Tales of Japan

Aside from the watermark on every page, this was a great read. The stories are fun and engaging. And there is a good amount of old and new.

A fantastic arrangement of stories that hinge upon supernatural elements. Each tale is at once engrossing, profound, and, like many myths and fables, worthy of discussion. There's humor to also be found in a story or two, and several function as potent ghost stories.

Some of the legends might feel familiar: I noticed that the Tales from the Darkside movie pulled from the Yuki-Onna story for one of its vignettes, for instance. Kind of an obscure link, but, hey, each has their own.

Each tale is prefaced by a beautiful illustration to kind of give you an idea of what lies ahead. It's additionally separated into categories: Journeys, Ghosts and Monsters, and Justice. Finally, if you're still clamoring for more, the book directs you to further readings.

I grew up loving collections such as this one, and I'd fully recommend handing this over to a young person who's into such material. It stokes the imagination and, as is its intention, plays as an effective assistant in developing and teaching about other cultures.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the advance read.

Beautiful renditions of classic Japanese folktales with excellent art work is found in this offering. These are very well written and enjoyable.

I read this book and it's stories of Japan tales daily for about a week. Since I was not familiar with Japanese fairy tales - this was a very interesting read. I learned a lot, and I dreamed a lot and yes, I will recommend it a lot too!

This book is filled with short stories that intrigue your interest and introduce you to monsters, unusual magic and more. I enjoy reading fairy tales from other lands and this is a very nice collection with beautiful artwork.

Chronicle Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you) and it will be published April 23.

From a monster with no face and a goblin with no body, I found each tale satisfying. There are even ghosts included. There is humor hidden in some of the stories. There's a message in others. You have fifteen tales to read here and they're well worth the time. If you like fairy tales, you need to read these.

Short, simple translations of Japanese folk tales, each accompanied by a lovely illustration. While easy to read and interesting, I would've liked a bit more here - more detail in the stories, more artwork, more information on the history of the tales. Still, it was a nice introduction and enjoyable to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a Kindle ARC of Tales of Japan.

I'm a huge fan of Japan; the culture, the cuisine, the history and art, so when I saw this, I had to request it.

I was unfamiliar with most of these folk tales except for the Yuki-Onna story that reminded me of the Tales from the Darkside episode.

Beautiful illustrations accompany each tale, which are helpfully categorized into Journeys, Ghosts and Monsters, and Justice.

Each tale is dark, sometimes comedic, supernatural and creepy, but is also a fine introduction to a culture's unique take on how they interpret fairy tales/folk tales.

However, I would have appreciated more detail in the stories, more art, how and where each tale originated from and what the themes and subjects mean to the Japanese, if anything.

I think most fans of supernatural and dark tales would enjoy this nicely crafted book.

illustrated by Kotaro Chiba

Tales of Old Japan is a book of traditional Japanese stories. Each story is accompanied by a beautiful illustration from Kotaro Chiba.
The book is divided into three sections: "Journeys", "Ghosts and Monsters", and "Justice". I didn't realize until I began the second section that I had already read most (of not all) of the horror tales in Kwaidan, but I didn't skip over them. The stories are also good the second time around, and the illustrations give it a spark of new life.

My favorites were "The Happy Hunter and the Skillful Fisher"--imagining the underwater kingdom while I read was really fun--and "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoïchi"--this one provided some beautiful imagery with a touch of creepiness.

(I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley and Chronicle Books in exchange for an honest review.)

I enjoy learning about cultures different from my own and am rather partial to fairy and folk tales, so this book was right up my alley regarding those interests. I admit to being partial to Japanese history and culture, though I am not a scholar of it by any stretch of the imagination.

This book was fascinating, as many of the stories don't end how one would expect, having grown up on Grimms fairy tales. There were brutal stories that took me completely by surprise, though they honestly shouldn't have, the brothers Grimm were rather, well, grim, but there were other stories that did not follow the pattern of bad guys getting a brutal, violent come-uppance. There was mercy, forgiveness and genuine change from bad to good. I was stunned by it to be honest with you. I don't recall many Grimm stories having those qualities.

Don't get me wrong, not all of the stories ended all sunshine and roses, there were some REALLY violent stories, but they were tempered by the ones with mercy.

The stories in this book were gathered from two sources in the public domain, which I now need to hunt down and read in full. I'm a completionist and am curious about what didn't make the cut. For those wondering about those two sources, here you are.

1) Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan Stories and Studies of Strange Things, Houghton Mifflin 1911

2) Yei Theodora Ozaki, Japanese Fairy Tales, Grosset and Dunlap 1908

I wasn't crazy about all of the stories, but the stories of mercy. I teared up a bit. So 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Recommended if you enjoy fairy and folk tales and/or Japanese myths and legends. Very good book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

One thing I enjoy is reading fairy tales from around the world so this book sounded right up my alley. I'm glad I picked it up. It was a short but mostly entertaining read. Divided into three sections, each section contained stories with a specific theme.

Some of the stories I enjoyed a great deal and some left me rather meh. Overall, they were an interesting mix and I'm likely to go finding more. I enjoyed the journey stories best which doesn't surprise me in the least.

I think what was most interesting is that from a thematic standpoint, fairy tales are fairy tales regardless of where they originate. The faceless monsters, the good and kind and humble are rewarded, the greedy are punished, the desire for a child.

I wanted to read this book to learn more about Japanese culture and what is written about in their folk tales. I liked the book and greatly enjoyed the illustrations.

Some of these were better than others, but I fear that is more because I don’t fully understand the folklore behind the tales. I honestly expected a little more horror but instead got more of the mundane. I think if I had a better inkling of what I was getting into I would’ve enjoyed this more, but as it stands, this is getting 3 stars for being just ok for me.

Received via Netgalley. All reviews and opinions are expressly my own