Folk Tales of Japan: 28 Japanese folk tales with cultural commentary

This is a great book with short stories easy to dive into history with folk tales of the past. Love how the author brings past and present references to help reader understand the context.

This book is filled 28 fantastic tales of Japanese folklore. The stories presented are by turns chilling, funny, and sweet. The commentary following each story is informative, witty and timely. The author shares his insights into history and culture in a way that anyone interested in Japan would find beautiful, entertaining, and useful. In addition, the artwork is charming! Separated into clear sections such as "Tales of Horror" and "Tales of Wit," the author has made it easy to either read through from cover to cover (as I did) or to skip around if one has a specific area of interest. Informative, but never pedantic, Mr. Ko's voice is clear, and I would compare the commentary to having a conversation about the reading with a knowledgeable friend. I often found myself smiling, growing a bit teary, or laughing out loud at the descriptions and explanations. He clearly separates the stories from his commentary, so I suppose it would be easy for a reader to skip the commentary if they wished, but if you did that, you'd be missing out significantly. One particular comparison of a historical figure from one of the tales to Keanu Reeves was particularly memorable and entertaining! The stories themselves are, for the most part, a few pages long at most, which makes this book perfect for those who tend to read in short bursts, but I found myself sucked in and saying, 'okay, just one more...' And then reading several! I wish I had the opportunity to award the book more than five stars. I will definitely be revisiting it again. Highly recommended to anyone interested in Japan specifically or folklore/fairytales/urban legends in general. I hope to read more from this author soon!

I love Kyota Ko! If you haven’t subscribed to him on IG and/or Facebook, do it! He’s a fantastic storyteller—hilarious, thorough, eloquent and dramatic without being obnoxious, all while retaining the casual speech of a man relaying folk tales over a fire. This particular book has many short stories—only a couple pages each—that are both interesting and concise enough to read even to most children (although I personally didn’t find these stories inappropriate for most school-age children, I recommend reading through and deciding that for yourselves). You don’t need to be well-versed in East Asian lore, either, as each story includes a thorough annotation to help the reader understand things like the language, location, & cultural significance. The annotations themselves are written in the same simplistic style as the stories and are easy to understand. Highly recommend!

I really like this book. The stories are short and easy to read. It's very interesting and talks about the history of Japan. Its very well written!

Read this book! Great stories and history! Better than his YouTube channel. Amazon needs 8 more words. What else to say?

What a wonderful gem of a book! I love history and especially Folk Tales, and I fell in love with the stories of this book. Kyota Ko does a phenomenal job as a storyteller, and it even has illustrations, which I find to be a thoughtful touch and gives the reader a visual of the folk tales! I came across Kyota Ko as he runs series that explain stories and folklore online, so I purchased his book out of curiosity, and I am so glad I did! I cannot wait to share this book with my other history friends and I think my history professor at college would love this book too! 10/10, what a wonderful book

This is a good book. The stories are short, though, and there could have been more, considering the price of the book. It's still worth it, if you're interested in Japanese culture and history. The book is more about that than it is about the stories.

Great book! Not only does the writer cover Japanese folktales, but he gives you a heavy dose of relevant history. The book is entertaining and informative. It's a sneak peek into the mindset of the Japanese and their history. Loved this book!!!

Wonderfully written book of Japenese folktales that has fed my curiosity and fascination that I have for cultural artistic and folklore ,Asiatic but in particular Japanese, this book is informative witty and sad at times ,,clearly written and presented with some beautiful illustrations , a real little gem !

The stories in this book are short and entertaining. Kyota’s commentary on each story is both insightful and entertaining. As a person who wants to learn more about Japanese culture but doesn’t have the time a lot of time to read, this book is perfect. It’s also small enough to fit into most jacket/coat pockets. I look forward to purchasing and reading more of his books.

Muito interessante e com comentários muito elucidativos

As a sporadic student of the Japanese language and culture for many years, I’ve not come across a more engaging and skilled storyteller. His engaging, approachable, empathic knowledgeable communication style is outstanding. Those of us who are attempting to understand a culture very different to the western one we’ve been raised in will undoubtedly appreciate his no nonsense witty explanations. The tales he explains in his books give a fantastic insight into not only the Japanese culture but also into what it is to be human. Outstanding! Looking forward to devouring whatever you publish next.

Great short reads - bath time companion can be picked up and put down easily..