Full Description
A groundbreaking document of rural Japanese life, stories, and traditions from 1850-1960.
Tsuneichi Miyamoto (1907-1981), a leading Japanese folklore scholar and rural advocate, walked 160,000 kilometers to conduct interviews and capture a dying way of life. This collection of photos, vignettes, and life stories from pre- and postwar rural Japan is the first English translation of his modern Japanese classic. From blowfish to landslides, Miyamoto's stories come to life in Jeffrey Irish's fluid translation.
Contents
Contents
Translator's Introduction 7
Author's Preface 14
Part One Life Stories
I Meetings 21
2 Folksongs 30
3 Grandpa Kajita Tomigoro 41
4 Nagura Talk 58
5 Women's Society 90
6 Tosa Genji 108
7 My Grandfather 128
8 The Worldly (I): Masuda Itaro 145
9 The Worldly (II): Sakon Kumata 161
1O Literate Transmitters (I): Tanaka Umeji 178
11 Literate Transmitters (II): Takagi Seiichi 195
Part Two Village Stories
12 The Child Hunt 213
13 Tosa Terakawa Night Tale 217
14 Village Meetings 226
15 The Story of Kawame 237
16 Totsukawa Landslide 264
17 Birth of New Totsukawa Village 281
18 The Wanderers' Family Tree 285
Glossary 305
