Speaker:    Yasushi Oki,  Emeritus Professor

Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo

Moderator:  Wei-Hung Yen,  Professor and Chair

Department of Chinese Literature,  National Cheng Kung University

Among the many literary genres that flourished during Japan's Edo period (1603–1868), sharebon ("books of wit and fashion") occupies a distinctive place in urban popular literature. Set primarily in the pleasure quarters, these witty and sophisticated works center on the conversations and social encounters between patrons and courtesans, offering vivid portrayals of the tastes, manners, and everyday life of Edo's vibrant urban society. More than popular entertainment, sharebon provides valuable insights into the aesthetic values, social customs, and cultural sensibilities of early modern Japan.

Although firmly rooted in the social world of Edo Japan, sharebon was profoundly shaped by Chinese literary traditions. In this lecture, Professor Yasushi Oki will examine the close literary and cultural connections between sharebon and Chinese literature, exploring how Chinese texts, literary conventions, and intellectual influences were received, adapted, and creatively reinterpreted in Edo-period Japan. By reassessing these cross-cultural interactions, the lecture will illuminate the dynamic circulation of literary ideas and the vibrant cultural exchanges that characterized premodern East Asia.