The aim of this book is to help students struggling to become proficient in reading Japanese. It fills a gap in the expanding literature on Japanese-language instruction by focusing exclusively on patterns and expressions found in the written language.

Although many pedagogical aids to learning the spoken language are available, there is very little to guide students who are trying to master the complexities of the written language. Based on the authors' extensive experience in teaching third- and fourth-year Japanese at American universities, the Reader's Guide to Intermediate...

The focus of Richard Rubinger's study of Japanese literacy is the least-studied (yet overwhelming majority) of the premodern population: the rural farming class. In this book-length historical exploration of the topic, the first in any language, Rubinger dispels the misconception that there are few materials available for the study of popular literacy in Japan. He analyzes a rich variety of untapped sources from the sixteenth century onward, drawing for the first time on material that allows him to measure literacy: signatures on apostasy oaths, diaries, agricultural manuals, home...

Widening the focus of previous studies of Japanese education during the Tokugawa period, Richard Rubinger emphasizes the role of the shijuku, or private academies of advanced studies, in preparing Japan for its modern transformation.

Originally published in 1982.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover...