The table includes the major works of premodern Japanese literature mentioned in study aids for Japanese high school students, with the addition of several others of interest to the Western reader. The transliteration of the Japanese title is given first, followed by an English translation and the name of the author, editor, or compiler. The English translation is fairly literal in most cases (often based on Donald Keene's versions or those in The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature), although conventional or published titles have sometimes been used. Dating is, of course, a vexed problem in the premodern period; approximate dates are so indicated.

• Antiquity
• Middle antiquity
• Middle ages
• Recent past

 

Date	Japanese title	English title	Author/ed.
712	Kojiki	Records of Ancient Matters	Hieda no Are, Ōe no Yasumaro
ca. 713	Fudoki	Gazetteers	(regional reports on matters of interest to the central government; the only complete report, Izumo fudoki, by one Hiroshima of Izumo)
720	Nihon shoki (Nihongi)	Chronicles of Japan	Toneri Shinnō et al.
751	Kaifūsō	Fond Recollections of Poetry	(unknown)
after 759	Man'yōshū	Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves	(unknown, but some editing attrib. to Ōtomo no Yakamochi)
797	Shoku nihongi	Continuation of Chronicles of Japan	Fujiwara no Tsugitada, Suga no Nomamichi et al.
ca. 822	Nihon ryōiki (or Nihon reiiki)	An Account of Miracles in Japan	Kyōkai
ca. 900	Taketori monogatari	The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter	(unknown)
905	Kokinwakashū	Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry	Ki no Tsurayuki et al.
ca. 930	Ise monogatari	Tales of Ise	(unknown)
ca. 940	Shōmonki	Chronicle of Taira no Masakado	(unknown)
ca. 935	Tosa nikki	The Tosa Diary	Ki no Tsurayuki
951	Gosenwakashū	Later Selection of Japanese Poetry	Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobe et al.
ca. 951	Yamato monogatari	Tales of Yamato	(unknown)
ca. 965	Heichū monogatari	Tales of Heichū	(unknown)
between 970-999	Utsuho monogatari (or Utsubo monogatari)	The Tale of the Hollow Tree	(unknown)
after 974	Kagerō nikki	The Gossamer Years	Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna
ca. 989	Ochikubo monogatari	The Tale of Ochikubo	(unknown)
ca. 1000	Makura no sōshi	The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon	Sei Shōnagon
after 1004	Izumi Shikibu nikki	The Diary of Izumi Shikibu	Izumi Shikibu
1005	Shūiwakashū	Collection of Gleanings	(unknown; thought to expand on a private collection by Fujiwara no Kintō)
ca. 1008	Genji monogatari	The Tale of Genji	Murasaki Shikibu
ca. 1010	Murasaki Shikibu nikki	The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu	Murasaki Shikibu
after 1028	Eiga monogatari	A Tale of Flowering Fortunes	Akazome Emon (partly)
after 1059	Sarashina nikki	The Sarashina Diary	Daughter of Sugawara no Takasue
1086	Goshūiwakashū	Later Collection of Gleanings	Fujiwara no Michitoshi
ca. 1120	Ōkagami	The Great Mirror	(unknown)
ca. 1120	Konjaku monogatari	Tales of Times Now Past	(unknown)
ca. 1127	Kinyōwakashū	Collection of Golden Leaves	Minamoto no Toshiyori
1170	Imakagami	The Mirror of the Present	Fujiwara no Tametsune
1151	Shikawakashū	Collection of Verbal Flowers of Japanese Poetry	Fujiwara no Akisuke
1184	Ryōjin hishō	Songs to Make the Dust Dance	Go-Shirakawa
1188	Senzaiwakashū	Collection for a Thousand Years	Fujiwara no Toshinari (Shunzei)
before 1190	Sankashū	The Mountain Hut Collection	Saigyō
1205	Shinkokinwakashū	New Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry	Fujiwara no Teika et al.
1212	Hōjōki	An Account of My Hut	Kamo no Chōmei
ca. 1202	Mumyōshō	A Nameless Selection	Kamo no Chōmei
1213	Kinkaiwakashū	The Golden Pagoda-Tree Collection of Japanese Poetry	Minamoto no Sanetomo
before 1216	Hosshinshū	A Collection to Promote Religious Awakening	Kamo no Chōmei
before 1219	Heike monogatari	The Tale of the Heike	(unknown; credited by Yoshida Kenkō to one Shinano-no-zenji Yukinaga)
before 1233	Kenreimon'in Ukyō no Daibu shū	The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu	Kenreimon'in
after 1242	Ujishūi monogatari	Tales from Uji	(unknown)
1252	Jikkinshō (Jikkunshō)	A Miscellany of Ten Maxims	attrib. to Yuasa Munenari
1254	Kokon chomonjū	A Collection of Tales Heard, Past and Present	Tachibana no Narisue
before 1271 (late Heian through mid-Kamakura)	Tsutsumi Chūnagon monogatari	The Riverside Counselor's Stories	(unknown, except for one of the 10 tales)
ca. 1280	Izayoi nikki	The Diary of the Waning Moon	Abutsu
early Muromachi	Soga monogatari	The Tale of the Soga Brothers	(unknown)
ca. 1330	Tsurezuregusa	Essays in Idleness	Yoshida Kenkō
ca. 1370	Taiheiki	The Record of Great Peace	(unknown, but poss. Priest Kojima, d. 1374, at least in part)
1400	Fūshikaden	Style and the Flower	Zeami Motokiyo
1495	Shinsen Tsukubashū	The New Tsukuba Collection	Iio Sōgi et al.
ca. 1665	Ukiyo monogatari	Tales of the Floating World	Asai Ryōi
1682	Kōshoku ichidai otoko	A Man Who Devoted His Life to Love	Ihara Saikaku
1688	Nippon eitaigura	The Family Storehouse of Japan	Ihara Saikaku
1692	Seken munesan'yō	Heartfelt Worldly Reckonings	Ihara Saikaku
1702	Oku no hosomichi	The Narrow Road to the Deep North	Matsuo Bashō
1702	Sanzōshi	The Three Booklets	Hattori Dohō
1703	Sonezaki shinjū	The Love Suicides at Sonezaki	Chikamatsu Monzaemon
1703-05	Kyoraishō	Conversations with Kyorai	Mukai Kyorai
1711	Meido no hikyaku	The Courier for Hell	Chikamatsu Monzaemon
1715	Kokusen'ya kassen	The Battles of Coxinga	Chikamatsu Monzaemon
1720	Shinjū ten no Amijima	The Love Suicides at Amijima	Chikamatsu Monzaemon
before 1725	Oritaku shiba no ki	Told Round a Brushwood Fire	Arai Hakuseki
1776	Ugetsu monogatari	Tales of Rain and Moonlight	Ueda Akinari
1785	Edo umare uwaki no kabayaki	Playboy Roasted Edo-style	Santō Kyōden
1790	Keiseikai shijūhatte	Forty-eight Techniques for Success with Courtesans	Santō Kyōden
1796	Genji monogatari tama no ogushi	The Tale of Genji: A Jeweled Comb	Motoori Norinaga
1797	Shin hanatsumi	A New Gathering of Flowers	Yosa Buson
1798	Kojikiden	Commentary on the Kojiki	Motoori Norinaga
1802-1809	Tōkaidōchū hizakurige	Shank's Mare Along the Tōkaidō	Jippensha Ikku
1809-13	Ukiyoburo	The Bathhouse of the Floating World	Shikitei Sanba
1813-14	Ukiyodoko	The Barbershop of the Floating World	Shikitei Sanba
1814-42	Nansō satomi hakkenden	Biographies of Eight Dogs	Takizawa Bakin
1820	Ora ga haru	The Spring of My Life	Kobayashi Issa
1825	Tōkaidō Yotsuya kaidan	Ghost Story of Yotsuya on the Tōkaidō	Tsuruya Nanboku
1829-42	Nise-Murasaki inaka Genji	The Rustic Genji by the False Murasaki	Ryūtei Tanehiko
1832-33	Shunshoku umegoyomi	Colors of Spring: The Plum Calendar	Tamenaga Shunsui