Japanese classics: literature, haiku and ukiyo-e

From The Tale of Genji and Hōjōki to Sōseki and Akutagawa, plus the haiku of Bashō and Shiki and the ukiyo-e of Hokusai and Hiroshige — what each is about and why it still matters.

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• Hokusai, the Old Man Mad About Art: The Life Behind The Great Wave and Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

  Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) made The Great Wave and Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, used some thirty names and worked until 88. His restless life and legacy.

• In Spring, the Dawn: Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book, Its Lists and the Court of Empress Teishi

  The Pillow Book is Sei Shōnagon's collection of lists, anecdotes and musings from Empress Teishi's court around 1000. Author, contents and legacy.

• Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki: Plot Summary, Who K Is, and Why Sensei Writes His Final Letter

  A student befriends a lonely man he calls Sensei, who hides a secret about a friend named K. Plot of Sōseki's 1914 novel, its three parts and themes.

• Matsuo Bashō and the Frog Haiku: The Wandering Poet Who Made Haiku Famous

  Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japan's master of haiku, wrote the frog-and-pond poem and The Narrow Road to the Deep North. His life and how to read his poems.

• Princess Kaguya and the Five Impossible Tasks: Reading The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Japan's Oldest Monogatari

  The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, by an unknown Heian author, follows Kaguya-hime from a glowing stalk to the Moon. Story, people, themes and legacy.

• Rashōmon by Akutagawa: Short Story Summary, the Ending, and How It Differs from Kurosawa's Film

  A fired servant meets an old woman stealing hair from corpses in a ruined Kyoto gate. Akutagawa's 1915 story, its ending and its link to the film.

• The Bells of Gion Shōja: The Tale of the Heike, the Fall of the Taira and the Blind Biwa Singers Who Kept It Alive

  The Tale of the Heike tells of the Taira clan's fall in the Genpei War (1180–1185), shaped by biwa-playing monks around one idea: nothing lasts.

• The Tale of Genji for First-Time Readers: Murasaki Shikibu's Heian Court Story and the Shining Prince

  The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu in 11th-century Japan, follows the Shining Prince and the women in his life. A first-time reader's guide.

• What Is the Hōjōki? Kamo no Chōmei's 'Account of My Hut', the River Opening and the Five Disasters

  Written in 1212 by a hermit in a ten-foot-square hut, the Hōjōki is Japan's classic essay on impermanence. What it says and the disasters it records.

• Who Was Hiroshige? The Ukiyo-e Master of the Tōkaidō Road Whose Prints Van Gogh Copied

  Hiroshige (1797–1858) made The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. His life, his blue and his influence on Van Gogh.

• Who Was Masaoka Shiki? The Poet Who Made Haiku Modern, Took His Name from a Bird and Loved Baseball

  Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) reformed haiku and tanka in Meiji Japan and died of tuberculosis at 34. His life, his ideas and his famous persimmon haiku.