Myths & Legends of Japan

Enter a world where the sun herself once hid in a cave, where bamboo stalks reveal princesses from the moon, and where foxes wear the faces of the dead. This collection, first published in 1912, gathers the most compelling myths and legends of Japan: the primal dance of Izanagi and Izanami stirring the first islands from the sea, the radiant fury of Amaterasu and her wayward brother Susanoo, and the haunting tale of Hoichi the earless, whose torn body plays a samisen to restless ghosts. Here, too, are stories of heroes and hucksters, talking foxes and mischievous cats, the sacred mountain that pierces the sky, and spirits that linger in fans and flowers. Davis renders these tales with a storyteller's instinct, balancing the ethereal beauty of Japanese myth with its unsettling, sometimes grotesque, undercurrents. Thirty-two illustrations bring the deities and monsters to vivid life, while appendices on poetry, genealogy, and the divine family tree make this as illuminating as it is enchanting. For anyone seeking the source of Studio Ghibli's imagination, the roots of Japanese fantasy, or simply the pleasure of ancient stories beautifully told.