Anthology of Japanese Literature

This wonderful little Penguin paperback has been in my library for some years, purchased from the greatly missed Mayflower Bookshop in Southampton. It covers many different kinds of writing from the Ancient Period (before AD 794) to the Tokugawa Period, and all the important writers and key texts, including texts originally composed in Chinese, are covered, either fully or as excerpts. There is an introduction by the editor, Donald Keene, which serves as a helpful basic guide to historical and stylistic developments. This book was first published in 1955, at which time there was very little material available in English apart from Arthur Waley's translations, but my later edition has a version of  Love Suicides at Sonezaki from 1961. Presumably much more classic Japanese literature has become available in English since then, but this collection offers so many fascinating works that it is well worth having. If you don't own a copy and, like me, don't know a great deal about this literary culture, then The Penguin Anthology of Japanese Literature is an essential acquisition.