Japanese Mythology

A Captivating Guide to Japanese Folklore, Myths, Fairy Tales, Yokai, Heroes and Heroines

By: Matt Clayton

Narrated by: Dryw McArthur

Length: 1 hr and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Explore captivating myths of japanese deities, yokai, heroes, and heroines.

The study of mythology and folklore is a peculiar one to the extent that we are looking into things which are generally regarded as untrue yet critically important to a culture. We are also taking on the study of the “lore of the folk”, and this faces us with the question of exactly which folk we are talking about. Japan, of course, is a single nation, but its origins are so old, and often, so fragmented, that unified mythology and folklore can be difficult to point to. Still, in all, there are some key texts, tales, and characters we can focus on which will give us a pretty good sense of Japanese mythology.

In this audiobook, you'll discover stories of mystery, horror, and romance while simultaneously learning about the Japanese culture.

Within this audiobook, you'll find the following Japanese myths and topics covered 

• The creation stories
• The myths of origins
• The journey to the underworld
• The wanderings of Susano-o
• The birth of Amaterasu, Trukuyumi, Susawono, and the Leech-Child
• The story of the "Comb and the Curse"
• Amaterasu and Susanowo
• The contract of Amaterasu and Susawono
• Stories of the three most evil yokai of Japan
• Stories of helpful yokai
• "My Lord Bag of Rice"
• The story of Urashima Taro
• The tale of the "Bamboo Cutter and Kaguya Hime"
• The legend of Yamato Takeru
• Contemporary versions of Japanese mythology
• And more!

Get the audiobook now, and learn more about Japanese mythology

©2018 Matt Clayton (P)2018 Matt Clayton

Please get a native speaker to read.

While the content of this book is great; the pronunciation is terrible. I can tell the reader is trying his best. His pronunciation isn’t even consistent between sentence to sentence. there are obvious pauses while attempting to pronounce names which made it difficult to listen to. I would have much rather a native speaker read or someone with basic proficiency of the Japanese language read.

mediocre

a nice overview but very shallow. the performance is very inconsistent and had mistakes, awkward pauses etc.

Narrator makes it difficult

The stories are interesting and intriguing mythology, but the narrator often either speaks too fast or has awkward pauses. The EXTREMELY fast pace makes it difficult for material to sink in. It sounds like he’s trying to just rush through the material. Each word and sentence just blends into the next, and chapters. It will feel like you’ll be in the middle of a story, then he just says “chapter 3, from section five. Boom, begin of story”. Difficult to enjoy, aside from mythology.

This is some kind of joke right?

Story is fine. It's dated Japanese stories translated to Engligh. But what the heck is this narration? It feels like the Narrator just showed up for work on the day of recording and winged it. He confuses himself so many times you can even hear him pause before trying to pronoince a name. Overall ruins the enjoyment of the book.

A pampflet of stort summarum

this is a whar i imagine a pampflet on an bustour would be. no story telling , dry , shallow and told as if recanted for the 100 time.

not much mythology

was expecting more actual stories. This book basically tells me there are stories. ok yes.
also, the reader had real difficulty with the material. sadly, I do not recommend this audiobook.

A short stumble

Multiple mispronunciations of both English and Japanese words abound throughout the narration. Also, the narrator stumbles, pauses, and seems to be gathering their thoughts randomly mid-sentence; happening on more than one occasion. This book is very short and is but cliff notes for the few stories they do go over. There are other Japanese mythology books to read/listen to that will give you greater appreciation and understanding of both the stories and the culture of Japan.

Love japanese culture

I love the Japanese culture and while I was in Japan I did see some of the things that were talked about in the book but never completely understood all of it. The book offers up fun stories and information however I feel like the narrator had something else going on while he narrated this he seems distracted and some times seems to loose his space and there will be a pause. Bottom line good book bad narration but not so bad that it's not worth listening to

HORRIBLE PRONUNCIATIONS

I couldn't listen without cringing. His Japanese pronunciations are so terrible. I with I could give negative stars.

Great Book. Weak Performance

This book is for those who want a basic understanding of Japanese Mythology and it's origins. It skims through pretty quickly but it's just the right amount of info.

I'll be reasonable in the sense that although the narrator didn't prepare properly by his sudden awkward pauses, his pronunciation shouldn't be criticized too heavily. It's obviously not his native language.

PS: Try and keep political correctness off your books

Avoid

This book is awful. It’s like it’s been read by google translate. The punctuation, grammar and sentence structure make this book extremely hard to follow, understand or absorb. There are long pauses, usually before Japanese names which makes it seem as though it’s the first time the narrator has ever seen them. Mistakes have not been edited out, they’re just included in the production. Avoid.

dont do it

The pronounciation of the names and places are so awful i could not finish it

A summary, nothing more.

So stupidly short. I understand that japanease mythololgy is vage but having listened to this book, I have been left disappointed. Intensly short. like going to watch a movie but only getting the trailer instead. Pathetic. highly recommend you take your credit/money and pick up Scott Lewis's mythology omnibus. not only will you get a more detailed and interesting take on japanease mythology, but you will get a horde of mythologys from other cultures too.

Awesome History

Anybody who is history or myths buff will love this book. It goes into the Gods of Japan and how Japan was created by them. It tells of how the first king is related to the gods. It also goes into folk stories that every Japanese child knows.

guy stumble alot bad edting v els good but bad

guy stumble alot very very very bad edting els good but ruin it a little

I Love The Myths

I truly love myths and legends from all countries even our own. If you love myths and legends from around the world, you will truly enjoy this book.

The Best

Good book indeed! Eclectic structure but easy enough to follow for the casual reader. Overall, a well researched piece of work.

Its a WOW book

It is simply wow! I recommend this book to anyone with a serious interest in Japanese culture.