Yanagita Kunio
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Yanagita Kunio (柳田 国男 July 31, 1875 - August 8, 1962) is a scholar who is often known as "a father of Japanese ethnology."
He was born in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture. He was also interested in Esperanto.
Major works
- Tōno Monogatari (遠野物語)
- a record of folk tales gathered in Tono, Iwate Prefecture. Famous imps in the stories include kappa and zashikiwarashi.
- Kagyūkō (蝸牛考)
- Yanagita revealed that the distribution of dialects for the word snail forms concentric circles on the Japanese archipelago.
- Momotarō no Tanjō (桃太郎の誕生)
- He depicted some facets of the Japanese society by analyzing the famous folk tale Momotaro. His methodology was followed by many ethnologists and anthropologists.
- Kaijō no Michi (海上の道)
- He sought the origin of the Japanese culture in Okinawa, though many of his speculations were denied by later researchers. He was inspired by picking up a palm nut borne by the Kuroshio when he was wandering in a beach in Iragomisaki, Aichi Prefecture.
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