Ueda Akinari (1734-1809), scholar and poet, is remembered for his collection of nine stories, the "Ugetsu Monogatari," first published in 1776. It has remained among the best-known works in the Japanese classical tradition, and was made even more famous by Kenji Mizoguchi's 1953 film version.
Among the reasons for its high literary standing is its "poetic style, its eerie beauty, and its skillful use of literary archetypes." These are qualities enumerated by Leon Zolbrod in his 1974 translation of the complete work. The devices of traditional poetry and drama are masterfully employed by Akinari and the diction is of the utmost elegance.
This style has remained much admired. Junichiro Tanizaki considered the first story in the collection, "Shiramine," to be "an exemplary piece of Japanese prose, employing the special strengths of our language." Yukio Mishima found a later story, "The Carp of My Dreams," to be "the ultimate in the poetry that Akinari attempted."