The well-known Japanese author, university professor and Zürich-trained Jungian analyst, Hayao Kawai, presents here the long-awaited second of his works in English. Originally presented as lectures at the historic Eranos Conferences in Ascona, this book describes five Japanese fairy tales, insightfully examined from Eastern and Western vantage points by an author intimately familiar with both.Dreams, Myths and Fairy Tales in Japan addresses Japanese culture insightfully, exploring the depths of the psyche from both Eastern and Western perspectives, an endeavor the author is uniquely suited to undertake. The present volume is based upon five lectures originally delivered at the prestigious round-table Eranos Conferences in Ascona, Switzerland. Readers interested in Japanese myth and religion, comparative cultural studies, depth psychology or clinical psychology will all find Professor Kawai’s offerings to be remarkably insightful while at the same time practical for their own daily work.

From the contents:– Interpenetration: Dreams in Medieval Japan– Bodies in the Dream Diary of Myôe– Japanese Mythology: Balancing the Gods– Japanese Fairy Tales: The Aesthetic Solution– Torikaebaya: A Tale of Changing Sexual Roles

Biography: Professor Hayao Kawai, former Minister of Culture in Japan, became interested in Western culture at an early age and spent much of his life in the role of ambassador between East and West. He first traveled to the United States in 1959 to study clinical psychology, then spent many years in Zurich training to become a Jungian analyst. In the ensuing years, he be­came a familiar honored guest at the Eranos Conferences in Ascona. Professor Kawai was the author and editor of more than fifty books on religious and psychological themes, and he lectured throughout the world. His other publications in English include "The Japanese Psyche" and "The Buddhist Priest Myôe: A Life of Dreams". Biographie: Hayao Kawai war Professor Emeritus für klinische Psychologie der Universität Kyoto. Von 1963-65 studierte er am C.G.Jung Institut in Zürich. Er ist bekannt als verständnisvoller analytischer und Sandspiel-Therapeut und Lehrer, sowie als Autor von mehr als fünfzig Büchern über Psychologie und japanische Kultur. An Tagungen und Vorträgen sowohl in Japan als auch in verschiedenen Teilen der Welt macht er auf die Gemeinsamkeiten aber auch auf die Besonderheiten der Kulturen in West und Ost aufmerksam.