The Japanese Myths

The Japanese Myths

Author: Joshua Frydman

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 2022-04-07

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0500777349

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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.


Myths and Legends of Japan

Myths and Legends of Japan

Author: Frederick Hadland Davis

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 9780486270456

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Selection of Japanese folk tales. Illus.


Japanese Myths & Tales

Japanese Myths & Tales

Author: Flame Tree Studio (Literature and Science)

Publisher: Flame Tree Collections

Published: 2020-02-29

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781787556836

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From the creation myth of Izanagi and Izanami designed to explain the origins of the island of Japan, to the hundreds of kami (gods or spirits) and monsters populating the tales, Japanese legends tell the story of the land, the nation, the people and the divine heritage of the emperors of Japan. Often bloody and fantastic, the tales are a powerful, rewarding read, gathered together in the gorgeous, deluxe hardcover binding of the Flame Tree Epic Tales series. The latest title in Flame Tree's beautiful, comprehensive series of Gothic Fantasy titles, concentrates on the ancient, epic origins of modern fantasy.


The Book of Yokai

The Book of Yokai

Author: Michael Dylan Foster

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2015-01-14

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 0520271017

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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


Japanese Mythology A to Z

Japanese Mythology A to Z

Author: Jeremy Roberts

Publisher: Infobase Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1438128029

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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.


Japanese Myths & Legends

Japanese Myths & Legends

Author: J.K. Jackson

Publisher: Flame Tree Collections

Published: 2022-04-12

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781839648892

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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.


Japanese Myths

Japanese Myths

Author: J.K. Jackson

Publisher: Flame Tree 451

Published: 2019-11-25

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781787556898

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Japan's mythology is alive with gods, spirits and monsters. It draws on Buddhist and Shinto traditions to explain the nature of the world of the island of Japan, 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 in this fascinating new book in the Flame Tree Myths and Legend series. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.


Japanese Mythology

Japanese Mythology

Author: Juliet Piggott

Publisher:

Published: 1969

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 9780600021131

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Japanese mythology is an amalgam of dashing heroes, supernatural beings and intelligent animals-of love and hate, gratitude and resentment, gentleness and cruelty.


Japanese Mythology in Film

Japanese Mythology in Film

Author: Yoshiko Okuyama

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2015-04-09

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 0739190938

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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.


Japanese Tales

Japanese Tales

Author: Royall Tyler

Publisher: Pantheon

Published: 2012-08-22

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0307784061

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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