Abstract

★A Popular “Super-Translated” Classical Literature Essay, Now in Book Form!
Over 1.4 million page views on Toyo Keizai Online
★A Fresh Way to Enjoy Japanese Classics, Brought to You by an Italian-Born Author
★Who Was Ono no Komachi, Really? What Hidden Messages Lie Within The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter?

Written by an Italian-born literature enthusiast who has lived in Japan for over a decade, this essay collection offers a fresh reading of Japanese classical literature through the eyes of modern working women.

A thousand years ago, when Japanese women had little economic independence, they pursued love—quite literally, at the risk of their lives. They recorded their experiences in diaries and tales, leaving behind vivid accounts of their lives and emotions. Their approach to love was both passionate and strategic.

This book revisits celebrated classics that many readers first encountered in school, including The Pillow Book, The Diary of Izumi Shikibu, and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Read anew, these works become an anthology of Heian-period women with distinctive personalities, striving to succeed in both love and life.

Author’s Information

Born in Italy in 1980, she studied Japanese at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and came to Japan in 2005. After completing a master’s degree in Japanese Language and Literature in the Comparative Studies of Societies and Cultures program at Ochanomizu University Graduate School, she has continued to work in Japan as a translator and translation project manager.