An Introduction To Kobun (Classical Japanese) And How To Read It. Since a lot of Tofugu readers fancy the older, traditional stuff in Japan, (and for a lot of other reasons as well) I’m going to be writing a series of introductory lessons on 古文 (こぶん) or 文語 (ぶんご), the “literary language” that dominated prose and most poetry in Japan all the way from 794 AD (Heian Period) to 1900 AD (Meiji Period).
Obviously, if you’re already familiar with interpreting Kobun / Bungo, you may not find this very useful. However, if you’re a reader who doesn’t know what a 上二段 verb in the 終止形 is, this article is for you. What is Kobun? Away. Japanese Fairy Tales. Classical Japanese works (A - F)