The Clear Mirror: A Chronicle of the Japanese Court During the Kamakura Period (1185-1333)

"The Clear Mirror" ("Masukagami") is an account of Japanese history from 1185 to 1333 by an anonymous author, almost certainly a court noble writing around the third quarter of the 14th century. During this time, the military government at Kamakura controlled the country, maintaining the emperor with his court at Kyoto as symbolic head of state. Though the imperial court had little real power, it attempted to maintain as much of its former dignity and prestige as it could. The Clear Mirror is at least semi-fictionalized, promoting a picture of a court healthier and more powerful than it really was. Moreover, the work sees the court as guardian of its own traditional arts and lifestyle, and thus provides not only a history of imperial succession and other events but also copious examples of poetic expressions and descriptions of courtly traditions and ceremonies. Because of its attempt to exemplify the best in the courtly prose tradition (it is noted for its imitation of the style of the masterpiece The Tale of Genji), the work has long been valued in Japan as much for its artistic literary contribution as for its historical significance. The present translation makes available to English readers the last significant work belonging to the genre of historical tales (rekishi monogatari), another example of which is A Tale of Flowering Fortunes (translated by William and Helen Craig McCullough, Stanford, 1980).

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Introduction The Clear Mirror Preface 1. Through tangled thickets 2. The new island guard 3. Mourning attire 4. Three sacred mountains 5. Snow on the central plain 6. Descending clouds 7. Snow on the Northern plain 8. Asuka river 9. Pillow of grass 10. Waves of longevity 11. Ornamental combs 12. Plovers by the bay 13. The hills of Autumn 14. A farewell to Spring 15. Wintry showers 16. Sarayama in Kume 17. The dayflower Appendix Notes Bibliography Index.

About the Author :
George W. Perkins is Assistant Professor of Japanese at Brigham Young University.

Review :
"This is a significant medieval Japanese historical text which has been largely untouched by Western scholarship until now. The translation is very important because it substantially rounds out the availability in English of major primary Japanese texts. The scholarship is excellent and the translation meticulously accurate." - Margaret Childs, University of Kansas