新釈遠野物語

by Hisashi Inoue

About Hisashi 'One of the towering figures of contemporary Japan' Nobel Prize-winning author, Kenzaburo Oe About Tales from a Mountain ‘Wonderful. I was so taken in by each tale in this magnificent collection that I found myself gasping out loud.’ Haikugirl‘Surprising and funny. A real page-turner.’ The Journal‘A stunning collection.’ Nihon Distractions 'Colorful, charming, and highly entertaining.' Contemporary Japanese Literature. ‘The real power of this volume to do good in a region still striving to return to normality is its ability to enchant and intrigue — reminding us how much more there is to Tohoku than its recent, very public suffering. This deftly translated, entertaining, yet often poignant volume showcases the region’s rich cultural heritage. It feels like a promise that a community that has survived so much will survive this latest disaster.’ The Japan Times As a young man Inoue lived in Kamaishi, on the coast of North East Japan, an area that was to be devastated by the tsunami of 2011. This book reflects the author’s own experience of Kamaishi, its contemporary history, and the long traditions of story-telling in the region. Ebullient, funny, sad and kind, this is one of the first of Inoue’s books to be available in English. Tales from a Mountain Cave is a translation of Shinshaku Tono Monogatari.

Genres: Short Stories, Japanese Literature, Japan, Fiction, Folk Tales

Tankobon Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Inoue Hisashi (井上 ひさし Inoue Hisashi?, 16 November 1934 – 9 April 2010) was a leading Japanese playwright and writer of comic fiction. From 1961-1986, he used the pen name of Uchiyama Hisashi.

Inoue was born in what is now part of Kawanishi in Yamagata Prefecture, where his father was a pharmacist, who was also involved in an agrarian reform movement and who managed a local drama troupe. For reasons which are not clear, he was listed in the family registry as legitimate. He lost his father when he was 5 years old and after suffering from child abuse at the hands of his stepfather, he was subsequently sent off to a Lasallian orphanage in Sendai, where he received a Christian baptism. He graduated from Sophia University’s Facility of Letters, continuing on to graduate school in French literature, with a two-year hiatus in between to raise more money for his studies by working at a sanatorium in Kamaishi, Iwate.

Even before graduation, Inoue began is literary career as a stage manager and by writing scripts for the Furasu-za striptease theater in Asakusa, Tokyo. It was common to have a one-hour vaudeville performance before and between strip acts, and many famous actors, including Kiyoshi Atsumi started their careers in such an environment. He wrote a semi-fictional account of his life during this period in Mokkinpotto Shi no Atoshimatsu ("The Fortunes of Father Mockinpott"). After graduation, he obtained a position as a script writer for a puppet drama Hyokkori Hyotanjima, which aired from April 1964 for a five year period.

After an initial career in radio, he wrote his first stage play Nihonjin no Heso in 1969 for Theatre Echo. He first gained literary recognition for his satirical comic plays in the tradition of the Edo period gesaku genre. Inoue has won a very large number of literary awards in the course of his career, including the 67th Naoki Prize in 1972 for his novel Tegusari Shinju ("Handcuffed Double Suicide"). He followed on this success in 1981 with Kirikirijin ("The People of Kirikiri"), which was awarded both the Yomiuri Literary Prize and the 2nd Japan Science Fiction Award.

In 1984, Inoue established his own theatre troupe, called Komatsuza, to perform his own plays. These include biographical works on Meiji period writers Ishikawa Takuboku and Higuchi Ichiyō, whom he had long admired. In 1988, he completed a comic trilogy: Kirameku seiza, Yami ni saku hana, Yuki ya kon kon, depicting the lives of ordinary people in the Shōwa period. Despite his activity with the theatre, Inoue continued to write novels, winning the 1982 Seiun Award for Best Novel for Kirikirijin, the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize for Treasury of Disloyal Retainers in 1986, the 27th Tanizaki Prize for Shanghai Moon in 1991, and the Kikuchi Kan Literary Award for Tokyo Seven Roses in 1999. In 1984, the Writer's Block Library was opened in Kawanishi, Yamagata, thanks to Inoue's donation of his 100,000 volume book collection. Inoue was awarded the Asahi Prize in the year 2000 and the Yomiuri Literary Prize again in 2010. In 2004, he was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government.

Chichi to kuraseba, has been translated into the English language by Roger Pulvers under the title The Face of Jizo.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Folktales don't appeal to me, but Japanese culture does, which is why I enjoyed reading these 9 stories highlighting the lingering power of superstition in XXth century Japan. A student in financial trouble leaves Tokyo to look for a job in the north-east corner of Honshu where he can get free food and board with his mother. His dull job at the local sanatorium leaves him plenty of time to get to know a local hermit, Inubuse, who plays the trumpet every day at lunchtime. The narrator makes a habit of spending his lunch break with Inubuse, who lives in a cave. Inubuse treats his guest to all sorts of supernatural tales where humans morph into animals and/or have sexual intercourse with animals, especially foxes and horses. At times Inubuse seems to be clearly pulling the student's leg, but in the last story he turns into a fox himself, with the student concluding: "If you were a fox, then it all makes sense." One take-away from this is that this volume is meant to emphasize not only the gap between rural and urban Japan but also the enduring presence of myth under the surface of daily life.

[Jia Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminds me of the classic Chinese stories 聊斋志异 (Liao Zhai Zhi Yi)that I used to read when I was a kid. It has similar themes like human greed, lust , selfishness, sacrifice, mistrust mixed with elements of fox and other animal spirits and ghosts etc. Individual chapters are short stories that tells the encounters of Inubuse (one of the protagonist in this novella) in his earlier life. There seemed to be a moral lessons to be learnt from each of the chapters which let the readers to think about.
Overall, it was an entertaining read, but I much prefer the expansive work of the more classic Chinese equivalent.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very weird and wonderful book. I picked it up at Marylebone library because I'm always interested in books in translation.

This book comprises stories within a story so was easy to pick up and put down. They reminded me of Grimm's fairytales, but the Japanese equivalent. Most of them were humorous and there was usually some kind of lesson to be learned. If you're interested in Japanese culture or folklore you will enjoy this. I loved the supernatural elements, although the sexual content shocked me at first.

An extremely memorable read.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real pleasure to read this. The work of a skilled storyteller.

[Mariana Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This small little book was a pleasant surprise for me, as I thought (by reading the title) that it was a collection of small stories unrelated to each other, told by a non-fiction kind of narrator. As it turns out these are several stories told within another base story (the one were the narrator talks to Inubuse).
I appreciated the scenarios that all these little stories gave to the mind of the reader. The landscapes sounded beautiful and the stories were very entertaining with a touch of fantasy/supernatural on them. I also loved that they would end with loose ends or with unexplained facts and that every time the narrator made assumptions (often supernatural assumptions that were hinted along the story) Inubuse never admitted them, he just said things like "maybe, maybe not".
The writing was very good too, and with a touch of humor in it.
The end came out as unexpected to me. A bit sad but also amazing in its own way.

My favorite quote lies in the very beginning of the book, and found it hilarious, specially when compared with the previous paragraph!:"“All these stories were heard from an old man called Takachi Inubuse, who lives near Tono. Inubuse is a good talker, but there is something highly dubious about him, and I myself have a tendency to exaggerate, so nothing in this book can be relied upon at all.”

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and if you are into short stories (usually I prefer the long ones) you should definitely give this one a try!

I received this book for free under the Goodreads Giveaway project.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

First Reads winner! Interesting stories, with creative details. I especially liked how the end wraps everything together. I just wish that the sexual content had been toned down. I definitely would not recommend this for kids, and not for many of my friends, either.

Strong PG-13.

[Daniel Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

An earthy and delightful collection of folk tales, alternately mysterious and sad and laugh-out-loud funny. (Bonus: all royalties and translation fees for this book go toward post-tsunami relief efforts in Iwate.)