Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan (Hardcover)

by Richard Gordon Smith (Author)
Key Phrases: shito dama, golden hairpin, white saké, Hojo Takatoki, Lake Biwa, Princess Aya (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"This is a memorable collection of historical legends and folktales from Japan. Nearly all of them are set in a well-defined time and place, instead of 'once upon a time.' Themes include ghosts; unrequited love across social boundaries; Shinto landscape, tree and ocean spirits; and tales driven by Bushido and Buddhist ethics. Not a few of these yarns end up with someone committing Seppuku.

Smith does not try to dress up the language or narrative for westerners, or sentimentalize the stories. Instead, he tells each story very literally, even when they include supernatural elements. The result is an anthology of Japanese 'magical realist' tales which contemporary readers will find appealing.

Each chapter, with one exception, is illustrated by one or more colorful plates done in a typical 19th century Japanese style[.]" (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

About the Author

"Richard Gordon Smith (1858-1918) was an English animal hunter who earlier had spent time in France, Canada, and Norway. He had a falling out from his wife of eighteen years and, as divorce at the time was neither desirable nor respectable, he left to travel full-time, first-class. Throughout his travels he kept a series of eight large leather-bound diaries emblazoned with exotic illustrations and filled with mementoes from all over the world. After Ceylon and Burma, he arrived in Nagasaki harbor on Christmas Eve 1897. He left Japan in February 1900, heading back to England via New Guinea and Fiji, but he came down with a fever and abandoned the trip, returning to Japan instead. Gordon Smith did go back to England briefly in 1903, returning to Japan that year via Singapore and China. Later he left from Kobe, again to England via Ceylon, in early 1905. He was back in Kyoto by the year's end. Transcribing folktales and myths ever more in his diaries, he also collected some mammals fo --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: Hotho & Co (1918)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0946495785
• ISBN-13: 978-0946495788
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,652,453 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tales from another land (from me), May 2, 2001

By	Jeffry J. Brickley (Las Cruces, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This book offers you an interesting look into the stories that are told around the land. These stories come from various regions and the author is nice enough to give credit to each and every storyteller that gives him these stories. I cannot verify how much truth is any of the folklore, but it doesn't really matter each are satisfying in their own way. The color illustrations are marvelous and done by oriental artists, not western artists. Each color plate gives the feeling of a painting making the story feel like both painting and story have been around a long time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Japan or would like a slightly different look into the history of Japan. Note this may not be historically accurate, but in my opinion, the stories that are handed down tell as much about the culture as the history itself.