Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region VII, Central Visayas
Division of Lapu-Lapu City
Marigondon National High School
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Name: Score :____________________________

Year : Section:_________ _______________
I. Lesson Title (Quarter 2., LAS 1., Week 3., Semester, School Year)
The Land of the Rising Sun: Literary History
II. Learning Competency /ies (LC) and Learning Objectives (LO)
A. Content Standard:
The learner will be able to understand and appreciate literary texts in various genres across
national literature and cultures.

B. Performance Standard:
A written close analysis and critical interpretation of a literary text in terms of form and
theme, with a description of its context derived from research.

C. Learning Competency:
1. identify representative texts and authors from Asia, namely: China, India, and Japan.
2. explain the texts in terms of literary elements, genres, and traditions
3. situate the texts in the context of the region, nation, and the world

Concept Notes (Content Discussions)

JAPAN (LAND OF THE RISING SUN)

Japan is an island nation off Asia's east coast. It is made up of a massive group of islands that form a
northeast-southwest arc that spans the western North Pacific Ocean for around 1,500 miles (2,400 km). The four
main islands of the nation—Hokkaido (Hokkaido), Honshu (Honsh), Shikoku, and Kyushu (Kyushu)—take up nearly all
the country's land area. Japan’s history span since from the paleolithic age, and although no written records
that proves civilization, remains and fossils have proved the existence of settlement for about 30,000- 10,000
BC.

JAPANESE LITERATURE spans about two thousand years and is one of the world's main literatures, like English
literature in antiquity and scope. It includes a variety of literary forms, such as novels, poetry, theatre,
travelogues, private journals, and compilations of unrelated ideas and experiences. There has never been a time
when Japanese authors have not written literature, dating back to the early seventh century. China was the source
of the writing system that Japan adopted, and Chinese letters are frequently used to represent Japanese words
with comparable phonetic sounds.

Early works were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and were written in what is now known as
Shinto (or Japanese) language However, the rich emotional vocabulary of the Japanese language gave rise to a
refined sensitivity of expression, while Chinese was often used to write about more intellectual and abstract
concepts such as morality and justice. Hence, the nature of the spoken Japanese language, in which all words end
with a simple vowel and stress accents do not exist, shaped the development of poetic forms.

During the Edo period, Japanese literature developed a number of new genres, such as kabuki theater, comedy
historical romances known as “yomihon,” horror, crime stories, and morality stories. Exposure to Western
literature in the 19th century influenced Japanese authors to develop more subjective, analytical writing. Today
Japanese literature of all periods is enjoyed by modern readers all over the world.

JAPANESE LITERATURE: A HISTORTICAL PRESENTATION

In terms of antiquity and diversity, Japanese literature is equivalent to English literature as one of the
world's main literatures. There has never been a time when Japan hasn't created literature, dating back to the
seventh century C.E. when the oldest extant works were penned. The Tale of Genji was composed in Japan around the
beginning of the eleventh century, and is conceivably the oldest complete narrative. Other genres, such as
travelogues, personal diaries, and compilations of seemingly unrelated thoughts and feelings, are significant in
Japanese literature in addition to novels, poetry, and theatre. In addition to writing in the Japanese language,
a significant amount of Japanese writing was also created in classical Chinese.

Ancient, Medieval, and Modern are the three primary eras that make up Japanese literature.
Ancient Period (until the year 710 A.D)
 Before the introduction of kanji, there was no writing system in Japan. At first, Chinese
characters were used in Japanese syntactical formats, and the literary language was classical
Chinese. This resulted in sentences that looked like Chinese but were phonetically read as
Japanese. The use of Chinese characters initiated a centuries-long association with calligraphy.

 Chinese characters were later adapted to write Japanese speech, creating what is known as
the man'yōgana, the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing. The earliest works were created in
the Nara Period. These include Kojiki (712: a work recording Japanese mythology and legendary
history, Nihon shoki (720; a chronicle with a slightly more solid foundation in historical records
than Kojiki, and Man'yōshū (Ten Thousand Leaves, 759); an anthology of poetry. More than 120 songs
in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki were written in phonetic transcription, and parts of the Kojiki
contain a mixture of Chinese characters used to represent their Chinese meanings, and Chinese
characters used to represent a phonetic sound.
Classical Literature (894- 1194) Heian Period
 The term "classical Japanese literature" often refers to works written in the country during the
Heian Period, which some people see as the golden era for both art and literature. Early in the
eleventh century, Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji, often regarded as the greatest work
of Heian literature and the first novel. The Pillow Book (990s), an essay by Murasaki Shikibu's
contemporary and adversary Sei Shonagon describing the lives, loves, and pleasures of aristocrats
in the Emperor's court, and the Kokin Wakashu (905), a collection of waka poetry, are other
significant works from this time period. Early on in this time, the iroha poem—one of the two
accepted orderings for the Japanese syllabary—was also created.

 The imperial court at this period supported poets, many of whom were courtiers or ladies-in-
waiting. Poetry anthology editing was a popular hobby in this country. The poetry was polished
and exquisite, reflecting the aristocratic ambiance, and it used jargon to communicate feelings.

Medieval Literature (1195- 1600)

 Zen Buddhism exerted a significant impact on medieval Japanese literature, and many of the
authors were monks, wanderers, or ascetic poets. Additionally, throughout this time, Japan went
through several civil wars that sparked the emergence of a warrior class (Samurai/ bushi) and
sparked a general fascination in war stories, histories, and associated literature. Writing from
this time is remarkable for its observations on life and death, straightforward lives, and
atonement via murder. The Tale of the Heike (1371), an epic tale of the conflict between the
Minamoto and Taira clans for dominance of Japan at the end of the twelfth century, is an example
of a representative work. Other significant stories from the same period include Yoshida Kenko's
Tsurezuregusa and Hjki (1212) by Kamo no Chmei (1331).

Early- Modern Literature (1600- 1868) Edo Period

 The literature of this time was written during the generally peaceful Tokugawa Period (commonly
referred to as the Edo Period). Due in large part to the rise of the working and middle classes
in the new capital of Edo (modern Tokyo), forms of popular drama developed which would later
evolve into kabuki. The joruri and kabuki dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon became popular at the
end of the seventeenth century. Matsuo Bashō wrote Oku no Hosomichi ( 奥の細道 , 1702), a travel
diary. Hokusai, perhaps Japan's most famous woodblock print artist, also illustrated fiction as
well as his famous 36 Views of Mount Fuji.

 The growth of lending libraries and an increasing literacy rate among the expanding townspeople
both contributed to the emergence of several literary genres throughout the Edo Period. Although
the Dutch presence at Nagasaki brought a little amount of Western influence into the nation, the
immigration of Chinese vernacular literature turned out to be the biggest outside effect on the
growth of early modern Japanese fiction. By incorporating local dialect with his hilarious and
cautionary stories of the pleasure districts, Ihara Saikaku is credited with creating the current
awareness of the novel in Japan. The travelogue and comedy Tkaidch hizakurige were written by
Jippensha Ikku.

Meiji Literature
The Meiji era marked the re-opening of Japan to the West, and a period of rapid industrialization. The
introduction of European literature brought free verse into the poetic repertoire. Young Japanese prose
writers struggled with a galaxy of new ideas and artistic schools. Novelists were the first to
successfully assimilate some of these concepts.
 Enlightenment writers Fukuzawa Yukichi and Nakae Chomin produced works in the early Meiji period
(1868–1880), while pre-modern popular literature portrayed the nation as it was rapidly changing
at the time.
 Tsubouchi Shoyo and Futabatei Shimei brought realism during the mid-Meiji period (late 1880s to
early 1890s), whereas Ozaki Koyo, Yamada Bimyo, and Koda Rohan gained fame with their classicism.

 Higuchi Ichiyo, a rare female author of her day, wrote short stories about the helpless women of
her time in a straightforward manner that hovered between between literary and informal.

 Izumi Kyoka was a favorite student of Ozaki and followed a fluid and graceful. The Operating Room
(1895), one of Izumi Kyoka's early works, was written in literary style; subsequent works, such
The Holy Man of Mount Koya (1900), were written in colloquial language. style.

Taisho Literature
Japan's transformation into a modern nation started in the late 19th century. By the beginning of the
20th century, the cultural and artistic change was evident. The Taisho period is often considered the
first era of modern Japan, when many western influences lived side by side with tradition.
The Taisho period was a continuation of the westernization that started during the Meiji era. Arts and
culture flourished as a result of the opening to western influences and technologies. There was an
interesting fusion of imported styles with traditional arts. This era was the final jump from a
traditional society into a modern nation.
 Mori Ogai introduced Romanticism to Japan with his anthology of translated poems (1889), and it
was carried to its height by Shimazaki Toson and his contemporaries. Mori also wrote some modern
novels including The Dancing Girl (1890), Wild Geese (1911), and later wrote historical novels.

 Natsume Soseki, who is often compared with Mori Ogai, also wrote the famous novels Botchan (1906)
and Sanshirô (1908), depicting the freshness and purity of youth. He eventually pursued
transcendence of human emotions and egoism in his later works including Kokoro (1914), and his
last unfinished novel Light and Darkness (1916).

 Shiga Naoya, the so called "god of the novel," wrote in an autobiographical style, depicting his
 states of his mind, that is also classified as “I” novel.

Early Showa Literature

The Showa period is often described as a significant break point in Japanese history that followed
the Taisho Period that represented a continuation of Japan’s rise on the international scene and
liberalism. Other episodes in the Japanese history such as the Sengoku period and Edo period draw often
much more attention and interest from foreigners. However, the Showa Period, about the 60 years of
history, is full of historical events including the World War II which have totally changed the entire
nation and people’s lives.
 During the 1920s and early 1930s the proletarian literary movement, comprising such writers as
Kobayashi Takiji, Kuroshima Denji, Miyamoto Yuriko, and Sata Ineko, produced a politically
radical literature depicting the harsh lives of workers, peasants, women, and other downtrodden
members of society, and their struggles for change.

 War-time Japan saw the début of several authors best known for the beauty of their language and
their tales of love and sensuality, notably Tanizaki Junichiro and Japan's first winner of the
Nobel Prize for Literature, Kawabata Yasunari, a master of psychological fiction. Hino Ashihei
wrote lyrical bestsellers glorifying the war , while Ishikawa Tatsuzo attempted to publish a
disturbingly realistic account of the advance on Nanjing.

 Writers who opposed the war include Kuroshima Denji, Kaneko Mitsuharu, Oguma Hideo, and Ishikawa
Jun.

Post-War Literature
The loss of Japan in World War II had an impact on Japanese writing in the 1940s and 1950s. Numerous
authors have written tales about disillusionment, purposelessness, and dealing with failure.
 The Setting Sun by Dazai Osamu describes a soldier who has just returned from Manchukuo.

 Mishima Yukio, a well-known author recognized for both his nihilistic literature and his
contentious seppuku death, started writing in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

 In the early aftermath of the war, a group of Japanese English instructors deal with the American
occupation in different ways, as shown in Kojima Nobuo's short tale "The American School."

 Prominent writers of the 1970s and 1980s were identified with intellectual and moral issues in
their attempts to raise social and political consciousness. One of them, Oe Kenzaburo wrote his
best-known work, A Personal Matter in 1964 and became Japan's second winner of the Nobel Prize
for Literature.

 Inoue Mitsuaki had long been concerned with the atomic bomb and continued during the 1980’s to
write on problems of the nuclear age, while

Contemporary Literature
 The 1980s saw a flourishing of popular fiction, non-fiction, and children's literature in
metropolitan Japan. Various historical serials, information-packed docudramas, science fiction,
mysteries, detective fiction, business stories, war journals, and animal stories are just a few
of the popular works that were published between "pure literature" and pulp novels. Politics and
crime were both topics handled in non-fiction. Despite the predominance of factual journalism,
many of these works were interpretive and showed a strong sense of individualism. Children's
literature first reappeared in the 1950s, and in the 1980s, younger women who had recently
entered the field gave it new life.

 Comic comics, or manga, have essentially taken over every segment of the popular market. They
cover almost all areas of human interest, such as a multi-volume history of Japan written for
high school students and, for the adult market, a manga introduction to economics and
pornography. Manga made up between twenty and thirty percent of all Japanese annual publications
at the end of the 1980s, with sales totaling about 400 billion yen. In modern Japan, there is a
discussion about whether the popularity of entertainment mediums like manga and anime has
resulted in a decline in the caliber of Japanese literature.
III. Activity- Post Test (Summative Exam 3)
Test I: Identification (Read and analyse each question carefully. You are to provide the best answer
to the blank provided in each item (before, after, and or in between the statement).

1. Japan, as a country is also known as ________________________.

2- 5. Japan, being an archipelagic island is composed of major islands and minor islets. The four
major Islands of this country are the following: ____________________, _____________________,
_________________, and ____________________.
6. _________________________________ is considered as the oldest and most complete novel to be ever
written in Japan during the 7th century.
7. Japan in the period of antiquity did have a systematic devised writing system. Hence, Japanese
people are deeply indebted to Chinese writing system. What Japanese writing system was devised
which is a combination of Chinese characters but of Japanese phonetical form? ________________.
8. Chinese characters were later adapted to write Japanese speech, creating what is known as
the ___________________ the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing.
9-10. In the man’ yogana, the earliest collection of syllabic writing written during the Nara
period includes the following: _____________________, and __________________.

Test II (Multiple Choice Exam- You are tasked to read and analyse each item carefully. You are to
choose from the choices provided in the box that best answer the question to each item.) [2 points]

a. X is true; Y is false c. Both Statements are true

b. X is false; Y is true d. Both Statements are false

1. (X)- Kojiki is a work recording the mythological creation of the Islands of Japan. (Y)- In this book, the
two major Gods are Izanami and Izanagi.

2. (X)- Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji. (Y)- The Tale of Genji describes the lives, loves, and
pleasures of aristocrats in the emperor’s court,

3. (X)- Zen Buddhism exerted a significant impact on medieval Japanese literature. (Y)- Japan went through
several civil wars that sparked the emergence of the Samurais.

4. (X)- The Medieval Period is characterized with peacefulness of the Tokugawa Period. (Y)- During the
Tokugawa Period, the rise of working and middle class inspired forms of Dramas, later evolved as Kabuki.

5. (X)- The Meiji era marked the closing of Japan to the World, and a period of economic and social regress.
(Y)- During the Meiji period, there was a massive movement of localizing literature.

6. (X)- Tsubouchi Shoyo and Futabatei Shimei brought realism during the mid-Meiji period. (Y)- Whereas Ozaki
Koyo, Yamada Bimyo, and Koda Rohan gained fame with their classicism.

7. (X)- The Taisho period was a continuation of the westernization that started during the Meiji era. (Y)-
Moreover, this era was the final jump from a traditional society into a modern nation.

8. (X) Shiga Naoya was also known as the “god of novel” in Japanese Literature. (Y)- His style of writing
is highly autobiographical also classified as the “You” novel.

9. (X)- Oe Kenzaburo wrote his best-known work, A Personal Matter in 1964. (Y)- He was also the first
Japanese Nobel Prize Winner for Literature.

10. (X)- Prominent writers of the 1970s and 1980s were identified with intellectual and moral issues in their
attempts to raise social and political consciousness. (Y)- One of them, Oe Kenzaburo wrote his best-known
work, A Personal Matter in 1964.

IV. Practical Application: (100 Points)

Directions: In a short bond paper, you are tasked to indicate a picture of you cosplaying your
favorite Manga/ anime character. You are to provide an explanation why you chose that character
and how is his personality and characteristics similar to yours.

(Note! Please be creative and use materials for your costume anything not bought and or can be
found in your home.)

Prepared by: Noted by:

Tristan Genesis N. Amistad, T-I Mr. Jonathan Barazona

Subject Teacher Master Teacher II