A tragic narrative for women persists even as times change
A Heian Period text reads, "Ladies must often depend on men who are nothing to them — it is the way of the world." In Japanese literature, not much has changed.
Fumio Niwa's 'The Buddha Tree' vibrates between spiritual and material worlds
Fumio Niwa's 1955-56 novel (translated in 1966) centers on the conflict between the spiritual and material worlds, vying in this instance for the soul and integrity of Soshu, a corrupted and conflicted Buddhist priest. While he dispenses spiritual advice to members of his congregation, ...
