This book is a selection of graded Japanese readings written in modern
Japanese.
An excellent way to learn Japanese, A Japanese Reader is designed for
the foreign student of Japanese who is interested in attaining and
developing proficiency in reading Japanese, the style of which is in
current use in books, magazines, and newspapers in Japan. It also
includes authentic excerpts from works by 20th-century Japanese masters
Mishima, Akutagawa, Kawabata, and others.
Although A Japanese Reader supposes some acquaintance with the spoken
Japanese language, it does not assume any knowledge of written Japanese
and starts from and very beginning, advancing in graded readings up
through quite difficult materials. Learning the modern Japanese written
language is by no means a difficult task for the student of the Japanese
language as it is often made to appear. The most important thing in such
a study is to get yourself started in the correct direction--after that,
the progress you make and the eventual proficiency you will gain in
reading (and writing) the language are limited only by the amount of
time and effort you are able or willing to devote to the task. Attention
has been given throughout the volume to grading materials in the order
of progressive difficulty, though in many cases familiarity on the part
of a student with the subject matter involved may well make a particular
selection somewhat easier for him than others further on in the book.
Partly to assist in the understanding of the reading selections and
partly because it is felt that few students will wish to become
proficient in reading Japanese and still remain uninterested in Japanese
culture and cultural history, an attempt has also been made to indicate
where possible significant collateral readings available in English,
especially for some of the sections which deal with distinctive aspects
of Japanese life and culture.
- Lessons 1 through 17 deal with the essentials of the Japanese
writing system, as it is used in Japan today.
- Lessons 18 through 30 deal with building a working knowledge of
Japanese grammar and introducing the Japanese system of writing.
- Lessons 31 through 38 are selections of intermediate difficulty
and largely deal with Japanese life and customs. Included are readings
of Japanese literature, archaeology, ceramic art, painting, Buddhism,
the theater, and political science and philosophy.
- Lessons 48 through 59 are of increasing difficulty and include
criticisms, resumes, a short text from Meiji and Taisho literature,
and excerpts from important Japanese novels.
- Lessons 60 through 75 are of advanced difficulty and provided
further readings with a considerable variety of content including
Sinology, Zen Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity, newspapers, economics
and finance, and Japanese government policies.
