Japanese Literature Explored Trivia Quiz

Answer: Martial arts

"The Book of Five Rings" are Miyamoto Musashi's teachings of Japanese swordsmanship and martial arts. He was an expert swordsman and holds the record of winning 61 duels! He used a two-hand technique, wielding a sword of some type in each hand.
The book is separated into five small books of the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and void. He discussed strategy with both technique and Buddhist philosophies in his writing. Self-control, practice, hard work and perseverance are constants in his writings and prove valuable in today's world.

Jaknginger meditated about this question before entering into the PR Red Crew's team quiz.

Answer: Geisha

Iwasaki started her training at age 5, moving into the geisha house and by age 10 she was named as the heir and future owner. Her memoir is entitled 'Geisha, A Life' in the US and 'Geisho of Gion' in the UK. She was one of the women interviewed by the author of 'Memoirs of a Geisha', whom she later sued for invasion of privacy and breach of contract for revealing her name in the acknowledgements. She retired from the life of the geisha at age 29, shutting the house. As detailed in the book, she felt suffocated by many of the traditions, and sought greater independence.

Red Crew's pusdoc gracefully put this question into its place.

Answer: Kitchen

Mahoko Yashimoto, known by her pen name "Banana", was working as a waitress when she wrote "Kitchen". Unsurprisingly, food and kitchens play a significant role in the plot, against a background of family and love. Prior to penning "Kitchen", Yashimoto wrote a novella "Moonlight Shadow", which is now included in most English editions of "Kitchen". This novel has been adapted into movies twice, in 1989 and again in 1997.

Phoenix Rising's Red Crew's leith90 whipped up this question and baked it into the quiz.

Answer: Atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 1945

Black rain means contaminated rain, the fallout from the nuclear bomb. The story is centered around radiation sickness as an after effect of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
Masuji Ibuse was born in 1898, but he did not witness the actual bombing. It is said that he used excerpts from diaries as a foundation for his story. He was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in Japan.

Phoenix Rising's Jaknginger stormed in with the question for Red Crew's team quiz during the Global Tour.

Answer: 1Q84

In Japanese, the pronunciation of the number 9 and letter Q are similar, so the title could be pronounced 1984, which is the year in which the novel takes place. The book is over 900 pages long, and received middling reviews in the English language press despite massive advance sales in Japan and elsewhere. The storyline includes a female assassin, religious cults, mysterious "little people" and a parallel universe with two moons. As with many Murakami tales, music plays an important role - in this case the events are seemingly set in motion by Janacek's Sinfonietta. Rediscovering this piece was probably my favorite part of this book.

This question was penned by player pusdoc as part of Red Crew's jaunt on the Phoenix Rising Global Tour 2022.

Answer: Cat

Natsume Soseki wrote her novel "I Am a Cat" in ten instalments during 1905/06. The cat is an anthropomorphic cat who lives with a teacher, Mr Sneaze, and narrates the tales of life with his family and friends Mr Waverhouse and Mr Coldmoon.
The novel is still used in modern schools mainly for the archaic speech used in the novel. "I Am a Cat" was adapted into films in 1936 and later in 1975. An anime version aired in Japan in 1982.

Resident cat-lover leith90 from Phoenix Rising's Red Crew pounced on this question for the quiz.

Answer: It was written by a woman

The author, Murasaki Shikibu, was a noblewoman in the court of the Empress Shoshi, and based the novel on her experiences there. Genji is part of court life, with all its intrigues, under the Emperor Kiritsubo. He marries three times, has numerous affairs, and his status in the society rises and falls regularly.
When he dies, the novel continues, with several chapters devoted to his descendants.
The book is considered by some scholars as the first ever novel in the world, and has been translated many times. It has 54 chapters and is about 65 pages in length.

This question was delicately placed into the quiz by ozzz2002.

Answer: Go

"The Master of Go" was initially published in serial form in 1951, then as a semi-fictional novel in 1954. It wasn't published in English until 1972. It follows a match between Honinbo Shusai - a master - and Minoru Kitani - a rising star, and the game is played out in the book, as it occurred in life. The novel touches on various themes, older player versus younger challenger, the conflict of generations and how life changes with time. Kawabata considered this to be his finest work.

Red Team's smpdit has never played go, but can do fairly well at mahjong.

Answer: Young master

Botchan is a teacher and the narrator of the story, which is set in a school and is a tale of young rebellion written in a humorous style. Having had a lively youth himself, the events that the reader is shown at the middle school prove to be traumatic for Botchan, with entertaining clashes between himself, (a newly employed teacher) and the students. The wrong answers are translations of some of the other characters' names.

Smpdit adds another book to her 'to be read' pile.

Answer: Swordsman

The book was released in Japan in 1935, but was not translated into English until 1981. Musashi was a heroic figure who was born in 1584, and he won every duel he contested.
He devised the swordfighting style of Niten Ichi-ryū ("the school of the strategy of two heavens as one"). He also wrote 'The Book of Five Rings', a manual about martial arts, and 'The Path of Aloneness', a short philosophical book, written just prior to his death in 1645.

This question was cut into the quiz by ozzz2002.