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emmaprew's review
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
There’s a lot going on in this book. A lot of information. A lot of stories. So much so that one story is done and you’re onto the next within a few comic frames. I would have preferred less stories if they were each longer. Nice illustrations though!
vickie101101's review
2.0
Tono Monogatari is a collection of short folklore stories from the Tono region of Japan. The narrator has inserted himself into each story. At times it is a funny and welcome addition. Other times it is tiresome and distracting. The few references to individuals leaving to poop, distracted from the narrative. Another hindrance to my enjoyment of this graphic novel was the repetition within the stories that were selected to be in the book. They all seemed to be based around minding your own business in the woods, and you will be left alone.
otterno11's review
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Back in 2015, I visited the rural Japanese town of Tono in Iwate prefecture, known as the “City of Folklore,” just a few years after the hundredth anniversary of the publication of the influential Japanese folklorist Kunio Yanagita’s 1910 masterwork Tono Monogatari, a slim, fascinating collection of 119 short vignettes told to him by local citizen Sasaki Kizen. At the same time, I noted that the acclaimed manga artist Shigeru Mizuki had published a comic adaption of the work to celebrate this anniversary, so when I noticed that it had been recently been translated into English, I was eager to read it. Mizuki takes Yanagita’s spare records of the valley's local stories, and crafts a thoughtful comic as the elderly manga artist depicts himself tramping across the Tono valley in the footsteps of Yanagita and Sasaki, making me feel like I was also visiting again.
As the creator of the seminal manga GeGeGe no Kitaro, Mizuki himself also had a significant role in popularizing the yokai and mystery of Japanese folklore both in Japan and across the world, making him an ideal conduit to explore this standard in Japanese folklore study. Along with background information provided by translator and folklorist Zack Davisson on the Shinto meanings behind these lore, the tales lend themselves to Mizuki’s comical yet grounded style. Both eerie and oddly prosaic, the tales reflect the everyday life and concerns of the people of this remote place, both their fears and their desires. Including legends of the kappa, the tengu, snow women, and other supernatural entities, other tales discuss local landmarks and eccentric townspeople while aspects of daily life like farming and hunting continue throughout. Mizuki’s sympathetic yet questioning musings are an ideal medium for revisiting Yanagita’s work and the integral place it has in Japanese folklore study.
I discuss other works recently published in English on Japanese folklore at Harris’ Tome Corner- Narrating the Strange: Kaidan of Yokai and Yurei in Japanese Folklore.
As the creator of the seminal manga GeGeGe no Kitaro, Mizuki himself also had a significant role in popularizing the yokai and mystery of Japanese folklore both in Japan and across the world, making him an ideal conduit to explore this standard in Japanese folklore study. Along with background information provided by translator and folklorist Zack Davisson on the Shinto meanings behind these lore, the tales lend themselves to Mizuki’s comical yet grounded style. Both eerie and oddly prosaic, the tales reflect the everyday life and concerns of the people of this remote place, both their fears and their desires. Including legends of the kappa, the tengu, snow women, and other supernatural entities, other tales discuss local landmarks and eccentric townspeople while aspects of daily life like farming and hunting continue throughout. Mizuki’s sympathetic yet questioning musings are an ideal medium for revisiting Yanagita’s work and the integral place it has in Japanese folklore study.
I discuss other works recently published in English on Japanese folklore at Harris’ Tome Corner- Narrating the Strange: Kaidan of Yokai and Yurei in Japanese Folklore.