Book for children about Shinto mythology or Japanese folklore?

Japanese Language
1

Hi,

I am looking for some reading material, don’t pay attention to my WaniKani level since I just started out but have been learning Japanese for a bit.
I love Shinto mythos and Japanese Folklore and would like to know more about it. I know a few things but I actively did not look up anything that I didn’t stumbled upon in a book/manga/anime/movie/etc. I would like to know if anyone could recommend some children books (or manga, but I would prefer books) about those topics.
I would also like to learn about history directly from books but that is still too soon (from a vocabulary/kanji standpoint).

Thanks for the help :slight_smile:

rXp

2

Not exactly what you want, but this publisher is quite good: https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/aw/d/4471103806/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thay have other books.

2 Likes
3

Try this for free (with audio):

http://hukumusume.com/douwa/pc/jap/12/31.htm

651×626 77.8 KB

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4

Don’t say that I’m open to see other things. This children books is (I’m guessing from the title) several little stories/explanations about important event or person. So it might not be mythology but there is some folklore in it and history/legend from what I can gather.
Seems really nice ! Keep them coming.

5

The audio part is nice because it is an aspect I don’t train enough outside of my lessons with my teacher. I will keep that in my mind.
Thanks a lot :slight_smile:

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I got handed a Shinto “tract”, for want of a better word, when I visited Kumano Hongu Taisha in Wakayama. I wonder where I put it…

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Here you go.
http://life.ou.edu/stories/

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8

I’m not sure they have any books about folklore, but if you’re interested in reading general Japanese folk tales, Tuttle publish quite a lot of bilingual children’s books (not all those listed are bilingual, but each book’s description/cover is quite clear):

http://tuttlepublishing.com/japan?_bc_fsnf=1&brand=9

I found this one to be particularly good:

http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/books-by-country/a-treasury-of-japanese-folk-tales-hardcover-with-jacket

You get twelve stories for your money, which is a lot more content than the single-story books. It’s also written much more densely, which makes you feel less like you’re reading a little kid’s book but also has the advantage that the English and Japanese become way less linked, so it’s much easier to ignore the English if you don’t want to “cheat” accidentally. As in, there’ll be several paragraphs unbroken, and the matching English might not even be on the same page.

If you think such dense text would be too intimidating, and would appreciate and easier comparison with the English, then I’d recommend the books with just one story.

Sorry if you were just looking for books about folklore :see_no_evil: but maybe it will help somebody else anyway.

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No worries this seems great. Folktales are always something I enjoy !
Thanks a lot.

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