Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent work on earliest royal history
Joan Piggots' scholarship is excellent. Pulling from a wide array of sources, covering everything from shipping tags attached to merchandise delivered in payment of tribute to the quasi-legendary early chronicles, to written works of law, literature, and religion, archaelogical artefacts and tomb burials, as well as previous works of historical scholarship, she presents an exhaustive and authoritative analysis of a frequently overlooked period in Japanese history, the 3rd through 8th centuries.

Piggott's work focuses on the emergence of the nascent Japanese nation-state, from its indigenous roots with a tennou ('sovereign' ) who was a chief among clans to its period of heavy Chinese borrowing and transformation into a 'modern' (for the era) nation headed up by a Chinese-style Emperor. Adopting a metaphor of archaeological trenches, she describes and analyzes seven major periods of development, discusses the various problems associated with research in that particular period, the known information, and conflicting points of view, while cogently and persuasively arguing her own viewpoint.

Her historical scholarship is impeccable and her writing style is clear and readable -- a great boon to anyone who has wrestled with some of the more obscure writings on the same topic. In short, she makes a significant addition to body of knowledge in the English language regarding a little known era of Japanese history.

Excellent
It is rare to find a work that is both good history and well written; Piggot's examination of the emergence of kingship in a country where 'the gods have not yet died' is an important expansion of our understanding of archaic Japan in particular and sacral kingship in general. ... Read more

Book Description
This book examines the haunting, sad, and lovely depths of the Japanese soul by studying their idiosyncratic figures: terrible women who eat people, obscene escapes from the Oni monsters, brother-sister bonds, undersea dragon palaces, movements between "worlds". We learn why so few tales end in a "happily-ever-after" marriage, and why the female figure best represents the culture's ego and possible future.

Prof. Kawai, the first Jungian analyst in Japan, has received many honors including distinguished literary prizes for this book. He now holds a most senior position in the Ministry of Culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Exploring the Japanese people through Fairy Tales
Much of a culture's beliefs and character are expressed in its fairy tales.They are the stories everyone learns from childhood, and the motifs teach children society's moral code in easily understandable and enjoyable parables.We can all remember the legends, the handsome princes and beautiful princess, the monsters and heroes.

For most Westerners, Japan's fairy tales, called mukashibanashi or "Tales of Long Ago", are entirely perplexing.They don't end the way we think they should, the morals are not easy to understand, and the characters behave in a bizarre fashion.Often, the moral of the story seems to be "don't look in the box".In fact, "don't look in the box" is the first theme discussed in Hayao Kawai's "The Japanese Psyche: Major Motifs in the Fairy Tales from Japan".

All in all there are nine individual themes in Japanese fairy tales identified by Kawai.For each one, she discusses the ramifications of the theme, and presents several stories that exemplify the theme.The themes are along the lines of "The Laughter of an Oni" and "The Woman of Endurance", using exploring an archetypal and reoccurring character of myth.

She often compares them with Western fairy tales, especially the rarity of a Japanese fairy tale ending with a wedding, as so many Western tales do.It is also interesting how the majority of major characters in Japanese fairy tales are women, with men playing a smaller role.This is a great contrast to Japanese society itself, and is an interesting topic of discussion.

This is a serious academic study, including graphs and charts, and isn't really a good book if you just want to read some cool fairy tales.It is an excellent resource, however, for thoselooking to explore Japanese fairy tales on a deeper level.I am very happy that this book was translated.

Intelligent, thoughtful critique of Japanese fairy tale archetypes
This translation, introduced by poet Gary Snyder, offers fantastic insights into Japanese culture as informed by Japanese myth and fairy tale. Ferociously intelligent, Hayao Kawai discusses the impact of ancient religion and the female-centered nature of many Japanese tales - figures such as the disappearing woman, the changeling wife, and the self-sacrificing older sister - will intrigue anyone who has wished to understand the phenomenon of strong female-centric anime or Manga, for instance, in a culture that has often been described as opressively patriarchal by those outside looking in. Also includes several translated versions of hard-to-find Japanese fairy tales. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very conscientious author
This work constitutes, by and large, the only complete and critical presentation of the sacred myths of the Shinto. In this book, Dr. Post Wheeler gives an accurate and complete translation of the two basic religious texts of the Japanese, the Kojiki and the Nihongi. This tremendous task was not only one of collection and translation - but of weaving all existing fragments together so that they could constitute a coherent Narrative, and as far as possible a chronological one. The Narrative is the whole story without adaptation or expurgation.
In plain and simple language, supplementary to the Narrative, Dr. Wheeler traces the projection into modern times of the claim of the "Heavenly Descent"; offers a condensed discussion of the various manuscripts that make up the Scriptures; an outline Argument of the complete myth-story whose various scenes alternate between the Sky, the Earth and the Under-World; a "Kami-list" of all Deities and Personages that figure in the story, with page references that link them to their proper episodes; and a detailed Analysis of the Narrative. 562pp. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

superb
Finally, a book about Indian myths that I can understand!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

not useful
I live in Japan and I am here to tell you that these proverbs are rarer than an uncooked steak. 80% of the proverbs my Japanese friends have never heard of, and the rest they are not sure what the proverbs actual mean. My advice is master the easier Japanese first!

Another Opinion
I just finished going through this book, and I enjoyed it very much. Today I read the other reviews, and I can understand their opinions, but think another perspective should be added. I'm sure my Japanese is not nearly as good as the other reviewer, and I don't live in Japan. Still, here is my opinion.

Translations are difficult in any language. Working on some very simple translations I found them most challenging. For example, the word Kobunboku I translated as Plum Blossom. If you translate the Kanji singularly and literally it would be Nice Prefered Wood. But if you understand the symbolic compounds it reads "The famous tree of Chinese literature" the flower of peace, the plum blossom. Most Japanese people would not recognize this literary compound. In reality no translation is perfect. In the version of one of these proverbs I have: "Fallen blossoms don't return to the branch. . ." It includes: "There is no sense in crying over spilt milk."

As far as testing them on Japanese friends, and average Japanese people having not heard them. . .would this be less common with English idioms? The South has many idioms people in the North have never heard. "He's drunker than Cooter Brown" "Penny wise, Pound foolish" I never heard till I was 40.

I would add I don't think it is a good idea to try and use these proverbs to impress Japanese speakers. Contrivance is rarely respected.

I greatly appreciated the author including the Kanji, Romanji, Hiragana, and English, and I think the book is helpful and a lot of fun to read with some nice thoughts to reflect on their wisdom.

PS: The title "IS" Even Monkeys Fall From Trees :)

Not sure about this one...
I'd like to point out before I get into the meat of this review that I am not out to give the writer, sorry "compiler" a damn good ragging, but I am not at all sure this book is as good as you may have been led to believe by the reviewer before me. OK, first, the positive points. There are many well known proverbs in this book that will be useful to anyone who is interested and each proverb is illustrated by a cartoon. So far, so good.However, I have found that a couple of these proverbs are unknown to my Japanese collegues who doubt their authenticity. For example, one of the proverbs that I liked when I first saw it is "Ke bukai mono wa iro bukai". The translation being "A hairy thing is a sexy thing". Well, if you know anything about Japanese culture and attitudes and believe me, I do! I work and live in Japan and I speak Japanese and know a lot of Japanese people, then you will know that body hair is considered to be dirty and repulsive. So how can there be a proverb like that? It stands to reason! Another example of an "unknown" proverb is "He o hitte shiri tsubome" which is supposedly a Japanese version of "It's no use closing the stable doors after the horse has bolted". The Japanese version translates as "It's no use scrunching up you buttocks after you have farted". This is more or less how it is translated in the book. It is an appropriate image, however no one has heard of that either! It is a proverb I like to use from time tio time in English but when I tested out the Japanese equivalent amongst friends, they just thought I was being rude. In fact the word "he" is a coarse word to use in Japanese. "Onara" is more aceptable, well, about as acceptable as talking about farts can be!!! When I have to explain a Japanese proverb to a Japanese person, I can only conclude that the proverb is erroneous to start with. I don't think this is a reliable book. If you get it then check out which proverbs are authentic with a native speaker so you don't end up looking stupid or intentionally rude.

Domo arigato, David-san.
An uncle of mine passed away when I was only about ten. We were very close- even today, my mother and my aunts and uncles tell me how much I remind them of him. Two things immediately pop into mind when I remember my Uncle John- first, he was something of an oddball. And second, he had a passion for languages. Uncle John could speak just about any language you could name. He was particularly fond of Japanese, and I remember him reading to me from "Even Monkeys Fall From Trees." When he passed away, I inherited his copy, and it is to this day my most treasured possession.

What of the book, then? It is really quite simple- it is a collection of 100 Japanese sayings, written both in phonetic Japanese and with an English equivalent (Example- moshi wa moshiya- "for rice cakes, go to the rice cake maker"). Opposite each proverb is a full-page illustration, with the proverb written in Japanese calligraphy. A short preface by the author is included on the significance of the proverbs in Japanese culture, and a short appendix is also included which attempts to find an equivalent adage from our culture for each proverb.

This book is a rich source of inspiration, and I have continually found new meaning in the sayings contained within. The simplicity of its design affords a certain elegance, as it presents the proverbs in a manner which stimulates the reader to find his own wisdom in them. The illustrations are clever and appropriate, and yet do not force a specific interpretation.

This book would make a fine gift for anybody, especially a child, as it is the rare sort of book that one does not merely read, but rather grows with, like a close friend. Whether you're looking for an interesting way to learn some new Japanese, or merely searching for insight, BUY THIS BOOK. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An amazing collection of mythology
I suppose that some of the work in this book, one of a 13 volume set written between 1916 and 1932 (reprinted in the 1960s), has been changed by more recent scholarship, but there is still nothing to equal this fantastic achievement. The set includes not only the more familiar myths such as Greek and Roman, but pretty well succeeds in its goal to include all of humanity. The text is extremely detailed but very readable; none of the turgid prose so often associated with academia. The volumes contain numerous illustrations, both in the text and as plates (mostly black & white.)

One of the most useful parts of the set is the final volume, an extremely detailed index, which allows the reader to pursue a theme, or even a topic as specific as the significance of belts, across all the volumes.The individual volumes do not have their own indices, but the tables of contents are fairly detailed.The books appear to have been issued without dust jackets.

The 1964 reprint, and I suppose the older printing of this volume, has 61 text illustrations, 54 plate illustrations (3 in color), a map and an index of Chinese terms.

In the interest of fairness, I want to reveal that I am selling some volumes, but only because I got the extremely rare opportunity to buy a complete set, making these redundant

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Japanese Mythologyand Archaeology
I am Japanese Archaeologist living in London. I need a help from someone who give me a advice and guide line how to publish in US my book(or article)about relationship between japanese mythology and archaeology. It means how to get a proof of certain japanese mythology(mostly shinto related) through archaeological excavation hard evidence. Please contact me if you think that you can help me in this matter. Kazuomy e-mail isSarEngland7@aol.com ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An amazing collection of mythology
I suppose that some of the work in this book, one of a 13 volume set written between 1916 and 1932 (reprinted in the 1960s), has been changed by more recent scholarship, but there is still nothing to equal this fantastic achievement. The set includes not only the more familiar myths such as Greek and Roman, but pretty well succeeds in its goal to include all of humanity. The text is extremely detailed but very readable; none of the turgid prose so often associated with academia. The volumes contain numerous illustrations, both in the text and as plates (mostly black & white.)

One of the most useful parts of the set is the final volume, an extremely detailed index, which allows the reader to pursue a theme, or even a topic as specific as the significance of belts, across all the volumes.The individual volumes do not have their own indices, but the tables of contents are fairly detailed.The books appear to have been issued without dust jackets.

The 1964 reprint, and I suppose the older printing of this volume, has 61 text illustrations, 54 plate illustrations (3 in color), a map and an index of Chinese terms.

In the interest of fairness, I want to reveal that I am selling some volumes, but only because I got the extremely rare opportunity to buy a complete set, making these redundant

... Read more