The period from the early part of the 14th century to the opening of the 17th is generally regarded as the dark age of Japanese literature. The constant wars of the time left their impress upon everything. To them is due the fact that the two principal works compiled during this epoch were, one political, the other quasi-historical. In the former, _Jinkoshoto-ki (History of the True Succession of the Divine Monarchs)_, Kitabatake Chikafusa (1340) undertook to prove that of the two sovereigns then disputing for supremacy in Japan, Go-Daigo was the rightful monarch; in the latter, _Taihei-ki (History of Great Peace)_, Kojima (1370) devoted his pages to describing the events of contemporaneous history. Neither work can be said to possess signal literary merit, but both had memorable consequences. For the _Jinkoshoto-ki_, by its strong advocacy of the mikado's administrative rights as against the usurpations of military feudalism, may be said to have sowed the seeds of Japan's modern polity; and the _Taihei-ki_, by its erudite diction, skilful rhetoric, simplification of old grammatical constructions and copious interpolation of Chinese words, furnished a model for many imitators and laid the foundations of Japan's 19th-century style. The _Taihei-ki_ produced another notable effect; it inspired public readers who soon developed into historical _raconteurs_; a class of professionals who are almost as much in vogue to-day as they were 500 years ago. Belonging to about the same period as the _Jinkoshoto-ki_, another classic occupies a leading place in Japanese esteem. It is the _Tsure-zure-gusa (Materials for Dispelling Ennui)_, by Kenko-boshi, described by Mr Aston as "one of the most delightful oases in Japanese literature; a collection of short sketches, anecdotes and essays on all imaginable subjects, something in the manner of Selden's _Table Talk_." The Drama.