Japanese Animal-Wife Tales

Fumihiko Kobayashi received his PhD in Jewish and comparative folklore studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. His research applies cross-cultural perspective to the study of folklore of Japan and other cultures. He has presented research papers at academic conferences worldwide, including meetings on comparative folklore studies between the East and the West, culture studies, gender studies, and Japanese and global history, as well as the International Society of Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR), International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR), International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), and American Folklore Society (AFS). He currently serves as an assistant editor of the academic journal Crossroads: Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World.

• Contents: Demystifying Misconstrued Genders in Japanese Animal-Wife Tales – The Theoretical Characteristics of Japanese Animal-Wife Tales – The Search for the Main Theme of Japanese Animal-Wife Tales – Conclusion: Narrating Gender Reality behind Japanese Folktale Tradition.

"Japanese Animal-Wife Tales is an instructive book particularly for cross-cultural analysis of the themes of animal-wife tales in Japan, Scotland, and Korea. It is recommended to anyone who is interested in animal-wife folktales and folktales in general." (Noriko T. Reider, Western Folklore 75.2)