Japanese mythology books 101

General
Japanese Mythology by Juliet Piggott (Library of the World’s Myths and Legends)
Myths and Legends of Japan by F. Handland Davis (Dover)
The Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters
Translation by Basil Hall Chamberlain
The 47 Ronin Story
By John Allyn
Tales of The Heike
By Burton Watson
One more I neglected to mention
Folk Legends of Japan by Dorson
Kindle version

[@CorvusAjax]

Thanks so much, 6 years later Im now 16 and you're one of the reasons why Im into books so much. keep it up!

[@joeyraggs]

You just made my day. Keep reading

[@harshalbhanarkar]

Appreciate your work 👍 keep it up 👍!! Love watching your videos!

[@joeyraggs]

Thank you!

[@moonkitten3758]

thank you so much for this video! I'm trying to research for a Japanese traditional tattoo and really want to get into Japanese mythology before I get anything. I found the first book you mentioned for 11 euros on dutch eBay!! Can't wait to read :D

[@joeyraggs]

That’s wonderful. Feel free to ask me any questions.

[@Drequa]

very useful video 6 years later, thanks my guy

[@joeyraggs]

Thank you 😊

[@jfitzmaurice7778]

Thx a ton dude thx to you ive bought 4 books that you have reviewed 2 Japanese books and 2 Chinese books

[@joeyraggs]

CARNAGE AND DESTRUCTION that’s great. I’m happy to have helped and I hope you enjoy the books.

[@jerricho11]

I am looking for the Lord of the Rings for Japan. Not really a book about mythology. Any direction you could give would be great. (I prefer Ninjas to samurai and love wolves, dragons and fox) thanks.

[@joeyraggs]

jerricho11 wow! That’s a field I know very little about. I searched a few sites. Here’s one I found: www.otakuusamagazine.com/the-realm-of-japanese-fantasy-novels/ It may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but I noticed that Twelve Kingdoms was mentioned in other sites as well. It looks.

[@joeyraggs]

...it looks good.

[@jerricho11]

Tho I have read manga in the past, that's not really the itch I'm looking to scratch right now. They do sound interesting and I will definitely be reading them sometime soon (I've added them to my books to read list) But what I'm searching for is an Asian epic fantasy book, not a graphic novel or nonfiction mythology book. Ok, perhaps I should explain why... so recently I've read Julie Kagawa's book 'Shadow of the Fox' about a young ninja and a kitsune on this epic quest. The premise of the story and mythological elements are wonderful and left me wanting more... especially since the book, by any other standards, was bad. It sucked. It was cliche and predictable to the extream with a cringy romance. YET the PLOT and WORLD of book was sOOOOOOO close to being good. Normally I'd just go off and pick up another book, and forget about how bad this one was. EXCEPT I can't. I was shown such a wonderfully colorful world of Akatsuki, Youki, Ninja, Samurai etc. But the way it was done was completely unsatisfying. I've been looking to fix this by looking for another Ninja book that could deliver what this book originally promised me. (not the same story but a good story) Yet, Ninja fiction seems to be a non-existent genre. All I get is children's books and "how to be a NINJA'. I can't believe that with the billions of books in existence, that there isn't ONE decent one about ninja in a epic fantasy. It's just impossible.

[@joeyraggs]

Ninjas seem to be really popular in video games though. 😁 What your asking for might be a tall order. Have you heard of these? bestfantasybooks.com/best-asian-fantasy-books.html

[@jerricho11]

Yeah, it was a bit of a tall order but boi did you deliver. Thank you so much. I'm gonna read them all. (haha, probably not ALL but several)

[@taylauzemour2054]

thank you it really helped ♥️

[@joeyraggs]

tayla uzemour thanks

[@diyanshi8013]

Very useful. Thankyou💞

[@hicham12ful]

is there any good kojiki translation, there is either the one that you need to know latin to read or the one that translates the names literally which is annoying and distracting.

[@joeyraggs]

I think I just recently read the one that had no Latin but translated the names literally. It was a bit annoying. But if you want to give it a try I downloaded it on kindle. It’s by O No Yasumaro and translated by Gustav Heldt.

Great job dude

[@joeyraggs]

Yusuf Ali Bozkır Thanks 🙏

[@ryushogun9890]

I know this is out of topic, but how can I find books of a specific genre and decade? I'm looking for books that aren't very famous from the 30s, how can I buy, download or just find names of magazines or catalog books on specific titles or authors from these times, 30s or 20s. I'm starting to read just now and I really need things that suit my taste to keep the habit.

[@joeyraggs]

That’s a good question. I came across many old books on mythology by going to Strand bookstore in NYC. They happen to have cheap reprints of some very old books. One was Myths and Legends of China and Japan by D. A. Mackenzie. I’ll see if I can find it. Apart from that I would suggest as you discover new books, see if they can be downloaded. Get the kindle app or books app for your iPad or iPhone. Also if you find a particular story or group of myths you like in any general book. I always go to the bibliography and see where the author got his info for that particular myth. Then see if it’s still available to order or download.

[@joeyraggs]

www.amazon.com/Myths-China-Donald-Alexander-MacKenzie-ebook/dp/B004TTW0RO/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=2IEKFFX8UOVYK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hC6uESMsPFe2atafK3Vp0PGXD2CmOMosX1LsEro0SDzXbUuhlKsVduNQ_2ebgg0DqcBrCulPUKMRY3wqrUmTn-DWbyd3g85VoJ5Xzz1_22M.sXgLcI-maandc0mdujvDeBGA3JrWhNuPUb5eAQAq2B0&dib_tag=se&keywords=myths+and+legends+of+china+and+japan+by+donald+a+Mackenzie&qid=1716468913&sprefix=myths+and+legends+of+china+and+japan+by+donald+a+mackenzie%2Caps%2C68&sr=8-5

[@joeyraggs]

www.amazon.com/Myths-Legends-Japan-Hadland-Davis-ebook/dp/B0CLKZBTDS/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=2IEKFFX8UOVYK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hC6uESMsPFe2atafK3Vp0PGXD2CmOMosX1LsEro0SDzXbUuhlKsVduNQ_2ebgg0DqcBrCulPUKMRY3wqrUmTn-DWbyd3g85VoJ5Xzz1_22M.sXgLcI-maandc0mdujvDeBGA3JrWhNuPUb5eAQAq2B0&dib_tag=se&keywords=myths+and+legends+of+china+and+japan+by+donald+a+Mackenzie&qid=1716468913&sprefix=myths+and+legends+of+china+and+japan+by+donald+a+mackenzie%2Caps%2C68&sr=8-6

[@joeyraggs]

Check out these two books.

[@diyanshi8013]

Sir, can you create a video about japanese mythological books which focus on the modern god like those which we see in anime

[@joeyraggs]

Hmmm. Interesting. I’m not too familiar with anime and how gods are portrayed in them. But I’ll look into it.

[@diyanshi8013]

@@joeyraggs that would be great

[@joeyraggs]

You may want to check out my video on Japanese mythology books.

[@troypeake2573]

Not Lieutenant--it's Major Kusanagi.

[@joeyraggs]

Haha thanks for the correction. I saw the anime and played the game for the original PlayStation, but apparently I had forgotten.

[@troypeake2573]

@@joeyraggs I appreciated the reference! Waiting patiently for your Southeast Asian mythology video. Love those Nagas--and the Thai version of the Ramayana--the Ramakhien.

[@joeyraggs]

Thank you. That sounds like a good idea. Sadly I don’t know too much about Southeast Asian mythology. But I will look into it. Their version of The Ramayana sounds fascinating. Probably Balinese.

[@joeyraggs]

Thank you. That sounds like a good idea. Sadly I don’t know too much about Southeast Asian mythology. But I will look into it. Their version of The Ramayana sounds fascinating. Probably Balinese.

[@dapencilshinobi]

Is it me or is his ear large ? And doesn’t it look like a sliced piece of holiday ham?

[@joeyraggs]

DAJOKER808 or pastrami.