A U.S. researcher of Japanese literature has published two books of “waka” poems composed by the emperor and empress of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) with assistance from his poet wife.

Keene does examine Meiji's poems and anecdotes from acquaintances in order to provide a rounder sketch of the man, but often, in the attempt to personalize him, Keene must resort to speculation ...

The Meiji era was a time of reinvention for both Japanese fiction and traditional poetry. We present an overview of the literary era and a short list of suggested reads.