japanese etexts available from UVa

[David M. Seaman]

     The University of Virginia Library's Electronic Text Center
and the University of Pittsburgh East Asian Library are pleased to
announce the Japanese Text Initiative, a collaborative effort to
make searchable SGML texts of classical Japanese literature available 
on the World Wide Web, at

     http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese

     The first text of this initiative is *Ogura Hyakunin Isshu*
(often also called *Hyakunin Isshu*), or 100 Poems by 100 Poets. 
Hyakunin Isshu is an anthology of 100 poems by 100 different poets. 
The poems are all "waka" (now called "tanka")--five-line poems of 31
syllables.  The 100 poems of Hyakunin Isshu are in rough
chronological order from the seventh through the thirteenth
centuries, and include tanka by the most famous poets through the
late Heian period in Japan.

     Hyakunin Isshu has had immense influence in Japan as a basic
anthology of court poetry.  Its influence has been particularly
extended through a card game based on the collection, called uta
karuta, played especially at New Year's.

     The Japanese Text Initiative edition of Hyakunin Isshu
includes versions in Japanese (EUC) characters, a Roman
transliteration, and a new English translation.  Other features of
this edition are:

     o *interactive* searching of the text in Japanese
       characters, Romaji, and English

     o an interactive "card" game, providing an online version
       of the uta karuta game

     o images of the woodblock prints in a 19th-century edition
       of Hyakunin Isshu, as well as an image from Hokusai's
       woodblock series illustrating the poems

     The interactive searching and "card" game require Japanese
client software that can input EUC code; but a version of the text
with images of the Japanese character text is also provided.  Netscape
1.1 or a newer version, or an equivalent browser, is also required.

     For further information:

                    etext at virginia.edu
                         or
                    kstubbs at virginia.edu
                         or
                    noguchi at vms.cis.pitt.edu

                                        
                                              December 18, 1995
                                                  
David Seaman, Coordinator        804-924-3230 (phone)
Electronic Text Center           804-924-1431 (fax)     
Alderman Library		 email: etext at virginia.edu
University of Virginia	         http://www.lib.virginia.edu/etext/ETC.html
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903