Download or read book The Japanese Myths written by Joshua Frydman and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2022-04-07 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a smart and succinct guide to the rich tradition of Japanese mythology, from the earliest recorded legends of Izanagi and Izanami, their divine offspring and the creation of Japan, to medieval tales of vengeful ghosts, through to the modern-day reincarnation of ancient deities as the heroes of mecha anime. While many around the world love Japans cultural exports, few are familiar with Japans unique mythology - enriched by Shinto, Buddhism and regional folklore. Mythology remains a living, evolving part of Japanese society, and the ways in which the people of Japan understand their myths are very different today even from a century ago, let alone over a millennium into the past. Offering much more than any competing overview of Japanese mythology, The Japanese Myths not only retells the ancient stories but also considers their place within the patterns of Japanese religions, culture and history, helping readers to understand the deep links between past and present in Japan, and the ways these myths live and grow. Joshua Frydman takes the very earliest written myths in the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki as his starting point, and from there traces Japans mythology through to post-war State Shinto, the rise of the manga industry in the 1960s, J-horror and modern-day myths. Reinventions and retellings of myth are present across all genres of contemporary Japanese culture, from its auteur cinema to renowned video games such as Okami. This book is for anyone interested in Japan, as knowing its myths allows readers to understand and appreciate its culture in a new light.
Download or read book Handbook of Japanese Mythology written by Michael Ahskenazi and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2008-03-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published: Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c2003.
Download or read book Japanese Mythology A to Z written by Jeremy Roberts and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suitable for those with an interest in mythology or Japanese culture, this title covers: the early Japanese deities who created the world and the later deities who protect it; Kami, the spirits of all aspects of the living world; animals and mythological creatures; demons and bogeymen; and, shrines and other sacred places.
Download or read book Myths and Legends of Japan written by Frederick Hadland Davis and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selection of Japanese folk tales. Illus.
Download or read book Japanese Myths Legends written by J.K. Jackson and published by Flame Tree Collections. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gorgeous Collector's Edition. Legends of the Sea, Bells, Mirrors and Tea, Japanese mythology is delightful and enigmatic, full of spirits, gods and legendary creatures. It draws on Buddhist and Shinto traditions to explain the nature of the world of the island of Japan, the mystical Mount Fuji and the heavenly status of the long line of emperors. The warrior class of the imperial court, and the natural spirits of the countryside represent parallel and interdependent aspects of Japanese society, explored through ancient legend and folklore. Flame Tree Collector's Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction, authors, myths and tales without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new introduction and a Glossary of Terms.
Download or read book The Book of Yokai written by Michael Dylan Foster and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2015-01-14 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of all sorts haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yokai, these creatures come in infinite shapes and sizes, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Currently popular in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, readers will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries, some with original illustrations, on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture. It also invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them. By exploring yokai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity. Ê
Download or read book Myths of China and Japan written by Donald Alexander Mackenzie and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Japanese Tales written by Royall Tyler and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 2012-08-22 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two hundred and twenty tales from medieval Japan—tales that welcome us into a fabulous faraway world populated by saints, scoundrels, ghosts, magical healers, and a vast assortment of deities and demons. Stories of miracles, visions of hell, jokes, fables, and legends, these tales reflect the Japanese civilization. They ably balance the lyrical and the dramatic, the ribald and the profound, offering a window into a long-vanished culture. With black-and-white illustrations throughout Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library
Download or read book Japanese Mythology written by Jun'ichi Isomae and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the westernisation of Japan, mythological events were treated as national history. Two key documents have contributed to this history, both written over 1300 years ago: 'Kojiki', the Tale of Old Age, and 'Nihonshoki', the Chronicle of Japanese History. Both the Imperial Court and the general public searched for the origin of their identity in these documents, which took on the central and sacred role of scripture. Through the act of commentary and interpretation, the sacred books connected interpreters to their historical origins, authenticating where they came from, the emergence of the Japanese archipelago, and the uniqueness of the Japanese people. 'Japanese Mythology' explores the nation's attraction to this act of historical grounding and the varying identities that emerged during different historical periods. The study reveals that, rather than having any clear and unified substance, Japanese mythology has always been the result of a nostalgic desire to retrieve historical origins.
Download or read book Japanese Mythology in Film written by Yoshiko Okuyama and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-04-09 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cyborg detective hunts for a malfunctioning sex doll that turns itself into a killing machine. A Heian-era Taoist slays evil spirits with magic spells from yin-yang philosophy. A young mortician carefully prepares bodies for their journey to the afterlife. A teenage girl drinks a cup of life-giving sake, not knowing its irreversible transformative power. These are scenes from the visually enticing, spiritually eclectic media of Japanese movies and anime. The narratives of courageous heroes and heroines and the myths and legends of deities and their abodes are not just recurring motifs of the cinematic fantasy world. They are pop culture’s representations of sacred subtexts in Japan. Japanese Mythology in Film takes a semiotic approach to uncovering such religious and folkloric tropes and subtexts embedded in popular Japanese movies and anime. Part I introduces film semiotics with plain definitions of terminology. Through familiar cinematic examples, it emphasizes the myth-making nature of modern-day film and argues that semiotics can be used as a theoretical tool for reading film. Part II presents case studies of eight popular Japanese films as models of semiotic analysis. While discussing each film’s use of common mythological motifs such as death and rebirth, its case study also unveils more covert cultural signifiers and folktale motifs, including jizo (a savior of sentient beings) and kori (bewitching foxes and raccoon dogs), hidden in the Japanese filmic text.
Download or read book Japanese Gods Heroes and Mythology written by Tammy Gagne and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2018-12-15 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hero Momotaro, the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the Buddha are important subjects of Japanese mythology. Japanese Gods, Heroes, and Mythology explores the gods, heroes, creatures, and stories of Japanese mythology, in addition to examining their influence today. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
Download or read book Himiko and Japan s Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai written by J. Edward Kidder and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2007-02-28 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this, the most comprehensive treatment in English to date, a senior scholar of early Japan turns to three sources - historical, archaeological and mythological - to provide a multifaceted study of ancient Japanese society. Analyzing a tremendous amount of recent archaeological material and synthesizing it with a thorough examination of the textual sources, Professor Kidder locates Yamatai in the Yamato heartland, in the southeastern part of the Nara basin. He describes the formation in the Yayoi period of pan-regional alliances that created the reserves of manpower required to build massive mounded tombs. It is this decisive period, at the end of the Yayoi and the beginning of the Kofun, that he identifies as Himiko's era. He maintains, moreover, that Himiko played a part in the emergence of Yamato as an identifiable political entity. In exploring the cultural and political conditions of this period and identifying the location of Yamatai as Himiko's area of activity, Kidder considers the role of magic in early Japanese society to better understand why an individual with her qualifications reached such a prominent position. He enhances Himiko's story with insights drawn from mythology, turning to a body of commentary for explanations buried deep in mythological stories and the earliest descriptions. Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai is required reading for Japan historians as well as scholars with an interest in literature and art history during this formative stage in Japan's past.
Download or read book Handbook of Japanese Mythology written by Michael Ashkenazi and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2003-11-05 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introductory guide to the mythology of Japan—one of the most pervasive yet least understood facets of Japanese culture. Handbook of Japanese Mythology makes it easy to travel this vast yet little-known mythological landscape. The book reveals the origins of Japan's myths in the very different realms of Buddhism, Shinto, and folklore, and explores related mythologies of the Ainu and Okinawan cultures and recent myths arising from Japan's encounters with modernization. It then offers vivid retellings of the central Shinto and Buddhist myths, plus descriptions of major historical figures, icons, rituals, and events. For students or long-time enthusiasts, it is the ideal guide for investigating Japanese reverence for the sun, the imperial family, and the virtues of purity and loyalty. Readers will also learn why sumo wrestlers stomp before each match, how a fussy baby creates thunder, why Japan has a god for soccer, and much more.
Download or read book Tales of Japan written by Chronicle Books and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2019-06-18 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A goblin with no body and a monster with no face. A resourceful samurai and a faithful daughter. A spirit of the moon and a dragon king. This collection of 15 traditional Japanese folktales transports readers to a time of adventure and enchantment. Drawn from the works of folklorists Lafcadio Hearn and Yei Theodora Ozaki, these tales are by turns terrifying, exhilarating, and poetic. • Striking illustrations by contemporary Japanese artist Kotaro Chiba • Special gift edition features an embossed, textured case with metallic gold ink, and a satin ribbon page marker • Part of the popular Tales series, featuring Nordic Tales, Celtic Tales, Tales of India, and Tales of East Africa Fans of Ghostly Tales, and Japanese Notebooks will love this book. This book is ideal for: • Fans of fairytales, folklore, ghost stories, Greek mythology, roman mythology, Chinese mythology, and Celtic mythology • Anyone interested in Japan's history books and culture studies • People of Japanese heritage • Collectors of illustrated classics
Download or read book Yurei Attack written by Hiroko Yoda and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2012-12-10 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yurei Attack! is a nightmare-inducing one-stop guide to Japan's traditional ghosts and spirits. Surviving encounters with angry ghosts and sexy spectres. Haunted places. Dangerous games and how to play them. And more importantly, a guided tour of what awaits in the world of the dead. Yurei is the Japanese word for "ghost." It's as simple as that. They are the souls of dead people, unable--or unwilling--to shuffle off this mortal coil. Yurei are many things, but "friendly" isn't the first word that comes to mind. Not every yurei is dangerous, but they are all driven by emotions so uncontrollably powerful that they have taken on a life of their own: rage, sadness, devotion, a desire for revenge, or even the firm belief that they are still alive. This book, the third in the authors' bestselling Attack! series, after Yokai Attack! and Ninja Attack! gives detailed information on 39 of the creepiest yurei stalking Japan, along with detailed histories and defensive tactics should you have the misfortune to encounter one. Japanese ghosts include: Oiwa, The Horror of Yotsuya Otsuyu, The Tale of the Peony Lantern The Lady Rokujo, The Tale of Genji Isora, Tales of Moonlight and Rain Orui, The Depths of Kasane Book 3 of 3 in the Yokai Attack! series. Others include Ninja Attack! and Yokai Attack!.
Download or read book Heroic with Grace written by Chieko Irie Mulhern and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 1991-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the lives and times of eight Japanese women who epitomize the tragedies and triumphs of eight characteristically female roles. In examining the lives of Empress Jingu (mythological), Jito Tenno Murasaki Shikibu, Tomoe Gozen (twelfth century), Hojo Masako, Hani Motoko, Takamine Hideko, and Ariyoshi Sawako, the contributors provide a mosaic of Japanese history and culture that encompasses issues of women's status in various stages of Japanese history, the social climate conducive to positive female roles, the concept of Japanes womanhood in relation to the male hero types of each age, and the popular need for strong female figures. It is the examination of the legends that have accured to the historical presence of these women that sets this book apart.
Download or read book Japan s Emergence as a Modern State written by E. Herbert Norman and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1940 by the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR), this classic work by a leading 20th-century Japanologist has an enduring value. Japan's Emergence as a Modern State examines the problems and accomplishments of the Meiji period (1868-1912).This edition includes forewords by: R. Gordon Robertson, a former member of the Canadian Department of External Affairs; Len Edwards, the present Canadian ambassador to Japan; and William L. Holland, former secretary-general of the IPR; as well as a preface and introduction by Lawrence Woods. Also included are 10 short essays by leading Canadian, Japanese, and American scholars of Japanese politics, history, and economics,
