Level: Challenge
Japanese freedom of expression at its finest. These texts take a bit more effort to understand.
The texts are listed in reverse chronological order (newest first). To read a text, click on its title or on the link below the description. To learn more about how these texts work, visit the method page.
The texts are listed in reverse chronological order (newest first). To read a text, click on its title or on the link below the description. To learn more about how these texts work, visit the method page.
Text List
The Dog-Bitten Wolf
Watanabe On (渡部温) and Aesop
A wolf is bitten by dogs and becomes unable to move. He sees a passing sheep and cunningly asks for some water - but the sheep, contrary to the common stereotype, is not easily fooled by the wolf's sudden niceness!
This text features an entertaining Japanese retelling of an Aesop fable by Watanabe On.
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Watanabe On (渡部温) and Aesop
A wolf is bitten by dogs and becomes unable to move. He sees a passing sheep and cunningly asks for some water - but the sheep, contrary to the common stereotype, is not easily fooled by the wolf's sudden niceness!
This text features an entertaining Japanese retelling of an Aesop fable by Watanabe On.
> Go to text
The Funeral Procession
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
A samurai walks through a desolate town in the middle of the night and runs into a funeral procession. The unusually late ceremony arouses his curiosity and he decides to ask the participants what it is all about; but does he really want to hear the answer?
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Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
A samurai walks through a desolate town in the middle of the night and runs into a funeral procession. The unusually late ceremony arouses his curiosity and he decides to ask the participants what it is all about; but does he really want to hear the answer?
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The Lute Demon
Okamoto Kido (岡本綺堂)
A farmer in ancient China travels by carriage to a faraway city. After dark he is approached by a boy holding a lute who asks for a ride. The farmer kindly agrees - but what begins with some beautiful lute music soon turns into an unexpected ordeal.
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Okamoto Kido (岡本綺堂)
A farmer in ancient China travels by carriage to a faraway city. After dark he is approached by a boy holding a lute who asks for a ride. The farmer kindly agrees - but what begins with some beautiful lute music soon turns into an unexpected ordeal.
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The Escaping Spirit
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
Two firemen patrol the streets of a Japanese city at night. Suddenly they see a mysterious blue fireball floating in the air right in front of them. They start chasing it - until the fireball, as well as the story itself, take an unexpected turn...
As a further reading activity, you can also find out how a similar premise is given a different treatment in the story The Samurai and the Ghost Light, written by the same author (see entry below).
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Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
Two firemen patrol the streets of a Japanese city at night. Suddenly they see a mysterious blue fireball floating in the air right in front of them. They start chasing it - until the fireball, as well as the story itself, take an unexpected turn...
As a further reading activity, you can also find out how a similar premise is given a different treatment in the story The Samurai and the Ghost Light, written by the same author (see entry below).
> Go to text
Thoughts on Blossom-Viewing (Excerpt)
Izumi Kyoka (泉鏡花)
Practice your Japanese reading skills with this short bilingual selection from the essay Thoughts on Blossom-Viewing.
The selection covers the opening passage of the essay, in which Izumi describes his personal attitude toward the practice of cherry blossom viewing (hanami, 花見) and criticizes the popular tendency to dress up lavishly for the occasion.
The essay is a typical example of Izumi's difficult but fascinating writing style, and this selection is a great opportunity to get a taste of advanced Japanese while staying safe and fully understanding the text.
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Izumi Kyoka (泉鏡花)
Practice your Japanese reading skills with this short bilingual selection from the essay Thoughts on Blossom-Viewing.
The selection covers the opening passage of the essay, in which Izumi describes his personal attitude toward the practice of cherry blossom viewing (hanami, 花見) and criticizes the popular tendency to dress up lavishly for the occasion.
The essay is a typical example of Izumi's difficult but fascinating writing style, and this selection is a great opportunity to get a taste of advanced Japanese while staying safe and fully understanding the text.
> Go to text
The Woman
Miyazawa Kenji (宮沢賢治)
At dusk things often look otherworldly, and this mysterious short story makes the twilight hours even more surreal and dreamlike. As usual with texts by Miyazawa, this story is hard to describe - and when you read it you'll get a taste of rich, nuanced Japanese prose writing.
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Miyazawa Kenji (宮沢賢治)
At dusk things often look otherworldly, and this mysterious short story makes the twilight hours even more surreal and dreamlike. As usual with texts by Miyazawa, this story is hard to describe - and when you read it you'll get a taste of rich, nuanced Japanese prose writing.
> Go to text
The Makioka Sisters (Light Snow) (Excerpt)
Tanizaki Junichiro (谷崎潤一郎)
Practice your Japanese reading with this short bilingual selection from the famous novel by Tanizaki Junichiro (谷崎潤一郎). The original title is Light Snow (細雪, sasame yuki), which resonates with the name of one of the main characters, Yukiko.
The selection contains the novel's atmospheric opening paragraphs, in which three of the sisters are getting ready to leave the house. The text begins with a long, winding sentence that would be quite disorientating to read unaided - but thanks to the help provided by the bilingual version, even this advanced selection becomes completely accessible to any learner.
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Tanizaki Junichiro (谷崎潤一郎)
Practice your Japanese reading with this short bilingual selection from the famous novel by Tanizaki Junichiro (谷崎潤一郎). The original title is Light Snow (細雪, sasame yuki), which resonates with the name of one of the main characters, Yukiko.
The selection contains the novel's atmospheric opening paragraphs, in which three of the sisters are getting ready to leave the house. The text begins with a long, winding sentence that would be quite disorientating to read unaided - but thanks to the help provided by the bilingual version, even this advanced selection becomes completely accessible to any learner.
> Go to text
The Mosquito Net
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
A traveling merchant buys a beautiful mosquito net that used to belong to the feudal lord of Numata. He manages to sell it at a big profit, but then discovers that it also has a dark secret in its past.
This short horror story by Tanaka is set in the late Edo period and depicts life in the final decades of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
> Go to text
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
A traveling merchant buys a beautiful mosquito net that used to belong to the feudal lord of Numata. He manages to sell it at a big profit, but then discovers that it also has a dark secret in its past.
This short horror story by Tanaka is set in the late Edo period and depicts life in the final decades of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
> Go to text
Eight Fools
Okamoto Kanoko (岡本かの子)
A millionaire who only wants the top floor without the bottom ones; a man who drops a bowl into the sea and makes a drawing of the water; a caravan that gets hit by a typhoon and finds the worst possible person to sacrifice to the local deity - these are just some of the eight short Buddhist parables about fools in this text.
Originally included in the One Hundred Parables Sutra (百喩経) and retold by Okamoto, these parables illustrate Buddhist ideas in an unusually amusing way.
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Okamoto Kanoko (岡本かの子)
A millionaire who only wants the top floor without the bottom ones; a man who drops a bowl into the sea and makes a drawing of the water; a caravan that gets hit by a typhoon and finds the worst possible person to sacrifice to the local deity - these are just some of the eight short Buddhist parables about fools in this text.
Originally included in the One Hundred Parables Sutra (百喩経) and retold by Okamoto, these parables illustrate Buddhist ideas in an unusually amusing way.
> Go to text
The Fatal Box
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
In the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, which leveled Tokyo in 1923, a man takes refuge at the house of an acquaintance. When he moves out he leaves behind a large box that contains "important documents". Soon afterward it turns out that the box may be even more dangerous than the earthquake itself... An eerie story by the Japanese master of supernatural suspense.
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Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
In the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, which leveled Tokyo in 1923, a man takes refuge at the house of an acquaintance. When he moves out he leaves behind a large box that contains "important documents". Soon afterward it turns out that the box may be even more dangerous than the earthquake itself... An eerie story by the Japanese master of supernatural suspense.
> Go to text
My Very Own Self
Taneda Santoka (種田山頭火)
What does it actually mean to be true to yourself? Taneda Santoka (種田山頭火), the highly individualistic Zen ascetic and poet of free-verse haiku, gives his answer in this short thoughtful piece, which opens the travelogue that he wrote in 1936.
Santoka lays out his artistic and personal credo in simple but powerful terms that any seeker of authenticity will identify with.
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Taneda Santoka (種田山頭火)
What does it actually mean to be true to yourself? Taneda Santoka (種田山頭火), the highly individualistic Zen ascetic and poet of free-verse haiku, gives his answer in this short thoughtful piece, which opens the travelogue that he wrote in 1936.
Santoka lays out his artistic and personal credo in simple but powerful terms that any seeker of authenticity will identify with.
> Go to text
Mosquito Fires
Miyamoto Yuriko (宮本百合子)
This nostalgic short essay by Miyamoto Yuriko (宮本百合子) offers a glimpse into traditional life in rural Japan.
Miyamoto describes her visit to her grandmother's village in Fukushima Prefecture, where she joined the locals in performing the summer tradition of Kayari (蚊遣り) - smoking off mosquitoes by burning fresh cedar leaves.
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Miyamoto Yuriko (宮本百合子)
This nostalgic short essay by Miyamoto Yuriko (宮本百合子) offers a glimpse into traditional life in rural Japan.
Miyamoto describes her visit to her grandmother's village in Fukushima Prefecture, where she joined the locals in performing the summer tradition of Kayari (蚊遣り) - smoking off mosquitoes by burning fresh cedar leaves.
> Go to text
Rashomon (Excerpt)
Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川龍之介)
Practice your Japanese reading with this short bilingual selection from Rashomon (羅生門), one of the most famous works of modern Japanese literature.
A lone servant is standing under the dilapidated main gate of the Japanese capital Heian-kyo (modern Kyoto) and waiting for the rain to stop. This quiet scene is intertwined with a vivid description of the capital in its decline.
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Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川龍之介)
Practice your Japanese reading with this short bilingual selection from Rashomon (羅生門), one of the most famous works of modern Japanese literature.
A lone servant is standing under the dilapidated main gate of the Japanese capital Heian-kyo (modern Kyoto) and waiting for the rain to stop. This quiet scene is intertwined with a vivid description of the capital in its decline.
> Go to text
Library Reverie
Miyazawa Kenji (宮沢賢治)
A dreamlike short story offering a glimpse into Miyazawa's mysterious, absurd world of imagination.
This story is quite hard to describe - read it and see why! If you like to study with a moderately challenging text, this one is for you. Don't worry — everything is carefully explained in the notes.
> Go to text
Miyazawa Kenji (宮沢賢治)
A dreamlike short story offering a glimpse into Miyazawa's mysterious, absurd world of imagination.
This story is quite hard to describe - read it and see why! If you like to study with a moderately challenging text, this one is for you. Don't worry — everything is carefully explained in the notes.
> Go to text
The Samurai and the Ghost Light
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
A samurai walking alone at night suddenly sees a mysterious light ball floating in the air, and decides to follow it. A story about Tanaka's favorite theme - the mysterious, supernatural atmosphere of traditional Japan.
> Go to text
Tanaka Kotaro (田中貢太郎)
A samurai walking alone at night suddenly sees a mysterious light ball floating in the air, and decides to follow it. A story about Tanaka's favorite theme - the mysterious, supernatural atmosphere of traditional Japan.
> Go to text
Masahira's Poem
Wada Mankichi (和田万吉)
Based on an episode from Tales of Times Now Past (今昔物語), this story takes place in the ancient imperial court and includes an authentic waka poem which is explained in full in the notes.
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Wada Mankichi (和田万吉)
Based on an episode from Tales of Times Now Past (今昔物語), this story takes place in the ancient imperial court and includes an authentic waka poem which is explained in full in the notes.
> Go to text
Kimono
Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川龍之介)
A dream about a hall full of people who make comments on each other's clothes, and one man who defies them. Akutagawa's writes in a direct but challenging style, which will help you take your Japanese further.
> Go to text
Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川龍之介)
A dream about a hall full of people who make comments on each other's clothes, and one man who defies them. Akutagawa's writes in a direct but challenging style, which will help you take your Japanese further.
> Go to text
