Why read The Legends of Tono?

Book cover of The Legends of Tono

Book description

In 1910, when Kunio Yanagita (1875-1962) wrote and published The Legends of Tono in Japanese, he had no idea that 100 years later, his book would become a Japanese literary and folklore classic. Yanagita is best remembered as the founder of Japanese folklore studies, and Ronald Morse transcends time to…

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Mythology

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Legends of Tono as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rob Goss

Author

This book might be light (my battered copy is only 83 pages), but it contains over 100 fascinating folk tales, all of which were collected by folklorist Kunio Yanagita from villagers in rural Tono in northern Japan in the early 1900s.

From a tragic tale about a farmer’s daughter who fell in love with a horse to stories about mythical creatures, the book shines a light on the fascinating superstitions and lore that were once part of the fabric of rural life in Japan.

From Rob's list on get a deeper understanding of Japan.