The Japanese author index
Use the following menus to display tables with the names of premodern or modern Japanese writers in both English and Japanese. Also included are the author's dates and the main genre or genres in which he or she worked. Note that these lists follow the usual Japanese practice of giving the surname first, and that Japanese orthography has been given preference. As a convenience, spaces have been added to the Japanese versions of the names to indicate the break between last and first names; normally these spaces would not appear. In the case of modern poets, the term tanka has been used rather than waka to refer to the traditional 5-7-5-7-7 poetic form.
Premodern Authors
Modern Authors
Dates of birth and death are based on the calendar in effect at the time: the lunar calendar until the second day of the Twelfth Month (nominally December) of 1872, and the Gregorian calendar beginning from January 1, 1873 (the dates from December 3 to December 31, 1872, do not exist in Japanese history). Authors who were born or died around the time of the Meiji Restoration may be given dates based on either or both of these calendars, depending on the source (Natsume Sōseki is a good example, and writers like Ozaki Kōyō and Saitō Ryokuu will even be given different years of birth). Much of the information has been checked in multiple sources (where they conflict and I have been unable to determine which is correct, I have usually given precedence to the Shinchō Nihonbungaku jiten). However, some mistakes may remain and corrections will be gratefully received at .