Japanese Fairy World: Stories from the Wonder-Lore of Japan

by William Elliot Griffis

William Elliot Griffis, D.D., L.H. D. (1843-1928) was an American orientalist, author and Congregational preacher. In September 1870 Griffis was invited to Japan for the purpose of organizing schools along Western lines. He prepared the New Japan Series of reading and spelling books and primers for Japanese students in the English language. He published 18 books on Japan and Japanese culture, wrote several hundred articles, and made numerous public lectures. It wasn't just Japan and the Orient he was interested in, in his lifetime Griffis travelled to Europe 11 times, mainly to the Netherlands. He was a member of the committee of the Boston Congregational Club to erect a Pilgrim memorial at Delfshaven, the Netherlands in 1909. In 1926 he returned to Japan to receive the Order of the Rising Sun. He died in 1928. His works include The Religions of Japan (1895), Charles Carleton Coffin (1898), Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks (1918) and Welsh Fairy Tales (1921).

Genres: Japan, Mythology, Classics, Japanese Literature, Folklore, Folk Tales, Fiction

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1880

About the author

American orientalist, Congregational minister, lecturer.

Griffis was an English and Latin language tutor for Tarō Kusakabe, a young samurai from the province of Echizen.

In September 1870 Griffis was invited to Japan to organize schools along modern lines.

Reviews

[Miriam Cihodariu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really nice collection of fairytales, although the curator's rather naive insistence of excluding anything bloody or violent or disturbing from this collected lore definitely left little room for maneuver (considering how Japanese lore tends to be).

But the result has a surprising dream-like quality, and this special vibe combined with all the references to Shinto gods makes the book reminiscent of the Okami video game. :)

It's not gory but not-yet-into-kawaii-sweetness-and-cutetsy territory, so I'm ready to embrace it as a collection of stories as close to the authentic as possible, even if a watered-down version of it.

[Justyna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice, but not very interesting

Not a very engaging collection. Some stories are interesting, but for the most part the style comes off as fragmented and a bit messy. I also don't understand the order in which stories are presented. However the introductions to some are very nice, giving a bit of background to how the stories came to be or which parts of "current" life they explain (e.g. why the jelly fish doesn't have a shell).

[Janelle]

This was too dark for me, although the author stated that he removed the more violent aspects from the stories. I was part way through a story where the heroes of the tale met a demon chef carrying a human limb to his master for a meal. And decided I’d had enough. Not all the stories were dark, but most of them were. So while it was interesting learning some Japanese mythology, and the excellent narration did put me to sleep, I decided I couldn’t face any more.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s like blurbs of larger epics, some short stories and random characters backstories put together. Don’t expect jataka tales like moral and ending to every story. This just fit the prompt of anonymous author . As the stories themselves were written or created by some one long ago . The compiles and translated by current author .

[Mary Cokenour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful tales that give insight to the folklore, and beliefs, behind the culture. The tales have life lessons, or give an understanding of the gods, demons, and the basic nature of people themselves.

[Jennifer Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!!!!

I have wanting to know where some of today's best anime started. The stories in this book are a wonderful.source.

[Aman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"These are things

An earthquake brings;

At nine of the bell they sickness fortell,

At five and seven betoken rain,

At four the sky is cleared thereby,

At six and eight comes wind again."

[Karolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook review: It's really interesting that there are so many similarities between these fairy stories and europen goid night stories...somehow these stories have same elements, not only in messages they send but also in caracters and sometimes even the whole stories match western civilisation traditional stories.

[A.B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book for research and found myself falling into the stories - reading them for the fun of it. Japan has such an amazing mythos.

[Anja Fruelund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine collection of fairy tales and mythology, very entertaining.