Literature

Japanese literature is an important part of the everyday life of Japanese people. Many well-educated persons in Japan can write poetry as easily as they write business letters.

The Japanese have (got) a deep love of tradition, and a great love of form. These two characteristics show up in their literature. Most dramatic and poetic forms are hundreds of years old. The Japan's literature began under the influence of the Chinese. Today it is influenced by ideas from the Western world. But it has been developing by itself for over 1,000 years.

The rhyme and rhythm, found in western poems do not exist in Japanese poetry because of the nature of the language. Poems written in classical verse forms are all descriptions. The poet expects the reader to feel the scene himself. His poem only suggests the feeling. There are two major verse forms; these are the "tanka" and "the haiku". They are measured by the number of syllables in a line and by the number of lines in a poem. The "tanka" has only thirty-one syllables in five lines. The "haiku" has only three lines with five, seven and nine syllables. The rules for writing this brief poem are very strict. Modern poets often imitate the structure of Western forms. Children's poems ("doyo") and folk songs ("minyo") are also popular.

Prose writing in Japan has not usually been as important as the other forms. The Japanese have some long novels but usually prefer shorter forms such as a short story. They have also developed a rambling diary-type book which combines short essays with the diary. Many works of fiction are based on historical events or on long folk sagas or legends.

Vocabulary

show up – зд. проявляться to exist – существовать description – описание

to expect – ожидать

to suggest – предлагать to measure – измерять syllable – слог

strict – зд. строгий

to prefer – предпочитать rambling – бессвязный