Ōkagami () is a Japanese historical tale written in around 1119 by an unknown author. It covers the period 850 to 1025, the golden days of the Fujiwara family's rule. It is said to be a successor (世継物語, yotsugi monogatari) with the records of the Eiga Monogatari.
In the tale, the writer listens to a conversation mainly led by a 190-year-old man, Ōyake no Yotsugi (大宅世継, literally "world-successor"), who recalls the past. A 180-year-old man, Natsuyama no Shigeki (夏山繁樹), adds comments and a young samurai puts questions to these two elders. This narrative strategy makes the story vivid and allows for the natural addition of various opinions and criticisms.
The structure is modelled after traditional Chinese history books like the Records of the Grand Historian. It consists of Preface, Stories of Emperors, Stories of Ministers, Miscellaneous Stories and Post-fin.
This and three other tales with mirror (鏡 kagami, also read kyō) in their titles are collectively called four mirrors (四鏡 shikyō).
Translations
There are two translations into English: The Ōkagami: A Japanese Historical Tale, translated by Joseph K. Yamagiwa, with a foreword by Edwin O. Reischauer, London: Allen & Unwin, 1967. 488 pp. Reprint Tuttle 1997 Ōkagami: The Great Mirror: Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027) and His Times - A Study and Translation, by Helen Craig McCullough, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980. .
See also
Japanese Historical Text Initiative
Imakagami
Mizukagami
Masukagami
Azuma Kagami
References
External links
J－Texts (日本文学電子図書館) Online texts of the mirror books
Manuscript scans at Waseda University Library: 6 volumes (unknown date), 1891 (8 volumes, Kume Motobume)