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Love Tales of Ancient Japan: 5 enduring love stories from a thousand years past, coupled with cultural commentary
Once upon a time, lovers in Japan shared tender words, quarreled, and swayed each other’s feelings in poetry. The rules of courting were different; those of marriage were primitive. Lives were shorter, meaning love burned with greater fervor.
Explore the origins of Japanese culture through a collection of stories from an ancient past when humans were freer to pursue genuine love, enriched with cultural and historical insights by storyteller Kyota Ko.
Stories
Izanagi and Izanami and the Genesis of JapanThe Tale of Takeminakata and Lake SuwaThe Legend of Ono-no-KomachiIzumi Shikibu's DiaryThe Sarashina DiaryThe Legend of TakeshibaThe Legend of FujikawaVolume 5 of The Tale of GenjiThe Story of Tanabata
Explore the origins of Japanese culture through a collection of stories from an ancient past when humans were freer to pursue genuine love, enriched with cultural and historical insights by storyteller Kyota Ko.
Stories
Izanagi and Izanami and the Genesis of JapanThe Tale of Takeminakata and Lake SuwaThe Legend of Ono-no-KomachiIzumi Shikibu's DiaryThe Sarashina DiaryThe Legend of TakeshibaThe Legend of FujikawaVolume 5 of The Tale of GenjiThe Story of Tanabata
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2026
I follow the author on social media because his insightful and hysterical commentaries on Japanese culture are just so well-done and entertaining! I've learned a lot just from watching him. So, naturally, I was also interested in reading his books about various Japanese ancient literary and cultural practices. It didn't disappoint!
This is a small collection of ancient Japanese love stories, some true, some fictional, and some even bearing the foundations of Japanese creation mythology! As the author retells these stories, he also gives commentary on what life and romance was like in these ancient times, and why these specific tales are considered important to the Japanese today. It includes excerpts from the Tale of Genji (aka, what is widely believed to be the world's first novel), as well as various ancient Japanese poems that were pivotal for any romantic endeavor.
This was such a great way to learn about ancient Japan (and even modern Japan)! The author does a wonderful job of presenting these old stories in a way that today's readers can understand and even find entertaining! I liked learning about the Japanese 'waka' poems and the hidden social commentary behind the Tale of Genji. All the nature imagery was wonderful, and I loved reading about how much nature plays a role in nearly all Japanese art. It wasn't overly technical or stuffy, and was written in a conversational tone that the average reader can find easy to understand.
My biggest complaint about this book is its layout/editing. Because of the length of most of the author's notes, the spacing on pages could be very bizarre, and it broke the flow of the book. I think having a separate Appendix for the footnotes would have made it much cleaner. There were some typos and awkward sentences, and the arrangement of chapters and headings was hard to follow, especially when there were multiple instances of stories-within-stories. While I enjoy conversational tones, this book was written almost too much in the same way that the author speaks, making some transitions and sentence structures hard to interpret in written format. It's a good book, but it needs a little more polish to be perfect!
Trigger warning for: pedophilia/grooming. The ancient world had some nasty stuff in it, but I think the author does a great job in facing that reality without glorifying it. Obviously there's a bunch of sexual themes, but it was honestly pretty mild. Not nearly as explicit as I was expecting. Metaphors are a great thing, ha! If you're at all interested in exploring ancient Japanese cultural and literature, this is a fantastic book for that! Accessible, informative, and fun!
This is a small collection of ancient Japanese love stories, some true, some fictional, and some even bearing the foundations of Japanese creation mythology! As the author retells these stories, he also gives commentary on what life and romance was like in these ancient times, and why these specific tales are considered important to the Japanese today. It includes excerpts from the Tale of Genji (aka, what is widely believed to be the world's first novel), as well as various ancient Japanese poems that were pivotal for any romantic endeavor.
This was such a great way to learn about ancient Japan (and even modern Japan)! The author does a wonderful job of presenting these old stories in a way that today's readers can understand and even find entertaining! I liked learning about the Japanese 'waka' poems and the hidden social commentary behind the Tale of Genji. All the nature imagery was wonderful, and I loved reading about how much nature plays a role in nearly all Japanese art. It wasn't overly technical or stuffy, and was written in a conversational tone that the average reader can find easy to understand.
My biggest complaint about this book is its layout/editing. Because of the length of most of the author's notes, the spacing on pages could be very bizarre, and it broke the flow of the book. I think having a separate Appendix for the footnotes would have made it much cleaner. There were some typos and awkward sentences, and the arrangement of chapters and headings was hard to follow, especially when there were multiple instances of stories-within-stories. While I enjoy conversational tones, this book was written almost too much in the same way that the author speaks, making some transitions and sentence structures hard to interpret in written format. It's a good book, but it needs a little more polish to be perfect!
Trigger warning for: pedophilia/grooming. The ancient world had some nasty stuff in it, but I think the author does a great job in facing that reality without glorifying it. Obviously there's a bunch of sexual themes, but it was honestly pretty mild. Not nearly as explicit as I was expecting. Metaphors are a great thing, ha! If you're at all interested in exploring ancient Japanese cultural and literature, this is a fantastic book for that! Accessible, informative, and fun!
December 13, 2025
It is difficult to put in words how much I love this book. I first came across the author via TikTok; I was deeply captivated by his videos that span across a wide variety of topics pertaining to Japanese culture - from Pokemon to vocabulary like Oyasuminasai to the Edo era, the author is extremely entertaining (and humourous!) thus that motivated me to purchase 3 of his books.
I was half-hoping I will be able to get a glimpse of the author's sense of humour in his books (just like his tiktok videos) and happy to say that I was not disappointed. I read his book - Love Tales of Ancient Japan - across 5 days and I enjoyed every single moment of it. I would recommend interested readers to read it over a number of days instead of cramming all at one go because there is so much depth and richness to the stories.
if you have a deep interest in Japanese culture and are wondering what books will point you in the right direction, I highly recommend reading this book, as well as other books written by the author Kyota Ko. I loved every moment of it and I will be re-reading this again.
I was half-hoping I will be able to get a glimpse of the author's sense of humour in his books (just like his tiktok videos) and happy to say that I was not disappointed. I read his book - Love Tales of Ancient Japan - across 5 days and I enjoyed every single moment of it. I would recommend interested readers to read it over a number of days instead of cramming all at one go because there is so much depth and richness to the stories.
if you have a deep interest in Japanese culture and are wondering what books will point you in the right direction, I highly recommend reading this book, as well as other books written by the author Kyota Ko. I loved every moment of it and I will be re-reading this again.
February 28, 2026
Romance, bittersweet and lovely together.
I am more familiar with the western style "happily ever after" fairy tales, but I have learned to appreciate the more mature taste of the Japanese love tales here, just as I learned to enjoy the flavors of sushi over heavily breaded fried fish-which I honestly never liked anyways.
I am more familiar with the western style "happily ever after" fairy tales, but I have learned to appreciate the more mature taste of the Japanese love tales here, just as I learned to enjoy the flavors of sushi over heavily breaded fried fish-which I honestly never liked anyways.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews