Postmodernism (posuto modan shugi) is a post– World War II literary movement that both continued and reacted against the ideas of modernism. In Japan, the movement began with Tanaka Yasuo’s novel Nantonaku Kuristaru (Somewhat Like Crystal, 1980). The novel, depicting a female college student’s life and her intricate web of tastes, consumer products, and restaurants, was an original, self-aware twist on its mundane and pessimistic subject matter. Modern writers Takahashi Gen’ichiro’s (1951–) Sayonara Gyangutachi (Goodbye, Gangsters, 1981), Shimada Masahiko’s (1961–) Yasashii sayoku no tame no kiyukyoku (A Divertimento for the Kind Left Wing, 1983), and Kobayashi Kyoji’s Denwa otoko (Telephone Man, 1985) represent pioneering postmodernist works, for which they have been dubbed the “Big Three” of Japanese postmodernism.
See also MURAKAMI HARUKI.
Historical dictionary of modern Japanese literature and theater. J. Scott Miller. 2009.