Boldly illustrated and superbly translated,Folk Legends from Tono captures the spirit of Japanese peasant culture undergoing rapid transformation into the modern era. This is the first time these 299 tales have been published in English. Morses insightful interpretation of the tales, his rich cultural annotations, and the evocative original illustrations make this book unforgettable.In 2008, a companion volume of 118 tales was published by Rowman& Littlefield as theThe Legends of Tono. Taken together, these two books have the same content (417 tales) as the Japanese language bookTono monogatari.Reminiscent of Japanese woodblocks, the ink illustrations commissioned for theFolk Legends from Tono, mirror the imagery that Japanese villagers envisioned as they listened to a storyteller recite the tales.The stories capture the extraordinary experiences of real people in a singular folk community. The tales read like fiction but touch the core of human emotion and social psychology. Thus, the reader is taken on a magical tour through the psychic landscape of the Japanese spirit world that was a part of its oral folk tradition for hundreds of years.All of this is made possible by the translators insightful interpretation of the tales, his sensitive cultural annotations, and the visual charm of the books illustrations. The cast of characters is rich and varied, as we encounteryokai monsters, shape-shifting foxes, witches, grave robbers, ghosts, heavenly princesses, roaming priests, shamans, quasi-human mountain spirits, murderers, and much more.

Yanagita Kunio (18751962) was the founder of Japanese folklore studies.Sasaki Kizen (18861933) was a native of Tono and an avid collector of folk legends. Together they compiled and publishedThe Legends of Tono in Japanese.Ronald A. Morse was Terasaki Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently a director of the Sangikyo Corporation.

PrefaceMapJapans Traditional Spirit WorldChapter One: Biology and Human EmotionsChapter Two: Souls Adrift between Two WorldsChapter Three: Family, Kinship, and Household DeitiesChapter Four: Sidestepping Misfortune and EvilChapter Five: Survival on the EdgeChapter Six: Tracking Natures Trickster AnimalsChapter Seven: Glimpses of Modern MonstersChapter Eight: No Spirit ForgottenAppendix A: Sasaki Kizen: A Brief Biography of Japans GrimmAppendix B: Background to the BookGlossary and Topical IndexAbout the Author