The

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Japanese Text Initiative (JTI) is a project intended to provide a comprehensive

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

database of Japanese literary texts. Sponsored by the University of Virginia and the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

East Asian Library, the online collection contains over 300 texts from Japan's pre-modern and modern periods (generally defined as before and after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

of 1868). Pre-modern texts include the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'', the ''

Tale of Genji Tale may refer to: * Narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fa ...

'', the ''

Kokin Wakashū The , commonly abbreviated as , is an early anthology of the '' waka'' form of Japanese poetry, dating from the Heian period. An imperial anthology, it was conceived by Emperor Uda () and published by order of his son Emperor Daigo () in abou ...

'', and the ''

Hōjōki , variously translated as ''An Account of My Hut'' or ''The Ten Foot Square Hut'', is an important and popular short work of the early Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan by Kamo no Chōmei. Written in March 1212, the work depicts the Buddhi ...

''. Modern texts include works by

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', ''Kusamakura (novel), Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness (novel), Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of Br ...

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese people, Japanese Military medicine, Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, Japanese poetry, poet and father of famed author Mori Mari, Mari Mori. He obtained his medical l ...

, and

Akutagawa Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (written: 芥川) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese poet and writer *, Japanese composer and conductor, son of Akutagawa Ryunosuke *, Japanese painter * David Akutagawa (1937–2008), Japanese-Can ...

. The stated aim of the initiative is "In the short term... to put online most or all of th
Twenty Classical Works
in J. Thomas Rimer's ''A Reader's Guide to Japanese Literature'', revised edition (New York: Kodansha, 1999)". The aim is also to add pre-20th century literature and as much 20th century literature as copyright restrictions will allow. The database is still a work in progress, and it is not completely comprehensive; generally, the later in time one goes, the fewer works are featured. There are relatively few Edo-period pieces, and some

Meiji Meiji, the romanization of the Japanese characters 明治, may refer to: Japanese history * Emperor Meiji, Emperor of Japan between 1867 and 1912 ** Meiji era, the name given to that period in Japanese history *** Meiji Restoration, the revolution ...

and Taishō period authors are either absent, or not all of their works are available. As of October 2014, the last update was in March 2004. The database can be browsed either by author or by title, and includes a search function which, among other things, can be used to search for specific or phrases occurring in the works available.

References

"Scope and Goals"

External links

{{University of Pittsburgh Japanese studies University of Virginia University of Pittsburgh Japanese literature websites