The Society for Japanese Studies

Japan's Folk Tale Boom

Author(s): Fanny Hagin Mayer
Source: Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter, 1978), pp. 215-224
Published by: The Society for Japanese Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/132081
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 Review Section 215

FANNY HAGIN MAYER

Japan's Folk Tale Boom

Folk tales have long been orally transmitted within families In Japan
and can still be heard in outlying regions and on little offshore
islands. The collection and publication of these mukashibanashi is
now thriving and is an activity that deserves the attention of Western
Japanologists. The movement to collect these folk tales is not new,
but it was slowed down in the years before and during World War
Two, eventually coming to a halt because of restrictions and short-
ages. For a period after the close of the war, times were still too
difficult for such work, but interest in it was not lost, and in the last
few decades well over 100 new collections have been made and this
number is growing each year.
In reviewing these efforts, there are several matters of note. The
first is the wide geographical range which the collections represent:
they cover 27 prefectures and Hokkaido from Amami Oshima in the
southwest to Hokkaido to the northeast. The second is the large
number of people engaged in the work of collecting. Forty-three
collectors are represented in the six series I shall mention. Third, we
should recognize the significance of the folk tale in the minds of the
writers and the reading public. Finally, I am restricting my discus-
sion here to the materials most accessible abroad, but this does not
imply that other collections are of any less value.
Miraisha launched its series, Nihon no mukashibanashi, in 1957
with a collection by Mizusawa Ken'ichi of Nagaoka, Niigata prefec-
ture. This may no longer seem current, but in actuality the series
continued until 1969 when the thirteenth volume was published.
Four of its contributors were experienced collectors, but the volume
by Takeda Akira1 was newly collected material. Noda Tayako's
collection2 was used in manuscript form under the title of Gonohe
mukashibanashi by Yanagita Kunio in his Nihon mukashibanashi
meii3 and by Seki Keigo in his Nihon mukashibanashi shusei,4 the

1. TakedaAkira, ed., Sorae baku-baku,Nihon no mukashibanashi,No. 11. To-

kyo: Miraisha, 1965.
2. Noda Tayoko, Tekkiriane sama, Nihon no mukashibanashi,No. 7. Tokyo:
Miraisha, 1958.
3. Yanagita Kunio, supervisor, Nihon H6s6 Shuppan Ky6kai, ed., Nihon
mukashibanashimeii. Tokyo: Nihon Hoso ShuppanKy6kai, 1948;new edition, 1971.
4. Seki Keigo, Nihon mukashibanashishusei, Three Parts (6 vols.). Tokyo:
Kadokawa,Part One (1 vol.), 1950;PartTwo (3 vols.), 1955;Part Three (2 vols.),
1958.
216 Journal of Japanese Studies

two standardreference works on the Japanese folk tale. The other

five collectors in the series were new in the field.
The Miraishavolumes gave an opportunityfor the collectors to
write introductions based upon their field work. Plates of local
scenes and sketch maps focus attention upon the region that trans-
mitted the tales. Each folk tale represents a version recited by a
specific narratorwho is named, and usually her age and place of
residenceare also stated. In other words, these are not Japanesefolk
tales in general, but rathereach belongs to a specific narratorat an
identifiablelocation. The first of Mizusawa's four volumes in the
series was a volume of 122 tales recited by 90-year old Nagashima
Tsuruwho lived in Yamakoshi-murain the hills remote from Ojiya.5
The Miraisha books were produced before tape recorders were
readily available, and they representversions taken down by hand.
They are renderedin modifieddialect with standardJapaneseeither
in a parallel column or in parentheses. Most have a glossary of
dialect added as well.
Mention should be made here of Miraisha'sNihon no minwa
series which beganto appearone year earlier.Althoughit drew upon
a few serious collectors, the books were edited for popularreading.
No scholar was on the staff, and the series is not taken seriously by
studentsin the field of the folk tale, althoughit may have contributed
by attractingattentionto mukashibananashiwhich appearedin later
collections.
The next series of folk tales was the work of the Minzokugaku
Kenkyukaiof KokugakuinUniversity. KokugakuinUniversity has
long recognized the importanceof the study of folklore. Origuchi
Shinobu was a pioneer in the field, YanagitaKunio was a frequent
lecturer at the University, and Professor Usuda and others are
carrying on an old tradition at this institution. The Minzokugaku
Kenkyukaiproducedfive collections between 1964and 1968which
were based upon field trips arranged and supervised by Usuda
Jingoro and Nomura Jun'ichi. This series, named Densho bungei,
was a modest, but sincere effort. The Setsuwa Kenkyfukaiof the
same universityalso collaboratedwith Usuda in books publishedby
Ofusha. These hard-back editions began to appear in 1967 with
contributionsby Usuda, Nomura, and others. I know of nine such
volumes. The introductionsusually stress the relationshipof the folk
tales to family and local legends, but folk customs and observances

5. MizusawaKen'ichi, Tonto mukashiga atta kedo. Nihon no mukashibanashi,

No. 1. Tokyo: Miraisha, 1957.
 Review Section 217

are also mentioned. Althoughthe Densho bungei was not put on the
market, the Ofusha volumes are available.
In 1968 the Mukashibanashikenkyiishiryo sosho (15 vols.) was
undertakenby an editorialcommittee of university men: Inada Koji
of Kyoto Joshi Daigaku, Oshima Tatehiko of T6yo University,
Kawabata Toyohiko of Chiba University, and Fukuda Akira of
OtaniJoshi Daigaku. In 1974a second series of 16 planned volumes
was announced.6 Most of the volumes follow a given format in
which sketch maps and plates of the area involved are followed by a
detailed introduction.Life in the local area where the collection was
made is discussed along with some historicalbackground,a presen-
tation of the principalnarratorsand characteristicsof theirtales, and
problems met in the field. Following each tale there is the place
nameand that of the narrator.Each tale has copious notes to explain
words or local customs mentioned in the tale. The series is cross-
indexed, where applicable, to Nihon mukashibanashimeii, Nihon
mukashibanashishusei, and Aarne-Thompson,The Types of the
Folk Tale.7 A glossary of dialect and a phonetic rendition of tales
recorded on one or two 33 1/3 rpm discs are included at the end of
the book. The voices of the narratorsmake these tales come alive.
Nihon Hios Shuppan Kyokai began its series of Nihon no
mukashibanashiin 1972with InadaKoji as supervisor(kanshu).The
format is useful even though it does not contain the wealth of
reference material found in the Mukashibanashi kenkyu~shiry6
sosh6. It is obviously intendedfor a wider public. However, it gives
exact names of narrators,the place name for each tale, and a few
helpful notes. A brief introductionstates the circumstances under
which the work was undertakenand the usual acknowledgments.In
the explanatory notes at the end of the collection we find greater
detail, which links the stories to the locality in which they have been
preserved. A description of the topography, principaloccupations,
and the relationshipof the specific tales to folk faith, annual obser-
vances, and the like are included. The complete list of narrators
interviewed, includingtheir place of residence and date of birth, is
offered even if a tale by each could not be included. Most of the
collectors in series are residentsof the regionin which they did their
field work, and in these cases there is a refreshingfeeling of warmth
for the narratorsand their tales. There are cross-referencesto Nihon
6. Mukashibanashi Kenkyi Kowakai, eds., Mukashibanashi kenkyu to shiryo,
No. 3. Tokyo: Miyai Shoten, 1974, 207.
7. Antti Aarne-Styth Thompson, The Types of the Folktale, FF Communications
184. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia Academia Scentiarum Fennica, 1964.
218 Journal of Japanese Studies

mukashibanashi meii, where applicable, and if not, to Nihon

mukashibanashi shusei where possible.
A reprint of an earlier series should also be included here. It is
the Nihon mukashibanashi kiroku, formerly known as Zenkoku
mukashibanashi kiroku. It was edited by Yanagita Kunio and Seki
Keigo, and its 13 volumes were published by Sanseido in 1942-44.
The present edition came out in 1973-1974. The original titles are
prefaced by the prefecture represented, and two of the volumes have
been replaced. Suzuki Toz6 requested that his original collection on
Sado Island be published instead of the edited and abbreviated one
of the first series. Seki Keigo's Shimabara work was withdrawn and
a new collection from Tokushima by Takeda Akira takes its place.
This series furnished many examples in the reference works by
Yanagita and Seki. Since the books have long been out of print, the
new edition is of particular value.
The latest series to appear is Zenkoku mukashibanashi shiryo
shusei published by Iwasaki Bijitsusha. My two volumes among the
first three bear the dates of 1974 and 1975. The editorial committee
of Usuda Jingor6, Seki Keigo, Nomura Jun'ichi, and Mitani Eiichi
assures high quality for the series. This series of 20 volumes is to be
followed by another of the same length. This first series has six
pre-war titles listed which are revised and enlarged editions of works
that have also been out of print for many years. They were also
drawn upon heavily for source material by Yanagita and Seki. One
of the volumes is a printing of what was in manuscript form,
Fukuoka d6wa shu, and which was used to a great extent by
Yanagita and Seki.8 I was permitted to make a copy of the manu-
script that Yanagita had. Although there is a sprinkling of dialect, for
the most part it is in rather proper late Meiji style which provides an
amusing contrast to the earthy humor and harsh realities found in the
tales. The other item which I have is the collection by Sakuma
Jun'ichi, which he presented to Yanagita in a card file for comment.9
I saw this work in the form of cards and Yanagita's notations. These
notations have been retained, with a key to the symbols, in the
printed edition. He was interested in dialect, some elements which

8. Fukuoka-kenKy6iku Iinkai, ed., Fukuoka mukashibanashishu. Zenkoku

mukashibanashishiryoshutsei,No. 11. Tokyo: IwasakiBijitsusha,1975.This collec-
tion was made in 1911or 1912,but the collectors have never been identified.Items
were probablycontributedby studentsof FukuokaHigh School, and the manuscript
was in the hands of the local broadcastingstation for many years.
9. Sakuma Jun'ichi, Kitakambara mukashibanashi shu-. Zenkoku mukashi-
banashi shiry6 shusei, No. 2. Tokyo: Iwasaki Bijitsusha, 1974.
 Review Section 219

were unusual, and others which he considered recent additions.

Yanagita was in his 80's when he went over the cards. He was
always generous with his time for young men trying their hand in the
field and gave them his encouragement.
Although the discussion so far-representing 90 volumes-does
not give a complete picture of the situation, it should justify the
claim that there is a boom in the publication of folk tales in Japan. In
order to illustrate the type of collectors and their approaches to their
work, I will select one or two from each of the series for a closer
view.
Mizusawa, who launched the Miraisha series, might be consid-
ered a series in himself, for he has produced 20 volumes already and
is planning others. I have already written about him elsewhere, and
it is not necessary here to go into much detail.10 His approach to folk
tales was through his interest in local history, a field he still pursues.
His skill in rendering the rhythmical, musical recitation of the nar-
rator is outstanding. The pauses he marks on the page represent the
pauses in the voice, not syntax. The tales seem to flow along evenly,
just as the voice would.
In addition to Mizusawa's skill in recording tales, his notes and
reports on them show his deep interest in folk faith and local obser-
vances. His style of writing is crisp. Others would write whole pages
to cover points he sums up in a few words. I His comments are
based upon firsthand observations and at present he is sorting out
variants of several themes found in tales. He has already published
two such collections, Echigo no Shinderera (Cinderella)l2 and Kuroi
tama, aoi tama, akai tama (the "Three Charms" theme).13
Mizusawa has confined his activity to Niigata prefecture, mainly
in the central part, where he was born. In 1969 he retired early from
principalship of a large city elementary school after 21 years of
service, during which he had devoted weekends and vacations to
field work in hunting for narrators and setting down their tales. He
has received an impressive list of city, prefectural, and national
citations, but his efforts have been supported mainly from his own
resources.
For the benefit of young scholars who think that with recording

10. Fanny Hagin Mayer, "Ken'ichi Mizusawa,a Modem Collectorof Japanese

Folk tales," Asian Folklore Studies XXVI 2 (1967), 149-159.
11. MizusawaKen'ichi,Mukashibanashinoto. Sanjo-shi,NojimaShuppan,1969.
12. MizusawaKen'ichi,Echigo no shinderera.Sanjo-shi,Nojima Shuppan,1964.
13. Mizusawa Ken'ichi, Kuroi tama, aoi tama, akai tama. Sanjo-shi, Nojima
Shuppan, 1972.
220 Journal of Japanese Studies

equipment slung over the shoulder they can make one-stop inter-
views to gathertales, I will set down some of the rules for collecting
that I observed from Mizusawain fieldtripsin which he arrangedfor
me to accompanyhim. I have previouslywrittenabout the second of
these experiences.14Althoughhe had workedout tight schedules, he
never appearedto be in a hurry. Our calls were prearrangedwhich
meant they were second contacts for him. He never tries to collect
on the first round. The occasion should be enjoyable-in a relaxed,
friendly atmosphere. In spite of his preparationsone old woman at
each of two stops went into shock over seeing a white woman for the
firsttime, and she could not uttera single word of the stories she had
planned to tell! Another rule is always to have a little gift of thanks
for the narratorsuch as a towel, a fan, or a bit of ame to acknowl-
edge the favor of the tales. Mizusawa explained an old adage for
me: never visit a shrine or a benjo empty handed. He includedin it:
nor a story teller. The visits should extend over a period of time to
let the old narratorrecall tales without pressure. Using this method
he was able to draw out 241 tales from Shimojo Tomi during ten
years of occasional visits.15
Usuda Jingoroof KokugakuinUniversity needs no introduction
to Japanologists.His young assistant professor, NomuraJun'ichi,is
a graduateof the university and has been trained in its traditions.
Nomura was active in planningand supervisingstudents in collect-
ing tales, particularlyin the volumes of Densho bungei. He is a
Tokyo man, but his wife Keiko is from Mogami-gun, Yamagata
prefecture. She was able to introduce him to narratorsaround her
home, creatinga friendly, neighborlystartingpoint for him, and she
has assisted him with renderingdialect. They make a good team. He
has acknowledgedall this in his introductionsand placed her name
along with his as co-editor in Gobujiro.16 Nomura gives good back-
ground materialto show how tales reflect the history of the family
that has transmittedthem. By tracingtheir line of transmission,one
can see how they are rooted back into the past. A narratorcan
always tell from whom she has heard her tales and there is little
crossing over lines. A bride coming into a family will bring her
stories with her, but a bride from outside is always a bride, an
outsider, and while she tells her stories to her children, these are

14. FannyHaginMayer,"In Searchof the JapaneseFolk Tale," Japan Quarterly

VI 2 (1959), 175-189.
15. MizusawaKen'ichi, Akai kikimimizukin. Sanjo-shi,Nojima Shuppan,1968.
16. NomuraJun'ichiand NomuraKeiko, eds., Gobujir6.Tokyo: Ofusha, 1971.
 Review Section 221

kept separate from those passed along by the grandmother, the

mother-in-law.
Inada K6ji, a member of the editorial committee of Muka-
shibanashi kenkyu shiry6 sosho and supervisor of the Nihon H6so
Shuppan Ky6kai series, is a graduate of Hiroshima Bunrika Univer-
sity with a degree in Japanese literature, specializing in kodai setsu-
wa (ancient tales). For over twenty years he has collected tales and
has led many of his students in groups to collect them. In fact, he
even gave them credit as editors for one of his collections.17 He is an
Okayama man, and his experiences in collecting have been mainly in
the central and western parts of Honshu, but he shows a splendid
overall contact with the field, all-Japan in scope, and an acquaint-
ance with many local collectors. The two volumes he contributed to
the Mukashibanashi kenkyu shiryo sosho were joint efforts with
Fukuda Akira. Perhaps his little volume, Mukashibanashi wa ikite
iru,18 best shows his broad command of source material, his trudging
up mountain paths in search of more narrators, the value he places
upon their tales as cultural history, and his appreciation of their
contents.
A group of young men around Yanagita Kunio in the 30's have
made a good accounting for his guidance in their field work of col-
lecting tales. Several of them are still actively collecting tales.
Among them represented in the revised edition of Nihon
mukashibanashi kiroku of Sanseid6 is Takeda Akira. Besides his
two earlier collections he has a new one listed in the series. He had
contributed a collection to the Miraisha series of mukashibanashi
and his volume in the minwa series is due to be revised and enlarged
in the Iwasaki Bijitsusha series. Takeda has been a central figure in
the study of folklore on Shikoku for many years. His interest focuses
on dialect and local life in the area where the tales have been trans-
mitted. In recent years he has turned his attention to folk faith,
particularly to attitudes toward death and the souls of the dead. For
many years he was editor of Sanuki minzoku, published in Tadotsu,
Kagawa prefecture, and in 1955 he published a book on folklore in
Iyayama.19
The Nihon no mukashibanashi series of Nihon Hdos Shuppan
Kyokai presents a list of old and new collectors. It is difficult to
17. Kyoto Joshi Daigaku Setsuwa Bungaku Kenkyfikai, eds., Kii hanto no
mukashibanashi, Nihon no mukashibanashi, No. 13. Tokyo: Nihon H6so Shuppan
Kyokai, 1975.
18. Inada Koji, Mukashibanashi wa ikite iru. Tokyo: Sanseid6, 1970.
19. Takeda Akira, lyayama minzoku shi. Tokyo: Kokon Shoin, 1955.
222 Journal of Japanese Studies

single out one or two of the splendid collectors, but we should be

particularlygratefulto Asai Toru, an assistant in literatureat Hok-
kaido University, for his presentationof Ainu tales.20In his intro-
duction he expressed the hope that readerswould put away the old
image of the Ainu as hairy primitivesliving in Hokkaidoand recog-
nize them as people (hito) with splendidcharactersand high intelli-
gence. The central figure in the collection is Sunazawa Kura, a
woman who shared many of her stories with him. She had an
elementary school education and undertookto write her stories in
katakana for him. He has transcribedthese literally into the usual
hiragana and kanji style in his collection. The stories of the other
four narratorsare renderedin Ainu in katakanaon the upperhalf of
the page with the Japanese translationon the lower half. He uses
Ainu titles in his Table of Contents, but Japanesetitles for the text.
In this way he wanted to focus attentionupon what the Ainu had to
say. Asai was born in Gifu, but his acquaintancewith MiuraNobu,
one of the narrators,dates from 1951and with Kurafroma-fewyears
later. His explanatorynotes are written with the warmthof a man
who has lived amongthe Ainu for many years, not with the detach-
ment of an outsider.
The other outstandingcontributorto the series is TakedaTadashi
of Yamagata.21He is bringingto lightan amazingstore of tales in the
same area which Densho bungei introduced and in which the
Nomuras have worked. In Inada's Introduction,which is the same
for each of the books in the series, he quoted Takedaas saying that
he knew of a narratorwho could tell 2,000 stories. AlthoughTakeda
has included only 10 stories told by Sato Koichi, the man whose
grandfatherknew so many tales, three collections of tales by the
Sato family publishedby Takedaare listed in Mukashibanashiken-
kyut to shiryo, No. 2.22
The history of Japanis largely a history written by conquerors.
Ura-Nihon, the part of the conquered land beyond the mountains
"over there," has never been well representedexcept through re-
ports or diaries of officials of the centralgovernment. But there is a
deep pride and loyalty to their land in the hearts of men to the east.
Old traditions are treasured. Takeda captures this feeling in his

20. Asai T6ru,Ainu no mukashibanashi,Nihon no mukashibanashi,No. 2. To-

kyo: Nihon Hoso ShuppanKy6kai, 1972.
21. TakedaTadashi,Uzen no mukashibanashi.Nihon no mukashibanashi,No. 4.
Tokyo: Nihon H6s6 ShuppanKy6kai, 1973.
22. MukashibanashiKenkyuiK6wakai. ed.: Mukashibanashikenkyuito shiryo,
No. 2. Tokyo: Miyai Shoten, 1973, Sat6-ke no mukashibanashi,201.
 Review Section 223

presentation of Yamagata and his introduction of Sat6 Koichi.

Sato's grandfather's hanashi included stories of how place names
came about, the development of tools, and other local lore. The
value of such local traditions is recognized by Inada, and he thinks
that they should receive attention before they are lost to memory.
I should add that Inada himself presented the first volume in the
series, Mimasaka no mukashibanashi. The area covered is a valley
surrounded by mountains; stories tell of the danger of meeting with
demons at mountain passes or they picture a beautiful land without
troubles beyond the peaks.
Since I have already discussed two works published by Iwasaki
Bijitsusha, I hardly need to single out a collector for further com-
ment, but I will point to Suzuki T6zd. He was another of the young
men around Yanagita in the 1930s. His first collection, Kawagoe
chiho mukashibanashi shu, 23 is to be included in the present series.
Suzuki did field work in widely scattered areas-Saitama, Gifu, and
the islands of Sado and Tsushima. This work was made possible
with the help of subsidies, but with the approach of World War Two
funds became unavailable. When I met Suzuki in 1965, he recalled
his early days of collecting tales with enthusiasm although he is now
known as a critic and etymologist. His Tsushima work has been
included in the Miraisha series,24 the Sado Island tales have been
published by Sanseidd, which I have already mentioned, and now
the Saitama stories will be republished. Perhaps one day the tales he
contributed to Hidabito25 will come out in a single volume. His work
was included by both Yanagita and Seki in their reference works and
the republication of his collections shows their lasting value.
In discussing the folk tale boom in Japan I have thus far pre-
sented a sampling of the collections and introduced a few of the
collectors. The nature of current interest in the tales remains to be
discussed. In 1968-1969 I made a survey in Niigata prefecture to
ascertain how folk tales were regarded. I received replies to ques-
tionnaires from around 3,000 children and over 4,000 adults. The
samples were from rural, fishing, and lumbering communities and
centers of trade and industry in the four divisions of the

23. Suzuki T6z6, Kawagoe chiho mukashibanashi shu. Minkan Densh6 no Kai,
1937.
24. Suzuki T6oz, Kuttanjii no hanashi. Nihon no mukashibanashi, No. 7. Tokyo:
Miraisha, 1958.
25. Hidabito, Vols. III, IV, V, VII, and IX. This journalwas publishedby Hida
K6do MinzokuGakkaiin Takayama.Eleven volumes were publishedbetween 1933
and 1944.
224 Journal of Japanese Studies

prefecture-Jo, Chu, Katesu, and Sado Island. The children were

about evenly divided between boys and girls. Only 1.9% of the total
had neither heard nor read folk tales. The titles to stories they knew
corresponded to those now being collected. Thus the survey showed
that published collections are reaching children and also that nearly
all liked them. An overwhelming majority of adults expressed a
liking for folk tales and said that they thought they represented a
cultural heritage that should be preserved and handed down. Many
said that folk tales provided an escape from the confusion and
stresses of modern days.
Popular Kokumin shukusha (national lodgings)26 invite young
people to points all over the country and bring them into touch
with regions far from the cities. There is an increasing sentimelt
among city folk that they need these contacts with their land. The
flocks of young skiers in winter and mountain climbers in summer
are searching for the "feel" of their land. Although most village
observances continue on a local level, the mass exodus from cities to
the local regions at Bon and New Year shows that ties to them are
still strong. I believe that in the same way the folk tales are linking
Japanese to their land and to their past.
The evening edition of Yomiuri Shinbun on July 7, 1977 carried a
6-column spread by Inada K6ji about folk tales in its Culture (bunka)
section. He claims that 100,000 have been recorded to date, and calls
them a link from ancestors to the future, pointing to tales in old
literature, Nihon shoki and Nihon ryoiki, which have their counter-
parts in folk tales recited today.
In its early days the field of Japanese studies was undertaken in
the West along three lines: literature, history, and religion. It has
broadened considerably since those days. Along with statistical ta-
bles, documented books, and excavated sources, the folk tale should
also begin to receive serious attention for the insight it provides into
Japanese thought and character.
26. Tabi to Shiry6 no Kaisha, Kokumin shukusha, zenkoku han, Kyuka mura
annai, 11. Akimoto Shobo, 1969. I have the 1969 edition of what I believe to be an
annual publication, a guide to Kokumin shukusha, inexpensive lodgings run on a more
or less self service plan.