The Japanese psyche; major motifs in the fairy tales of Japan

Fairy Tales, Japanese -- Interpretation : Japanese.

Orig. pub. in Japanese by Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1982, as Mukashibanashi to nihonjin no kokoro. Trans. by Hayao Kawai and Sachiko [Taki]-Reece. With a new foreword by Gary Snyder.

'The first Jungian analyst in Japan and a senior professor at Kyoto University here addresses such questions as why so few Japanese fairy tales end in a "happily ever after" marriage, and why the female figure best expresses the culture's ego and the country's possible future. The author compares Japanese and Western tales, throwing into relief the former's idiosyncratic figures and themes....Since the book's recognition by a distinguished national literary prize, Dr. Kawai has become a familiar figure in Japanese television, radio, and the press.'

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