page_title: Medieval Japanese literature
section_title: Monogatari-zōshi
hierarchical_section_title: Medieval Japanese literature / Literature of the late medieval period / Monogatari-zōshi
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Utatane soshi emaki, 15.4 x 878.1 cm, musée national de l'histoire du Japon de la préfecture de Chiba (Kokuritsu Rekishi Minzoku Hakubutsukan). Attribué à Tosa Mitsunobu (actif 1469-1522).
context_page_description: Japan's medieval period was a transitional period for the nation's literature. Kyoto ceased being the sole literary centre as important writers and readerships appeared throughout the country, and a wider variety of genres and literary forms developed accordingly, such as the gunki monogatari and otogi-zōshi prose narratives, and renga linked verse, as well as various theatrical forms such as noh. Medieval Japanese literature can be broadly divided into two periods: the early and late Middle Ages, the former lasting roughly 150 years from the late 12th to the mid-14th century, and the latter until the end of the 16th century.
  The early Middle Ages saw a continuation of the literary trends of the classical period, with court fiction continuing to be written, and composition of waka poetry reaching new heights in the age of the Shin-kokin Wakashū, an anthology compiled by Fujiwara no Teika and others on the order of Emperor Go-Toba. One new genre of that emerged in this period was the gunki monogatari, or war tale, of which the representative example of The Tale of the Heike, a dramatic retelling of the events of the wars between the Minamoto and Taira clans.
context_section_description: The giko-monogatari of the earlier period largely ceased during the Nanbokuchō period, and an incredibly large number of shorter works known as monogatari-zōshi (more commonly called otogi-zōshi, a name that was applied later) were created. Many of them are unsophisticated and childish, and were written for a much broader audience than the earlier tale literature, which had been written by and for the aristocracy exclusively. As a result, they cover a much broader range of topics, and were written not only by nobles but by warriors, monks, hermits and urbanites.
  Of the works that continued the courtly tradition, some (such as Wakakusa Monogatari) told romantic love stories and some (such as Iwaya no Sōshi) contained stories of unfortunate stepchildren. Among those about members of the warrior class, some (such as Shutendōji) drew upon gunki monogatari and heroic legends of monster-slayers, some (such as Onzōshi Shima-watari) built legends of warriors, and others (such as Muramachi Monogatari and Akimichi) told of chaos between rival houses and revenge. A very large number of them are about religious themes, reflecting the rise of popular Buddhism during this period. Some of these works (such as Aki no Yo no Naga Monogatari) described monastic life, some (such as Sannin Hōshi) expounded the virtues of seclusion, some (such as Kumano no Honji) elaborate on the origins of temples and shrines in light of the concept of honji suijaku ("original substances manifest their traces", the concept that the gods of Shinto are Japanese manifestations of Buddhist deities), and some (such as Eshin-sōzu Monogatari) are biographies of Buddhist saints.
  In addition to the above works about nobles, warriors and monks, there are also a number of works in which the protagonists are farmers and urban commoners, known as risshin-shusse mono (立身出世物, "tales of rising up in the world") and shūgi-mono (祝儀物). Examples of the former include Bunshō-zōshi (文正草子) and examples of the latter include Tsuru-Kame Monogatari (鶴亀物語). A number of these works are based on popular folk-tales, and reflect themes of gekokujō and the lively activity of the lower classes. Several feature settings outside Japan, including the engi-mono of the early period and such works as Nijūshi-kō (二十四孝) and Hōman-chōja (宝満長者).
  A number of works, called irui-mono (異類物) or gijin-shōsetsu (擬人小説, "personification novels"), include anthropomorphized plants and animals, and these appear to have been very popular among readers of the day. Examples of this group include war stories like Aro Gassen Monogatari (鴉鷺合戦物語, lit. "The Tale of the Battle of the Crow and the Heron"), love stories like Sakura-Ume no Sōshi (桜梅草子), and tales of spiritual awakening and living in monastic seclusion such as Suzume no Hosshin (雀の発心), while some, such as Nezumi no Sōshi (鼠の草子), portray romance and/or marriage between humans and anthropomorphized animals, and such works were widely disseminated. These works, along with tales of slaying monsters (怪物退治談 kaibutsu-taiji tan), appear to have been popular in an age when weird and creepy tales (怪談 kaidan and 奇談 kidan) proliferated.
  The short prose fiction of this era, as elaborated above, differed drastically from the courtly fiction of early ages in its variety. More than 500 were written, and many come down to us in manuscript copies that include beautiful coloured illustrations. It is believed that these works were read aloud to an audience, or were enjoyed by readers of varying degrees of literacy with the help of the pictures. They represent a transition between the courtly fiction of earlier times to the novels of the early modern period.
caption: Utatane Sōshi is a noted example of the "aristocratic" otogi-zōshi.[18]
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