<japanese accent>Horii kurappu! </japanese accent>
Hummana hummana hummana.... Woof. Wow.
Muchos arigatos! This is fanfreakingtastic.
For those who want more cool stuff, The second one down on the home pager are some "Nara e-hon" (lit. "Nara picture books" -- so called because it was believed that many many many were produced by monks in Nara in much the same function and reason that monks in Belgium make beer). They started appearing in the 1400s and lasted into the Edo period, and were popular tales and texts and were usually heavily illustrated and gloriously colored and gold leafed (hence the name "picture book"). They are considered direct forerunners to modern manga.
Many of the tales were what is called "otogizoshi" or "companion tales" and are the Japanese equivalent of our Brothers Grimm, fairy tales, etc. The story I translated for my thesis was one such: "Iwaya no Sôshi" (The Tale of the Cave-house).
At any rate, the first entry under Nara e-hon is a luxuriously illustrated 3-volume edition of Ise Monogatari, which should not need any introduction.
Number two is the 2-volume "Isosaki" (less well known, but illustrated to all get out).
Number three is the incredibly famous and well known tale (or at least one version of it) of "Shutendoji" in a LOVELY scroll.
Number four is a two-volume edition of Daishikikan.
Number five is "Taketori Monogatari" -- possibly the oldest extant tale in Japanese. "Taketori Monogatari" is the story of a girl found in a bamboo stalk and raised by an old bamboo cutter, and the nobles who vie for her hand and the moon folk (!) who get in the way.
Number six is "Monokusa Tarô".
FOLDER THREE
The third numbered main folder is "literature-related" texts. It breaks down into five folders:
1. Waka (which looks to include almost all the official anthologies of waka compiled!)
2. "monogatari" related texts:
A. "Gikeiki" (Chronicles of Yoshitsune);
B. "Saigoro Monogatari";
C. "Soga Monogatari" (aka. "Tale of the Soga Brothers");
D. "Taiheiki" (Chronicles of the establishment of the Muromachi Bakufu);
E. "Taketori Monogatari";
F. "Heike Monogatari"
(actually, the rest are all Heike -- just different editions of it, for overkill.
).
3. Nikki (diaries) Ogod ogod ogod NIKKI!!!!!!! Alas, there's only one
but it's a good one: "Kagero Nikki" ("The Gossamer Years" aka "Fujiwara no Michitsuna's old mom won't stop bitching and moaning someone shoot me for the love of God").
4. "fragments of old works, etc." which is exactly what it says -- random surviving pages of old texts.
5. Kanbun texts (texts in Classical Chinese via Japanese). The only kanbun text is a rather short work by Emperor Saga, the 8th-9th c. emperor who was a major Chinese scholar and poet (and possibly the first Japanese person to drink tea).
FOLDER FOUR
The fourth numbered folder is history texts.
1. Kojiki
2. "Age of the Gods"
3. Nihon Shoki's "Age of the Gods"
4 - 8. Nihon Shoki editions
9. "Wakan Nendai ki" (apparently some kind of Chinese-and-Japanese historical record)
FOLDER FIVE
The fifth numbered folder is topographical texts
1. "Izumo no kuni no fudo ki" (topographical record of the province of Izumo)
2. "Izumo no fudo ki" (another version)
3. "Fudo ki: Yamashiro, Owari, Hitachi"
FOLDER SIX
The sixth numbered folder is "budo-related" texts.
1. A Yoshida-ryu kyudo text (nice illustrations of quivers and arrow stands!)
2. Another yoshida-ryu book on archery. Most of it is illustrated with diagrams of feathers -- probably detailed instructions on appropriate plumage to use for fletching and proprieties of style and rank.
FOLDER SEVEN
The seventh numbered folder is martial topics (heiho) related texts. The only text there is the two-volume "Zappyo Monogatari" (Tales of the Rank and File warrior") , an Edo-era manual for samurai on what samurai USED to do. Nicely illustrated. (If you see page
kotodama.kokugakuin.ac.jp/digital/diglib/zohyo02/mag3/pages/page017.html you'll see the original inspiration for Angus' painting -- plate G-- in my first book.)
FOLDER EIGHT
The eighth numbered folder is texts related to governance. The only text is "Shokugensho" by Kitabatake Chikafusa. Essentially, how proper society should function harrumph harrumph.
FOLDER NINE
the ninth numbered folder is Japanese publications of Chinese classics.
1. Chen Gui
2. Di Fan
FOLDER TEN
The tenth numbered folder is a selection of books from a single publisher in Edo.
1. Ansei Yonnen Owari Han (probably a record of what was going on in Owari during the critical years of the Great Ansei Purge).
2 - 3. Ito Nikki.
4. An illustrated book about Kasuga Grand Shrine events
5. Gion Roryôe (a mid-18th century best seller!) about what later came to be known as the Gion Matsuri.
6. I haven't the foggiest idea -- a bakumatsu text of some kind.
7. Dai Nippon Shinto Himitsu no maki -- shinto tales? Nice B&W illustrations, anyway.
8. Tsukizuki no asobi ("pastimes month by month") Lovingly and colorfully illustrated. Wow!
9. Nihon Meizan Zuso ("Famous Mountains of Japan, Illustrated")
10. Bansen zue ("Illustrations of [foreign]barbarian ships") See
kotodama.kokugakuin.ac.jp/digital/diglib/bansen/mag3/pages/page009.html. Ummmm.... okay.
11. Meireki Yonnen Bukan ("Armorial Book of Meireki 4 [1658])") The mon and holdings of the great families in mid 17th century.
12. Ryukyu Nenpyo ki (Okinawa yearly chronicles). Interesting.
FOLDER ELEVEN
The eleventh numbered folder has "Koga-ke monjo" texts. These are documents (mostly letters) from the Koga family from Heian through Meiji eras -- usually related to the imperial court. There are two sets of facsimiles of documents:
1. Emps. Fushimi and Go-Fushimi
2. apparently poetry and commentary by Fushimi (with split screen so you can actually READ that scrawl on the large pages).
FOLDER TWELVE
Tje twelfth numbered folder is Buddhist texts, and has one entry: a copy of the Kokera-kyô ("Persimmon" sutra) written on bamboo strips (!).
FOLDER THIRTEEN
The thirteenth numbered folder has one one short text: a handful of documents (monjo) from Kôzan-ji.
FOLDER FOURTEEN
The fourteenth numbered folder is a collection of two documents from a private collection. THere are two sets -- one of 13 pieces, and one of 51. Foreign stuff. Yawn.
Effingham
).
