Boldly illustrated and superbly translated Folk Legends from Tono captures the spirit of Japanese peasant culture undergoing rapid transformation into the modern era. This is the first time these 299 tales have been published in English. Morses insightful interpretation of the tales his rich cultural annotations and the evocative original illustrations make this book unforgettable. In 2008 a companion volume of 118 tales was published by Rowman ampamp Littlefield as the The Legends of Tono. Taken together these two books have the same content 417 tales as the Japanese language book Tono monogatari. Reminiscent of Japanese woodblocks the ink illustrations commissioned for the Folk Legends from Tono mirror the imagery that Japanese villagers envisioned as they listened to a storyteller recite the tales.The stories capture the extraordinary experiences of real people in a singular folk community. The tales read like fiction but touch the core of human emotion and social psychology. Thus the reader is taken on a magical tour through the psychic landscape of the Japanese spirit world that was a part of its oral folk tradition for hundreds of years. All of this is made possible by the translators insightful interpretation of the tales his sensitive cultural annotations and the visual charm of the books illustrations. The cast of characters is rich and varied as we encounter yokai monsters shapeshifting foxes witches grave robbers ghosts heavenly princesses roaming priests shamans quasihuman mountain spirits murderers and much more. show more