Do Now
On your own OR with a neighbor, discuss the following
questions about last night’s reading:
What does “the lost home” refer to?
2. What is Kobayashi suggesting that his readers do?
3. What is “Japanese” about this piece? What is universal?
1.
 In your email, you will receive two texts depicting the
late / post-war experience in Japan, written by
childhood survivors:
 Manga: Barefoot Gen
 Novel excerpt: Grave of the Fireflies
 Select one of the two texts, and follow the provided
instructions to complete a summary and a brief writing
assignment. The anime film of Barefoot Gen will also be
made available. The film Grave of the Fireflies is not
interchangeable with the above text (it’s different) – we
will discuss the film in class next week.
 Hideo Kobayashi: “Literature of the Lost Home” (1933)
• Written during the Interwar years.
• What does “the lost home” refer to?
• What is Kobayashi suggesting that his readers do?
• What is “Japanese” about this piece? What is universal?
“History seems always and inexorably to destroy tradition.
And individuals, as they mature, seem always and inexorably
to move toward its true discovery.”
Homework Share: What does “Literature of a Lost Home” suggest
about an ‘essential’ Japanese cultural or literary identity?
Kobayashi brings up the topics of Westernization,
tradition versus progress, generational differences,
and changing definitions of the Japanese identity.
All of these topics come into play in the period
immediately following Kobayashi’s essay, as Japan
becomes a central participant in the Pacific War.
The next several class sessions will focus on
literature concerning the Pacific War experience
– we will examine several kinds of media which
all portray different aspects of the effects of the
war; our focus will be less on the war itself, but
instead on the postwar experience.
 Author: Osamu Dazai (OH-sah-mooh Dah-ZAI)
 Title: “December 8th” (Juunigatsu Youka)
 Written in 1942
In your notebooks:
Summary
One-two central quotes
What is interesting or surprising about Dazai’s
writing? (Respond in a complete paragraph).