Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

12 results found

Mishima, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Mishima, Yukio yoo´k msh´mä [key], 1925–70, Japanese author, b. Tokyo. His original name was Kimitake Hiraoka and he was born into a samurai family. Mishima wrote novels, short stories,...

Mishima

(Encyclopedia)Mishima m´shmä [key], city (1990 pop. 105,418), Shizuoka prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. It is a hot-spring resort, a transportation hub, and a center for dairy processing and mechanical, tex...

Hatoyama, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Hatoyama, Yukio yoo´k hät´yämä [key], 1947–, Japanese politician, grad. Tokyo Univ. (B.S., 1969), Stanford (Ph.D, 1976). Though his grandfather was Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama and hi...

Ozaki, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Ozaki, Yukio yoo´k zä´k [key], 1859–1954, Japanese statesman, the outstanding liberal of late 19th-century and early 20th-century Japan. A newspaper editor, he helped Okuma form the Kai...

Kawabata, Yasunari

(Encyclopedia)Kawabata, Yasunari yäsoonä´r käwä´bätä [key], 1899–1972, Japanese novelist. His first major work was The Izu Dancer, (1925). He came to be a leader of the school of Japanese writers that...

Kan, Naoto

(Encyclopedia)Kan, Naoto, 1946–, Japanese political leader, grad. Tokyo Institute of Technology (1970). A civic activist and long-time opponent of the Liberal Democratic party, he first was elected to the Diet in...

hara-kiri

(Encyclopedia)hara-kiri här´-kr´, hr´– [key] [Jap.,=belly-cutting], the traditional Japanese form of honorable suicide, also known by its Chinese equivalent, seppuku. It was practiced by the Japanes...

Japanese literature

(Encyclopedia)Japanese literature, literary works produced in the language of the islands of Japan. See also Asian drama. Earliest Writings Although Japanese and Chinese are different languages, the Japanese borrow...

Asian drama

(Encyclopedia)Asian drama, dramatic works produced in the East. Of the three major Asian dramas—Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese—the oldest is Sanskrit, although the dates of its origin are uncertain. See also Sansk...

directing

(Encyclopedia)directing, the art of leading dramatic performances on the stage or in films. The modern theatrical director is in complete charge of all the artistic aspects of a dramatic presentation. It is the dir...

Browse by Subject