Japanese Psyche: Major Motifs in the Fairy Tales of Japan

by Hayao Kawai

This book examines the haunting, sad, and lovely depths of the Japanese soul by studying their idiosyncratic terrible women who eat people, obscene escapes from the Oni monsters, brother-sister bonds, undersea dragon palaces, movements between "worlds". We learn why so few tales end in a "happily-ever-after" marriage, and why the female figure best represents the culture's ego and possible future. Prof. Kawai, the first Jungian analyst in Japan, has received many honors including distinguished literary prizes for this book. He now holds a most senior position in the Ministry of Culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Japan, Mythology, Writing

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard to rate this book. I gave it 5 stars as I believe it to be the best book one can find if you are looking to understand Japanese culture through a jungian lens. That being said if that’s not what your looking for, then this is probably not the book for you. It is dense and dry, although the appendix full of fairy tails in the back of the book which correspond to each chapter of the book were very enjoyable to read.

This book very much reminded me of Erich Neumann’s “The origins and history of consciousness” only this book was much easier to understand because unlike Neumann this author gives you all of the fairy tails/myths that he is referencing, and explains them in great detail.

[Bridgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather a dry book, but a good introduction to some major patterns in Japanese fairy tales.