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Notes:

1. Although Japanese poetry, drama, literature and other writings of the Golden Age elaborate on a wide range of philosophical, aesthetic, religious, and political topics, and while literature and culture have flourished in Japan for over a thousand years, many misconceptions about Japanese literature persist.
2. One of the earliest monuments of Japanese literature, the Man'yoshu (The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), appears to have been intended as an anthology of poetry anthologies.
3. The Kokinshu combines great poems of the past with great poems of the present; it also integrates short poems into longer narrative sequences, thereby becoming more than a mere collection of poems.
4. Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, arguably the first significant novel in world literature, was written in the early eleventh century.
5. The Pillow Book is a seemingly unstructured collection of personal observations, random thoughts, and perceptions that entered the mind of the author.
6. Not only did the Tale of the Heike help to create the samurai ideal, it has served as an inspiration for more writers in more genres than any other single work of Japanese literature.
7. Although Shintoism, the native religion emphasizing the protective powers of supernaturalism, enjoyed widespread popularity, Buddhism began to play an increasingly important role in premodern Japan, most notably in the arenas of literature and drama.
8. No (translated as "talent" or "skill"), Japan's classical theater, is a serious and stylized art form that is produced without most of the artifices of Western theater such as props and scenery.

Text:
* blue words within the text indicate important notes to remember

1. Although Japanese poetry, drama, literature and other writings of the Golden Age elaborate on a wide range of philosophical, aesthetic, religious, and political topics, and while literature and culture have flourished in Japan for over a thousand years, many misconceptions about Japanese literature persist. Contrary to popular "Western misperceptions," Japanese culture is not homogeneous. The varied experiences of the Japanese populace have found multiple voices in Japanese literary traditions. Another common misconception—the idea that Japanese culture is imitative or parasitic—fails to understand the complex ways in which Japanese literary and cultural work has responded to external influences, ranging from Chinese occupation to the emergence of Buddhism, thus fashioning a unique literary tradition that is a composite of many traditions and ideas. During the third century, rice cultivation acquired an important place in Japan, bringing a gradual end to the hunter-gatherer culture that had been in place. Although the nomadic lifestyle of the past was replaced by a more sedentary lifestyle, the spirit of wandering and movement made its mark on the writing of the period. With the concurrent development of bronze and iron came the development of weapons and warfare, which eventually gave rise to the samurai culture so closely associated with Japan. Although early governors attempted to use Chinese models of administration in Japan, they were largely unsuccessful. Kinship structures that emphasized family and lineage were in opposition to the theoretically egalitarian bases of Chinese theories of meritocratic government.
2. One of the earliest monuments of Japanese literature, the Man'yoshu (The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), appears to have been intended as an anthology of poetry anthologies. The "leaves" of its title refer not only to the many poems in its collection, but also refer to the many generations that will read them. As the Japanese system of writing was adapted from a Chinese model, the poems of the Man'yoshu were recorded in Chinese characters in three different ways: for meaning, for sound when read in Chinese, and for sound when read in Japanese. Most of the poems predate the solidification of the aristocracy. As such, their themes are less self-conscious than poetry of the classical era. Many of the poems are anonymous. Some of the most widely read were composed by Kakinomota Hitomaro, who is known for his "visual" imagery.
3. Commissioned by Emperor Daigo, the Kokinshu (The Collection of Ancient and Modern Times) established a precedent that would last through five hundred years and twenty-one anthologies. The Kokinshu combines great poems of the past with great poems of the present; it also integrates short poems into longer narrative sequences, thereby becoming more than a mere collection of poems.
4. Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, arguably the first significant novel in world literature, was written in the early eleventh century. Written by a woman in the lower ranks of the aristocracy, the work is an ambitious undertaking that focuses on the lives of men and women in courtly Japan. Telling the tale of former Prince Genji, Murasaki's novel supposedly focuses less on the external world of political power and more on the larger "universal" issues about life that revolve around the depth and range of human experience.
5. Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book stands in direct contrast to the Tale of Genji. Unlike the longer and more intricate fictional work, the Pillow Book is a seemingly unstructured collection of personal observations, random thoughts, and perceptions that entered the mind of the author. Almost all of the entries fall into two categories: they display a sharp sense of realism or they capture the evocative power inherent in lyrical language. The original manuscript did not survive, but many variants exist, which is perhaps why scholars sometimes refer to this text as "corrupt."
6. Not only did the Tale of the Heike help to create the samurai ideal, it has served as an inspiration for more writers in more genres than any other single work of Japanese literature. The tale re-creates events of the late eleventh century, a period that saw an eclipse of aristocratic power and a succession of great military houses. The first of its three parts concerns the heyday of the Heike (or Taira) clan, culminating in the death of their leader, Kiyomori. The other two parts center on the victorious Genji (or Minamoto) clan. As is especially evident in its epilogue, the poem is believed to have sounded an offering meant to soothe the restless spirits of the departed Heike. Originating as an oral tale, it was probably first written during the early thirteenth century. The Tale of the Heike was unified into a single work by Akashi Kakuichi in 1371.
7. Although Shintoism, the native religion emphasizing the protective powers of supernaturalism, enjoyed widespread popularity, Buddhism began to play an increasingly important role in premodern Japan, most notably in the arenas of literature and drama. The quintessential treatise on principles of Japanese taste, Essays in Idleness, was composed by Yoshida Kenko, a Buddhist monk. As with the Pillow Book, Kenko's entries are brief, informal, and lack a unifying theme; however, Kenko diverges from Sei Shonagon in tone and arrangement. For Kenko, transience, from the impermanence and mutability that had long been an important part of the teachings of Buddhism, became a defining quality of life.
8. No (translated as "talent" or "skill"), Japan's classical theater, is a serious and stylized art form that is produced without most of the artifices of Western theater such as props and scenery. Performed by male actors only, no drama derives from a range of sources—mystery plays, myth, Buddhist liturgy, and Zen Buddhism. No's profundity, according to a No dramatist, is ineffable. Adhering to Buddhist karmic principles, No often suggests that the only release for human beings is through satori, or enlightenment. The intensely psychological nature of No drama and the use of subtlety made it attractive to several British and North American poets of the twentieth century, including Ezra Pound and W. B. Yeats.