One thing I learned about education in various countries is that there's always local literary works in any kind of forms (poems, short stories, novels, etc.) that are taught in the education system/school in the country. For examples, Americans usually read or taught in school about works of Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, and many more.
What are literary works or poets/writers/etc. that you remember being taught or learned during your time in school in Japan? It could be either mandatory by the curriculum or something that you dig and search by yourself.
I spent more than half of my education in the U.S. so I don’t know a lot but I’m doing Natume Souseki rn in school(I’m currently student). Also, I remember learning about Edgar Allan Poe in my American school
ごんぎつね -Gon, the Little Fox
スーホの白い馬 -Sukh's White Horse
Nakajima Atsushi's “The Mountain Moon Record” 中島淳「山月記」
A novel from the early Showa period.
As a student, I was drawn to its beautiful yet painful prose.
As an adult, I think the person who selected this as a high school textbook staple must have believed, “The best way to deal with naive young people's inflated pride is to crush it early on” lol.
It's harsh, but he was surely a kind person who didn't want young people to repeat his own mistakes.
I want every otaku to read this lol.
Noted, thank you!
I only remember two literary works during my student years.
・こころ（Kokoro） ー 夏目漱石（Sōseki Natsume）
・繁栄の花（Hanei no Hana） ー 星新一（Shinichi Hoshi）
ごん、おまいだったのか。
When I was a kid, Gon wasn't a hunter—he was a fox, ww
Manyooshuu (An Anthology of Myriad 万葉集) This is ancient, but it is a collection of waka poems. Short pieces.
Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness 徒然草) Written by a monk, on various topics that come up in his wandering thoughts)
These are standard works of literature that most people who receive an education in Japan will read at least once:
• Kenji Miyazawa - The Restaurant of Many Orders
• Atsushi Nakajima - The Moon over the Mountain
• Ryūnosuke Akutagawa - Rashōmon
• Sōseki Natsume - Kokoro
• Osamu Dazai - Run, Melos!
• Nankichi Niimi - Gon, the Little Fox
注文の多いレストラン
I left Japan at quite a young age, so I wasn't in the curriculum for long, but the one memorable light novel that was very popular in my school was "I want to eat your pancreas" by Yoru Sumino. One of the most popular light novel, and it has a very strong story, and a pretty emotional one as well, so the story is etched into my memory.
Japanese elementary schools used to make kids write a ‘book report’ over summer break.
Jugendgedenken by Hermann Karl Hesse.
We definitely read “おおきなかぶ” =“The Enormous Turnip” a Japanese translated version of Ukrainian/Russian folklore “Репка”in school.
We also read “Swimmy”(スイミー ) by Leo Lionni in Japanese.
かさこじぞう, a folklore involving kindness shown to jizo statures on a snowy day by poor struggling farmers.
I remember reading 横光利一Riichi Yokomitsu’s short story “Fly (蝿)” in textbook and enjoying it unexpectedly.