The Forgotten Japanese: Encounters with Rural Life and Folklore

by Tsuneichi Miyamoto, Jeffrey Irish

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933330808
Publisher:	Stone Bridge Press
Publication date:	03/01/2010
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Tsuneichi Miyamoto (1907-81) was a a leading scholar of Japanese folklore and customs. He walked over 160,000 kilometers through rural Japan, collecting the songs, stories, and images of a dying way of life, and was an advocate of social and economic invigoration of rural Japan. Jeffrey Irish is a scholar and translator who has long been immersed in life in rural Japan. A contributing editor to the Kyoto Journal, Irish has been a columnist for a Japanese newspaper for seven years and is the author of the Japanese-language books Prewar Kagoshima and Island Life. He was recently elected "mayor" of his 28-person village.

Table of Contents

Translator's Introduction 7

Author's Preface 14

Part 1 Life Stories

1 Meetings 21

2 Folksongs 30

3 Grandpa Kajita Tomigor&obar; 41

4 Nagura Talk 58

5 Women's Society 90

6 Tosa Genji 108

7 My Grandfather 128

8 The Worldly (I): Masuda Itar&obar; 145

9 The Worldly (II): Sakon Kumata 161

10 Literate Transmitters (I): Tanaka Umeji 178

11 Literate Transmitters (II): Takagi Seiichi 195

Part 2 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

Editorial Reviews

"Though largely unknown in the West, Miyamoto Tsuneichi (1907-81) was a pioneering figure in the field of Japanese folklore studies, on a par with the legendary Yanagita Kunio. Fishermen, farmers, and itinerant peddlers regaled him with tales of local legends, sex, violence, natural disasters, and folk religion. Translator [Jeffrey] Irish, a resident of a rural Japanese village himself, brings a deft touch to the translation."—Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries


"Though largely unknown in the West, Miyamoto Tsuneichi (1907-81) was a pioneering figure in the field of Japanese folklore studies, on a par with the legendary Yanagita Kunio. Fishermen, farmers, and itinerant peddlers regaled him with tales of local legends, sex, violence, natural disasters, and folk religion. Translator [Jeffrey] Irish, a resident of a rural Japanese village himself, brings a deft touch to the translation."—Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

From the Publisher