The member of a distinguished British literary family, A. B. Mitford traveled widely with his parents as a youth and lived in various European countries. From 1866-70, he served as an attaché with the British legation at Edo (Tokyo) — one of the first foreign diplomats to do so. During his brief stay there, Mitford lived through a period of dramatic and tumultuous change in Japanese history. A feudal nation on his arrival, Japan had entered the era of “Westernization” before he left some t...

Tales of Old Japan makes earlier centuries of Japanese life vibrantly immediate to the contemporary reader. They focus on various facets of everyday existence in ancient Japan, from numerous rituals, like marriage, to sermons and fairy tales and tales of samurai warriors. Regarded as an authoritative text on Japanese culture and literature, it greatly influenced Western perceptions of Japanese history and society for many years. Today, this compilation is still valuable for its ac...

"One of the first and in many ways still one of the best books on Japan." —The Japan TimesFirst published in 1871, Tales of Old Japan has withstood the test of time and taken its place as one of the classic volumes of Japanese literature.The book presents a broad cross section of Japanese prose-historical tales like the famous story of the Fortyseven Ronin; nonfiction reporting on marriage, funerals and the author's gory eyewitness accoun...

The member of a distinguished British literary family, A. B. Mitford traveled widely with his parents as a youth and lived in various European countries. From 1866-70, he served as an attaché with the British legation at Edo (Tokyo) — one of the first foreign diplomats to do so. During his brief stay there, Mitford lived through a period of dramatic and tumultuous change in Japanese history. A feudal nation on his arrival, Japan had entered the era of “Westernization” before he left some t...

Japanese Legends and Folklore invites English speakers into the intriguing world of Japanese folktales, ghost stories and historical eyewitness accounts. With a fascinating selection of stories about Japanese culture and history, A.B. Mitford—who lived and worked in Japan as a British diplomat—presents a broad cross section of tales from many Japanese sources. Discover more about practically every aspect of Japanese life—from myths and legends to society and religion.

Compiled by a British diplomat and published in 1871, "Tales of Old Japan" is an anthology of short stories that makes earlier centuries of Japanese life vibrantly immediate to the contemporary reader. They focus on various facets of everyday existence in ancient Japan, from numerous rituals, like hara-kiri and marriage, to sermons and fairy tales indicative of desirable traits and warnings needed in that time. From tales of samurai revenge to the plots of Noh theatre plays, "Tales of Old ...

The most famous work of Japanese literature and the world's first novel—written a thousand years ago and one of the enduring classics of world literature.Written centuries before the time of Shakespeare and even Chaucer, The Tale of Genji marks the birth of the novel—and after more than a millennium, this seminal work continues to enchant readers throughout the world.Lady Murasaki Shikibu and her tale's hero, Prince Genji, have had an unmatched inf...

Presented here in one volume are three of the seminal texts relating to the Japanese 'Way of the Samurai', essential reading for anyone interested in the Samurai culture of Japan. 'Go Rin No Sho', or 'The Book of Five Rings' is a famous text written by the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi in 1645, concerning Martial Arts, in particular Kenjitsu and the art of Zen.
 Miyamoto Musashi uses language that is as sharp and decisive as his sword - delivering in unfaltering steps the most direct ...

A lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court of tenth century Japan, Murasaki Shikibu is best known as the author of ‘The Tale of Genji’, the greatest work of Japanese literature and the world’s oldest novel. Celebrated across the world as an enduring classic, it deals with universal human concerns with a timeless voice. It preserves a lost world of ultra-refined and elegant aristocrats, whose indispensable accomplishments were skill in poetry, music, calligraphy and courtship. The nove...

This collection includes: In Ghostly Japan, Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, Some Chinese Ghosts, and The Romance of the Milky Way and Other Studies and Stories.According to Wikipedia: "Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 26 September 1904), also known as Koizumi Yakum after gaining Japanese citizenship, was an author, best known for his books about Japan. He is especially well-known for his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stor...

This collection includes: Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan First Series, Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan Second Series, In Ghostly Japan, Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation, Kokoro, and Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. According to Wikipedia: "Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 – 26 September 1904), also known as Koizumi Yakum after gaining Japanese citizenship, was an author, best known for his books about Japan. He is especially well-known for his collections of Japanese...

This is a history of the fairy tales and folklore that originated out of Japan dating back millennia. From the intro:“Pierre Loti in Madame Chrysanthème, Gilbert and Sullivan in The Mikado, and Sir Edwin Arnold in Seas and Lands, gave us the impression that Japan was a real fairyland in the Far East. We were delighted with the prettiness and quaintness of that country, and still more with the prettiness and quaintness of the Japanese people. We laughed at their topsy-turvy ways, reg...