The Otogiboko

By Yoshiko Dykstra

The Otogibōko is a collection of 65 fictional tales -written in 1666 by Asai Ryōi (d. 1691), an acclaimed writer of kanazōshi (prose literature). Asai adopted most of these stories from Chinese and Korean texts and then shaped them for the Otogibōko's didactic Buddhist framework. In some tales he replaced historical contexts and names of places and people with ones familiar to his Japanese contemporaries. Asai embellished the Otogibōko with waka poems, giving it an elegance reminiscent of Heian-period romantic fiction. With this new English translation of the Otogibōko, today's readers can enjoy the later work of Japan's finest writer of kanazōshi. The Otogibōko will be of interest to scholars of Edo-period history and religion and to folklorists.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0917880056
• ISBN13: 9780917880056
• Release Date: December 2014
• Publisher: Kanji Press
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"