is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be considered a classic. While universally hailed as a masterpiece, its precise classification and influence in both Western and Eastern Canon has been a matter of debate (see Stature below).
The first partial translation of Genji Monogatari into English was by Suematsu Kenchō. A free translation of all but one chapter was produced by Arthur Waley. Edward Seidensticker made the first complete translation into English, using a more literal method than Waley. The most recent English translation, by Royall Tyler (2001), also tries to be faithful to the original text.
One complication for readers and translators of the Genji is that almost none of the characters in the original text is given an explicit name. The characters are instead referred to by their function or role (e.g. Minister of the Left), an honorific (e.g. His Excellency), or their relation to other characters (e.g. Heir Apparent), which may all change as the novel progresses. This lack of names stems from Heian-era court manners that would have made it unacceptably familiar and blunt to freely mention a character's name. Modern readers and translators have, to a greater or lesser extent, used various nicknames to keep track of the many characters. See List of The Tale of Genji characters.
The Tale of Genji is an important work of Japanese literature, and numerous modern authors have cited it as inspiration. It is noted for its internal consistency, psychological depiction, and characterization. The novelist Yasunari Kawabata said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: "The Tale of Genji in particular is the highest pinnacle of Japanese literature. Even down to our day there has not been a piece of fiction to compare with it".
The Genji is also often referred to as "the first novel", though there is considerable debate over this — some of the debate involving whether Genji can even be considered a "novel". Some consider the psychological insight, complexity and unity of the work to qualify it for "novel" status while simultaneously disqualifying earlier works of prose fiction. Others see these arguments as subjective and unconvincing. Related claims, perhaps in an attempt to sidestep these debates, are that Genji is the "first psychological novel" or "historical novel", "the first novel still considered to be a classic" or other more qualified terms.
The novel and other works by Lady Murasaki are standard staple in the curricula of Japanese schools. The Bank of Japan issued the 2000 Yen banknote in her honor, featuring a scene from the novel based on the 12th century illustrated handscroll.
Yosano Akiko, the first author to make a modern translation of the Genji, believed that Murasaki Shikibu had only written chapters One to Thirty-three, and that chapters Thirty-five to Fifty-four were written by her daughter Daini no Sanmi. Other scholars have doubted the authorship of chapters Forty-two to Forty-four (particularly Forty-four, which contains rare examples of continuity mistakes).
According to Royall Tyler's introduction to his English translation of the work, recent computer analysis has turned up "statistically significant" discrepancies of style between chapters 45–54 and the rest, and also among the early chapters.
Arthur Waley, who made the first English translation of the whole of The Tale of Genji, believed that the work as we have it was finished. Ivan Morris, author of The World of the Shining Prince, believed that it was not complete, but that only a few pages or a chapter at most were "missing". Edward Seidensticker, who made the second translation of the Genji, believed that it was not finished, and that Murasaki Shikibu did not have a planned story structure with an "ending" and would simply have gone on writing as long as she could.
Another aspect of the language is the importance of using poetry in conversations. Modifying or rephrasing a classic poem according to the current situation was expected behavior in Heian court life, and often served to communicate thinly veiled allusions. The poems in the Genji are often in the classic Japanese tanka form. Many of the poems were well known to the intended audience, so usually only the first few lines are given and the reader is supposed to complete the thought themselves, much like today we could say "when in Rome..." and leave the rest of the saying ("...do as the Romans do") unspoken.
As with most Heian literature, the Genji was probably written mostly (or perhaps entirely) in kana (Japanese phonetic script) and not in Chinese characters because it was written by a woman for a female audience. Writing in Chinese characters was at the time a masculine pursuit; women were generally discreet when using Chinese symbols, confining themselves mostly to pure Japanese words.
Outside of vocabulary related to politics and Buddhism, the Genji contains remarkably few Chinese loan words. This has the effect of giving the story a very even, smooth flow. However, it also introduces confusion: there are a number of words in the "pure" Japanese vocabulary which have many different meanings and, for modern readers, context is not always sufficient to determine which meaning was intended.
Murasaki was neither the first nor the last writer of the Heian period, nor was the Genji the earliest example of a "monogatari". Rather, the Genji stands above other tales of the time in the same way that William Shakespeare's plays outshine other Elizabethan drama.
Both scholars and writers have tried translating it. The first translation into modern Japanese was made by the poet Yosano Akiko. Other known translations were done by the novelists Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Fumiko Enchi.
Because of the cultural difference, reading an annotated version of the Genji is quite common, even among Japanese. There are several annotated versions by novelists, including Seiko Tanabe, Osamu Hashimoto and Jakucho Setouchi. Many works, including a manga series and different television dramas, are derived from The Tale of Genji. There have been at least five manga adaptations of the Genji. A manga version by Waki Yamato, Asakiyumemishi (The Tale of Genji in English), is widely read among Japanese youth, and another version, by Miyako Maki, won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1989.
Most Japanese high-school students read selections of the Genji (the original, not a translation) in their Japanese classes.
The generally recognized "best" translations were created by Suematsu Kenchō, Arthur Waley, Edward G. Seidensticker, Helen McCullough and Royall Tyler.
Major English translations in chronological order:
"The Waley Genji" -- Waley's Genji is considered a great achievement for his time, although some purists have criticized Waley's changes to the original. Others have criticized as overly-free the manner in which Waley translated the original text. However, when the Waley Genji was first published, it could not have been more eagerly received. For example, Time explained that "the reviewers' floundering tributes indicate something of its variegated appeal. In limpid prose The Tale combines curiously modern social satire with great charm of narrative. Translator Waley has done service to literature in salvaging to the Occident this masterpiece of the Orient."
# Genji's rise and fall ## Youth, chapters 1–33: Love, romance, and exile ## Success and setbacks, chapters 34–41: A taste of power and the death of his beloved wife # The transition (chapters 42–44): Very short episodes following Genji's death # Uji, chapters 45–54: Genji's official and secret descendants, Niou and Kaoru
The last and therefore 54th chapter "The Floating Bridge of Dreams" is argued sometimes a separate part from the Uji part by the modern scholars. It seems to continue the story from the previous chapters, but has an unusually abstract chapter title. It is the only chapter whose title has no clear reference within the text, but this may be because the chapter is unfinished. (This question is more difficult because we do not know exactly when the chapters acquired their titles.)
The additional chapter between 41 and 42 in some manuscripts is called 雲隠 (Kumogakure) which means "Vanished into the Clouds" — the chapter is a title only, and is probably intended to evoke Genji's death. Some scholars have posited the existence of a chapter between 1 and 2 which is now lost, which would have introduced some characters that (as it stands now) appear very abruptly.
Later authors have composed additional chapters, most often either between 41 and 42, or after the end.
The various manuscripts are classified into three categories: In the 13th century, two major attempts by Minamoto no Chikayuki and Fujiwara Teika were made to edit and revise the differing manuscripts. The Chikayuki manuscript is known as the Kawachibon; edits were many beginning in 1236 and completing in 1255. The Teika manuscript is known as the Aobyōshibon; its edits are more conservative and thought to better represent the original. These two manuscripts were used as the basis for many future copies.
The Beppon category represents all other manuscripts not belonging to either Kawachibon or Aobyōshibon. This includes older but incomplete manuscripts, mixed manuscripts derived from both Kawachibon and Aobyōshibon, and commentaries.
On March 10, 2008, it was announced that a late Kamakura period manuscript was found in Kyōto. It is the sixth chapter "Suetsumuhana" and is 65 pages in length. Most remaining manuscripts are based on copies of the Teika manuscript which introduced revisions in the original. This newly discovered manuscript belongs to a different lineage and was not influenced by Teika. Professor Yamamoto Tokurō who examined the manuscript said, "This is a precious discovery as Kamakura manuscripts are so rare." Professor Katō Yōsuke said, "This is an important discovery as it asserts that non-Teika manuscripts were being read during the Kamakura period."
On October 29, 2008, Konan Women's University announced that a mid-Kamakura period manuscript was found. It is the 32nd chapter, Umegae, and is recognized as the oldest extant copy of this chapter dating between 1240-1280. This beppon manuscript is 74 pages in length and differs from Aobyōshi manuscripts in at least four places, raising the "possibility that the contents may be closer to the undiscovered Murasaki Shikibu original manuscript".
Category:Late Old Japanese texts Category:Monogatari Category:11th-century novels Category:World Digital Library exhibits Category:Japan in fiction
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| Name | 冨田 勲 Tomita Isao |
|---|---|
| Birth date | April 22, 1932 |
| Birth place | Tokyo, Japan |
| Known for | electronic music composer |
| Website | http://www.isaotomita.net/ |
In 1965, he composed the theme song and incidental music for Osamu Tezuka's animated TV series Jangaru Taitei (Jungle Emperor), released in the USA as Kimba the White Lion. In 1966 he wrote a tone poem based on this music with an original video animation synchronized to the tone poem released in 1991. Isao Tomita and Kunio Miyauchi also created the music for the tokusatsu SF/espionage/action TV series Mighty Jack, which aired in 1968.
By the late 1960s, Isao turned to electronic music with the impetus of Wendy Carlos and Robert Moog's work with synthesisers. Isao acquired a Moog III synthesizer and began building his home studio. He started arranging Claude Debussy's pieces for synthesizer and, in 1974, the album Snowflakes are Dancing was released; it became a worldwide success. His version of Arabesque No. 1 was later used as the theme to the astronomy TV series (originally titled Star Hustler) seen on most PBS stations.
He continued to release albums, of which the best known are his arrangements of classics, such as Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Gustav Holst's The Planets.
In 1968 he co-founded Group TAC.
While working on his classical synthesizer albums, Tomita continued composing numerous scores for Japanese television and films including the Zatoichi television series, two Zatoichi feature films, the Oshi Samurai (Mute Samurai) television series and the Toho science fiction disaster film, Catastrophe 1999, The Prophesies of Nostradamus (US title: Last Days of Planet Earth) in 1974. The latter blends synthesizer performances with pop-rock and orchestral instruments. It and a few other partial and complete scores of the period have been released on LP and later CD over the years in Japan. While not bootlegs, at least some of these releases were issued by film and TV production companies without Tomita's artistic approval.
Tomita and his music are heavily featured in Chris Marker's 1983 film-essay Sans Soleil.
In 1984, Tomita released Canon of the Three Stars, which featured classical pieces renamed for astronomical objects. For example, the title piece is his version of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. He credits himself with "The Plasma Symphony Orchestra", which was a computer synthesizer process using the wave forms of electromagnetic emanations from various stars and constellations for the sonic textures of this album.
Tomita has performed a number of outdoor "Sound Cloud" concerts, with speakers surrounding the audience in a "cloud of sound". He gave a big concert in 1984 at the annual contemporary music Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria called "Mind of the Universe", live mixing tracks in a glass pyramid suspended over an audience of 80,000 people. He performed another concert in New York two years later to celebrate the Statue of Liberty centennial ("Back to the Earth") as well as one in Sydney in 1988 for Australia's bicentennial. The Australian performance was part of a $A7 million gift from Japan to New South Wales, which included the largest ever fireworks display at that time, six fixed sound and lighting systems — one of those on a moored barge in the centre of a bay, the other flown in by Chinook helicopter — for the relevant parts of the show. A fleet of barges with Japanese cultural performances, including kabuki fire drumming, passed by at various times. His most recent Sound Cloud event was in Nagoya, Japan in 1997 featuring guest performances by The Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, and Rick Wakeman.
In the late 1990s he composed a hybrid orchestra plus synthesizer symphonic fantasy titled The Tale of Genji inspired by the eponymous old Japanese story. It was performed in concert by symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and London. A live concert CD version was released in 1999 followed by a studio version in 2000.
In 2001, Tomita collaborated with Walt Disney Company to compose the background atmosphere music for the AquaSphere entrance at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park outside Tokyo.
His synthesizer score featuring acoustic soloists for the 2002 film won the 2003 Japanese Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
The advent of the DVD-Audio format has allowed Tomita to further pursue his interests in multichannel audio with reworked releases of The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy and The Tomita Planets 2003.
In 2008, his Snowflakes are Dancing played in the background at the Disney World Resort, Epcot, World Showcase, Japan, Bijutzu-kan Gallery.
Category:1932 births Category:Japanese musicians Category:New Age musicians Category:New Age synthesizer players Category:Living people Category:Keio University alumni
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| Title | Shizuka Arakawa |
|---|---|
| Caption | Arakawa at the 2009 Festa On Ice. |
| Country | |
| Dateofbirth | December 29, 1981 |
| Residence | Simsbury, Connecticut |
| Height | |
| Formercoach | Nikolai Morozov, Evgeni Platov, Nanami Abe, Tatiana Tarasova, Richard Callaghan, Minoru Sano, Kumiko Sato, Hiroshi Nagakubo |
| Skating club | Prince Hotel |
| Retired | May 7, 2006 |
| Combined total | 191.34 |
| Combined date | 2006 Olympics |
| Sp score | 66.02 |
| Sp date | 2006 Olympics |
| Fs score | 125.32 |
| Fs date | 2006 Olympics |
| Medaltemplates |
}}
is a Japanese figure skater.
She is the 2006 Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles and the 2004 World Champion. Arakawa is the first person in Japan to win a gold Olympic medal for figure skating. She is the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in figure skating, after Midori Ito, who won silver. She is also the second Japanese woman to win any gold medal at the Winter Olympics, after skier Tae Satoya. Her gold medal was the only medal for Japan at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Arakawa retired from competitive skating following her Olympic win. Following her retirement, she began skating professionally in ice shows and exhibitions. She also works as a skating sportscaster for Japanese television.
She enrolled at Waseda University in March 2000, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in social sciences in 2004, while still competing as a skater. She won the 2004 World Figure Skating Championships days after completing her graduation examinations at Waseda University.
She lived and trained for a time at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, Connecticut in the United States after the closure of the Konami Sports Ice Rink in Sendai, where she began her career.
Her figure skating idols are Kristi Yamaguchi and Yuka Sato. She listens to music by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé and EXILE, and likes shopping, driving, swimming, golf and practising marine sports.
Arakawa cites gourmet cooking as one of her hobbies. She collects beanie babies, has a pet shih tzu (named Charo) and hamster (named Juntoki). She also has four dogs, named Choco, Tiramisu, Aroma and Rosa.
She started ballet lessons at 7. While still 7, Arakawa had begun training with former Olympian Hiroshi Nagakubo, a pair skater who competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. She was landing triple-jump salchows at age 8.
In 1994, she began participating in Japanese national skating competitions. She was named the 1994, 1995, 1996 All Japan Junior Figure athlete. Arakawa progressed through the Japanese ranks quickly and was the first skater in Japan to win three consecutive junior national titles.
Arakawa made her Olympic debut when she represented Japan in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano at age 16. The Emperor and Empress of Japan attended the ladies' free skate event. She placed 13th at the Nagano Olympics. At that time, she was ranked number 2 in Japan.
In 2002, Arakawa finished second at Japan's national championships and, as a result, was not named to the Japanese 2002 Winter Olympics team.
During the 2002–2003 skating season, Arakawa won the Asian Winter Games and the Winter Universiade. She earned her second consecutive silver medal at the Four Continents Championships. She took the bronze at the NHK Trophy, and placed fifth at the Cup of Russia. She qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final, where she finished fourth. She later placed third at the Japanese Nationals, marking her fifth medal from this meet, with two golds and two silvers from previous seasons.
In 2004, she won the 2004 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany, after landing seven clean triple jumps. She is the third Japanese woman to win this title after Midori Ito who won in 1989 and Yuka Sato in 1994.
Arakawa had planned to retire after the 2004 World Championships, but her victory there convinced her to change her plans. She struggled with a foot injury, homesickness and motivation, and was beginning to trail behind younger Japanese competitors like Miki Ando and Mao Asada.
Her 9th place finish at the 2005 World Championships was the motivation she said she needed to stay in the sport and regain top form. She felt she could not quit on such a down note. In November 2005, Arakawa called Belarus figure skater Nikolai Morozov and asked if he would consider coaching her. He agreed.
Although Cohen and Slutskaya were the heavy favorites for the gold medal, both fell during the long program. Arakawa skated to Vanessa Mae's Violin Fantasy on Puccini's Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. One of the highlights of the program was when she performed an Ina Bauer and then did a three jump combination. "Ina Bauer" became a household word in Japan as a result. Arakawa skated a clean free-skate program, with no falls. Although she had planned two triple-triple combinations for the free skate, she did not perform them. She changed them to a triple Lutz-double loop and a triple salchow-double toe loop combinations.
She earned a total combined score of 191.34 points, almost eight points ahead of the second-place Cohen (183.36), earning her the gold medal. Slutskaya was third at 181.44.
Arakawa's Olympic win was the first in the event for a Japanese skater. Her gold medal gave Japan its first and only medal of the 2006 Winter Olympics, and she became just the second Japanese woman to win a Winter Olympic gold. At age 24, Arakawa is the oldest women's Olympic skating champion in more than 80 years. Florence "Madge" Cave Syers from the United Kingdom was the oldest when she won the Olympic title at age 27 at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom which featured the first Olympic figure skating events. Arakawa also was the second Japanese woman to win a figure skating Olympic medal of any kind, after Midori Ito. Arakawa is the second Japanese woman to win a Winter Olympic gold, after Tae Satoya.
After winning her Olympic title, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called Arakawa in Turin, Italy to congratulate her. Koizumi said, "I cheered for you with excitement while I watched television. All the Japanese people are rejoicing. I give a perfect score to every bit of your performance."
She also produces her own show Friends on Ice.
In 2006, Arakawa appeared in a Japanese TV drama, Shichinin no onna bengoshi (7 female lawyers), presented by Asahi TV. She played the role of a cool public prosecutor, Yayoi Shimasaki, in the 8th episode.
She competed in a new ABC skating series "Thin Ice," aired on March 19, 2010, paired with 2006 Olympic men's silver medallist Stéphane Lambiel. They came first in the viewer's votes, and ended the series in third place, winning a total of $45,000. They skated to the songs "Get Me Bodied" by Beyoncé and "Magic" by Robin Thicke.
Arakawa is a great spinner. She has an excellent donut spin, a difficult variation of the Camel spin, that requires great flexibility. In 2004, she added a Biellmann spin to her repertoire.
Arakawa is also known for her spirals. Her signature spiral is a Y-spiral where she releases her free leg and completes the spiral with her leg still close to her head, without the hand assist.
Her trademark move is the Ina Bauer. Arakawa's interpretation of this move putting her in a full backbend. Due to Arakawa's use of this move during her free skate at the 2006 Olympics, the term "Ina Bauer" became very popular in Japan, and Arakawa's performance of it became iconic. The term Ina Bauer is often referred to in Japan by Arakawa's name.
Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese female single skaters Category:Waseda University alumni Category:Olympic figure skaters of Japan Category:Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Category:Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Category:People from Sendai Category:Sportspeople from Tokyo Category:Winter Olympics medalists Category:Olympic gold medalists for Japan
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