2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences30:Japanese Poetry
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Lorinda Kiyama
- Class Format
- Lecture (HyFlex)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Wed
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.S504
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
We will read 8th-20th-century Japanese poetry in English translation. Some questions this course aims to answer include: Why has poetry so often been the expressive mode of choice among Japanese across history? How have the occasions for producing and appreciating poetry changed over time? How do poetic formats develop to suit social and intellectual practices? What themes are taken up by Japanese poets, and what is avoided?
Course description and aims
Students will gain an appreciation of Japanese poetry from earliest through modern times. They will come to understand the social and political contexts through which Japanese poetry evolved. A final project will entail translating poems from Japanese into another language, with a vocabulary list and analysis, or composing original poetry using Japanese poetic styles.
Keywords
Japanese poetry in English translation
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Each week we will read Japanese poetry in English translation from diverse historical periods and genres. We will discuss the contexts in which poetry was created and continues to be read. Students will translate Japanese poems into another language and will compose poetry in Japanese poetic styles.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Poetry from the 8th century: Man'yoshu, Collection of Myriad Leaves | read poems in preparation for the next class; write a translated rendition of the Tama River poem |
| Class 2 | Poetry from the 9th century: Kokinwakashu, Collection of Ancient and Modern Poetry; Chinese poetics; gender & the kana script; Murasaki shikibu and the study of Chinese by Japanese poets | read poems in preparation for the next class; write an envoy poem based on a poem in the Man'yoshu |
| Class 3 | 9th century: Tales of Ise | read poems in preparation for the next class; write a poem with a story or contextual setting |
| Class 4 | 11th century: poetic diary of court lady Izumi Shikibu 13th century collection: One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets | read poems in preparation for the next class; write a poetry texting conversation with a classmate |
| Class 5 | 12th century popular songs: Songs to Make the Dust Dance | read poems in preparation for the next class; write the lyrics to a song |
| Class 6 | 15th ~ 17th centuries: linked verse, short verse, Narrow Road to the North poetic travel diary, haiku | read poems in preparation for the next class; write a haiku poem |
| Class 7 | 19th & 20th centuries: short verse, free verse ancient and early modern Chinese poetry by Japanese poets | revise and submit poetry portfolio |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
handouts
Reference books, course materials, etc.
From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry, translated and edited by Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1986)
Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600, edited by Haruo Shirane (Columbia University Press, 2007)
Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900, edited by Haruo Shirane (Columbia University Press, 2004)
Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (Columbia University Press, 2007)
Evaluation methods and criteria
preparation for class and participation in discussions 20%
weekly original 40%
original poetry in Japanese poetic styles or translation with a vocabulary list and analysis 40%
Related courses
- LAH.S507 ： Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences33:Japanese Noh Theater
Prerequisites
ability to read, write, and discuss in high-intermediate level English
Other
Seven total classes will be held for this course: April 9 (Wed), April 16 (Wed), April 23 (Wed), April 30 (Wed), May 7 (Wed), May 14 (Wed), May 21 (Wed).
This course is 500-level course.
Science Tokyo (science and engineering fields) provides a wedge-shaped style education that allows students to continuously take liberal arts courses from a Bachelor’s Program to a Doctoral Program. Students are recommended to take liberal arts courses in ascending order of course level. In the semester right after enrollment in the Master’s Degree Program – i.e., 1Q and 2Q for students who enroll in spring, and 3Q or 4Q for students who enroll in fall – students may register only in 400-level Humanities and Social Science Courses.
Students may take 500-level Humanities and Social Science Courses after studying at least six months after enrollment, i.e., in 3Q and 4Q for students who enroll in spring, and in 1Q and 2Q of the following year for students who enroll in fall.