Word: monogatari
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2001-2001
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...hoariest stereotypes of Japan is that the national genius is one of adaptation rather than invention - that it is a nation of copycats rather than creators. However, the Japanese have a good claim to having invented the novel. Lady Murasaki's Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), written some 600 years before Don Quixote, is a weirdly fascinating narrative of erotic and court intrigue. For Western readers it can only reinforce the image of Japan as, in Yukio Mishima's words, "a nation of flower arrangers...