Japanese Mythology

A Captivating Guide to Japanese Folklore, Myths, Fairy Tales, Yokai, Heroes and Heroines

By: Matt Clayton

Narrated by: Dryw McArthur

Length: 1 hr and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Explore captivating myths of japanese deities, yokai, heroes, and heroines.

The study of mythology and folklore is a peculiar one to the extent that we are looking into things which are generally regarded as untrue yet critically important to a culture. We are also taking on the study of the “lore of the folk”, and this faces us with the question of exactly which folk we are talking about. Japan, of course, is a single nation, but its origins are so old, and often, so fragmented, that unified mythology and folklore can be difficult to point to. Still, in all, there are some key texts, tales, and characters we can focus on which will give us a pretty good sense of Japanese mythology.

In this audiobook, you'll discover stories of mystery, horror, and romance while simultaneously learning about the Japanese culture.

Within this audiobook, you'll find the following Japanese myths and topics covered

• The creation stories
• The myths of origins
• The journey to the underworld
• The wanderings of Susano-o
• The birth of Amaterasu, Trukuyumi, Susawono, and the Leech-Child
• The story of the "Comb and the Curse"
• Amaterasu and Susanowo
• The contract of Amaterasu and Susawono
• Stories of the three most evil yokai of Japan
• Stories of helpful yokai
• "My Lord Bag of Rice"
• The story of Urashima Taro
• The tale of the "Bamboo Cutter and Kaguya Hime"
• The legend of Yamato Takeru
• Contemporary versions of Japanese mythology
• And more!

Get the audiobook now, and learn more about Japanese mythology

©2018 Matt Clayton (P)2018 Matt Clayton

interesting stories but....

japanese pronunciation needs work for japanese stories but interesting stories and voice used. good job

Very informative!

My favorite part was the story of the bamboo cutter. The other stories were very engaging and fun to listen to.

Narrator makes it difficult

The stories are interesting and intriguing mythology, but the narrator often either speaks too fast or has awkward pauses. The EXTREMELY fast pace makes it difficult for material to sink in. It sounds like he’s trying to just rush through the material. Each word and sentence just blends into the next, and chapters. It will feel like you’ll be in the middle of a story, then he just says “chapter 3, from section five. Boom, begin of story”. Difficult to enjoy, aside from mythology.

Enjoyed

I will say I fully enjoy it. I gave it 5 stars because I find it quite enjoyable and interesting. Although, that is just my opinion.

I Like It

I liked the kappa, who lose their strength when the water is spilled from the dents in their heads. I also like the idea of the mischievous tengu. Like the others I've read in the series, the book could have used some cohesion, more detail where interesting-sounding stories are only glossed over, and a little better organization.

Great Book. Weak Performance

This book is for those who want a basic understanding of Japanese Mythology and it's origins. It skims through pretty quickly but it's just the right amount of info.

I'll be reasonable in the sense that although the narrator didn't prepare properly by his sudden awkward pauses, his pronunciation shouldn't be criticized too heavily. It's obviously not his native language.

PS: Try and keep political correctness off your books

Great stories/tedious narration

The stories of Shinto/Japanese myth are always amazing and I’m happy to have a short and concise collection of them that highlights the most significant ones.
However, the narrator sounded as if he was reading this all in one take, consisting of several pauses and awkward sentence readings that disrupted the flow. It would also be nice if he could pronounce the words and names correctly.

pass

whoever was reading it was so dry it was honestly putting me to sleep and theres really not even that many fairy tales it just kind of explains them all it's not what I expected and not a great book at least not the audio version.

It is a good audible

Five starts if he had provided kanji for entries. Should be standard for reference material like this. Overall, it is a great book.

Decent telling with a need for more editing

A brief but interesting overview of several Japanese myths and folklore. However, there are issues with the narration. It feels like no one wanted to do a second take for the reading and the editing leaves much to be desired. Awkward pauses disrupt the story, especially when the narrator attempts to pronounce, often incorrectly, Japanese names and locations. Aside from a handful of grammatical errors, the stories themselves are well written and mostly well explained.

Overall, an okay pickup on sale, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it.