While it is claimed that from prehistoric times there had been in Japan an active production and a wide distribution of poetry (folk-songs), the first collection of the “people’s ballads” appears to have been made as late as 700 A.D. At this time the Emperor, whose residence was at Nara, took an interest in literature, and during the quarter century from 700 to 725 A.D. lived “the noble poet” Yamabe-no-Akahito, and the “wise man of the poets,” Kakino-mo-to-Hito-Maro. (The god above referred to, who bestowed upon Japan the invention of syllables, seems to have done his work thoroughly.) The compilation which took shape during this period is known as the _Man-yo-sin_, or the “collection of ten thousand leaves.” The two later collections are known as _The Old and the New Songs of Japan_, and _The Hundred Poets_. A special feature in the literature of Japan is the great number of poetesses. The fashion of women interesting themselves in the writing of poetry was initiated by the poetic Empress Soto-oro-ime, in the third century A.D. The great epic of Japanese literature is the _Fei-ke-mono-gatari_, that is _The Annals of the Fei-ke Dynasty_, which is said to have been composed in 1083 A.D., and which was sung among the people by blind rhapsodists. An epic of later date, in twelve books, is credited to the poet Ikanage. The literary record shows a long series of tales and romances, which are described as possessing a graceful fancy and imagination much in advance of Chinese compositions of the same class. The theatre has from early times played a very important part in the social life of Japan, and dramatic composers are held in high honor. The first dramas written for performance date from about 807 A.D. The people of Japan have from the early times of Japanese literature given cordial appreciation to literary producers, and especially poets and dramatists. The official recognition of literature and of men of letters appears, however, to have been much less distinctive and less important than in China. We do not find record of official positions and preferments being bestowed on the ground of proficiency in philosophy or literature, or by reason of a knowledge of the learning of the past; nor have the smaller government places been distributed by competitive examinations arranged for students of literature. The distribution of literature among the people appears to have been from an early date very general, and the knowledge of the great classics has certainly been widespread. Of the methods by which such distribution was accomplished in the early centuries of literary production we know nothing. It seems probable from certain references by later authors, that in Japan, as in Greece, the rhapsodists and reciters were the principal distributors.