of the best-known modern Japanese authors are considered to have written psychological stories, including Kawabata Yasunari, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, and Murakami Haruki.