God Susanoo and Korea in Japan’s Cultural Memory

David Weiss is Assistant Professor of Japanese Premodern Literatures and Languages at Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

• List of TablesConventionsIntroductionPart I. BLURRED BOUNDARIES AND LIMINAL IDENTITIES1. A Foil to Set Off the Sun Goddess: Susanoo in the Ancient Sources2. Passion for Transgression: Susanoo’s Liminal Character3. At the Margin of the Divine Country: Korea in Japanese Cultural ImaginationPart II. POLITICAL MYTHOLOGY: A GENEALOGY OF SUSANOO’S CONNECTION TO KOREA4. “I do not want to Stay in this Land”: Susanoo’s Sojourn to Korea in the Ancient Court Chronicles5. The God with a Thousand Faces: Susanoo and His Alter Egos in Medieval Mythology6. Korea as a Realm of Death: Susanoo and Korea in Modern DiscoursesEPILOGUE: After the War: Susanoo in Scholarship, Tourism, and Popular CultureBibliographyIndex

The first in-depth study in the English language of Susanoo. Susanoo and Korea in Japan’s Cultural Memory is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Japanese deities and Japan’s colonial history, as well as the question of Korea in Japanese intellectual history more generally.