The Columbia Anthology of Japanese Essays

A stimulating selection of zuihitsu, the Japanese essay form that is, as aptly characterized by the editor Steven D. Carter, the anti-method method. Deploying a broad definition of zuihitsu, Carter includes not only the canonical such as The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and Yoshida No Kenko's Essays in Idleness, but also haikai prose by Matsuo Basho and Natsume Seibi, and some tales of the unusual. Four qualities unite this diverse collection of prose: the writing is personal and casual, instead of formal and scholarly; the subject matter is not restricted but includes anything that occurs to the writer; the writing aims to entertain and impress; the purely fictional is excluded. The selection of works is generous also in terms of the time period covered, from the Heian period to the twentieth century. I'm particularly pleased to make the acquaintance of Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801) in "Jeweled Comb Basket"; Tachibana Nankei (1753-1805) in "Idle Chats Beneath a Northern Window"; Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758-1829) in "Blossoms and the Moon"; Uchida Hyakken (1889-1971) in "Idle Fantasies," "Bumpy Road" and "A Long Fence" written under the pseudonym of Master Hyakken; Osaragi Jiro (1897-1973) in "Sleepless Nights" and "A Bed for My Books"; Shono Junzo (1921-2009) in "The Road"; and Sakai Junko (1966- ) in "On Zuihitsu."

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