is a type of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese book from the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 (1603–1867), that was influenced by Chinese vernacular novels such as Water Margin

Water Margin

Water Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...

. Unlike other Japanese books of the period, they had few illustrations, and the emphasis was on the text. Often described as moralistic, the books also featured plot elements taken from Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Japanese historical literature and records. The characters often included witches and fairy princesses. They were highly intellectual and were inaccessible to most readers.

Tsuga Teishō, Takebe Ayatari, and Okajima Kanzan were instrumental in developing the yomihon. Another early pioneer of the yomihon, Ueda Akinari

Ueda Akinari

Ueda Akinari or Ueda Shūsei was a Japanese author, scholar and waka poet, and a prominent literary figure in 18th century Japan...

 initiated the modern tradition of weird fiction in Japan with his Ugetsu Monogatari

Tales of Moonlight and Rain

is a collection of nine independent stories, written by Ueda Akinari, first published in 1776, adapted from Chinese ghost stories. It is considered to be among the most important works of Japanese fiction of the 18th century, the middle of the Edo period...

and Harusame Monogatari. Kyokutei Bakin

Kyokutei Bakin

was a late Japanese Edo period gesaku author best known for works such as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden and Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki.-Life:He was born as , he wrote under the pen name which is a pun as the kanji may also be read as Kuruwa de Makoto meaning a man who is truly devoted to the courtesans of...

 wrote the extremely popular fantasy/historical romance Nansō Satomi Hakkenden

Nanso Satomi Hakkenden

is a Japanese 106 volume epic novel by Kyokutei Bakin. Written over a period of nearly thirty years and published from 1814 to 1842, Bakin had gone blind before finishing the tale, and the final parts were dictated to his daughter-in-law Michi to be transcribed...

, in addition to other yomihon. Santō Kyōden

Santo Kyoden

was a Japanese poet, writer and artist in the Edo period. His real name was , and he was also known popularly as . He is the brother of Santō Kyōzan.- Life :...

 wrote yomihon mostly set in the pleasure quarters until the Kansei

Kansei

was a after Tenmei and before Kyōwa. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

edicts banned such works.