Monogatari (Japanese: 物語, [monoɡaꜜtaɾi]) is a literary form in traditional Japanese literature – an extended prose narrative tale comparable to epic literature.
[1] Monogatari was the court literature during the Heian era and also persisted in the form of archaic fiction until the sixteenth century.
[2] The genre is subdivided into multiple categories depending on their contents: Stories dealing with fantastical events.
Historical tales that emerged during the late Heian period, flourishing until the medieval age.
[3] These narratives were commonly written in kanbun (hybrid form of Chinese) or wabun (Japanese).