Tales of Old Japan (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Samurai Honor, Ghost Stories, Buddhist Parables, and Ritual Customs from Edo to Meiji JapanBy Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Baron Redesdale
Length13h 29m
About this audiobook
Tales of Old Japan is a landmark Victorian collection of translated legends, historical episodes, folklore, and social observations from late Tokugawa and early Meiji Japan. Best known for its influential rendering of the Forty-seven Rōnin, the volume combines dramatic narrative with ethnographic commentary, moving between heroic vendetta, ghostly tale, Buddhist parable, and descriptions of ritual practices such as seppuku, marriage, and funerary customs. Its prose bears the marks of nineteenth-century literary diplomacy: elegant, explanatory, occasionally romanticizing, yet unusually attentive to Japanese sources and moral codes. Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, later Baron Redesdale, was a British diplomat posted to Japan during the turbulent years surrounding the Meiji Restoration. His proximity to Japanese officials, scholars, and social life gave him access to stories and customs little known to English readers. Mitford wrote at a moment when Britain was newly fascinated by Japan, and his work reflects both firsthand experience and the interpretive assumptions of an educated Victorian observer seeking to mediate another civilization. This book is recommended to readers interested in Japanese cultural history, comparative literature, folklore, and the Western reception of Japan. Though best read with awareness of its period perspective, it remains a richly informative and compelling gateway into the narratives that shaped modern Anglophone imaginings of old Japan.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics
Length13 hrs 29 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 20, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Historical Context
4Synopsis (Selection)
5PREFACE
Show all chaptersShow less
6THE FORTY-SEVEN RÔNINS
7THE LOVES OF GOMPACHI AND KOMURASAKI
8KAZUMA'S REVENGE
9A STORY OF THE OTOKODATÉ OF YEDO;
10BEING THE SUPPLEMENT OF
11THE STORY OF GOMPACHI AND KOMURASAKI
12THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF FUNAKOSHI JIUYÉMON
13THE ETA MAIDEN AND THE HATAMOTO
14FAIRY TALES
15FAIRY TALES
16THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW
17THE ACCOMPLISHED AND LUCKY TEA-KETTLE
18THE CRACKLING MOUNTAIN
19THE STORY OF THE OLD MAN WHO MADE WITHERED TREES TO BLOSSOM
20THE BATTLE OF THE APE AND THE CRAB
21THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE PEACHLING
22THE FOXES' WEDDING
23THE HISTORY OF SAKATA KINTOKI
24THE ELVES AND THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOUR
25THE GHOST OF SAKURA
26THE GHOST OF SAKURA.
27HOW TAJIMA SHUMÉ WAS TORMENTED BY A DEVIL OF HIS OWN CREATION
28CONCERNING CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS
29CONCERNING CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS
30THE VAMPIRE CAT OF NABÉSHIMA
31THE STORY OF THE FAITHFUL CAT
32HOW A MAN WAS BEWITCHED AND HAD HIS HEAD SHAVED BY THE FOXES
33THE GRATEFUL FOXES
34THE BADGER'S MONEY
35THE PRINCE AND THE BADGER
36JAPANESE SERMONS
37JAPANESE SERMONS
38SERMON I
39SERMON II
40SERMON III
41APPENDICES
42APPENDIX A
43AN ACCOUNT OF THE HARA-KIRI
44APPENDIX B
45THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY
46ON THE BIRTH AND BEARING OF CHILDREN
47FUNERAL RITES
48THE END
49Analysis
50Reflection
More from Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Baron Redesdale
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë Sisters (Annotated)Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë204h 15m$0.99 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Annotated)Oscar Wilde126h 19m$2 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 1m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of the Brontë Family Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë140h 13m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain415h 9m5.0 (2)$2 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Articles, Essays, Travel Sketches and Memoirs (Annotated)Anthony Trollope1096h 4m$0.99 · $0.00
Ivanhoe (Annotated)Walter Scott22h 52m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of G. K. Chesterton (Annotated)G. K. Chesterton421h 37m$1.99 · $0.00
All NovelsGeorge Orwell53h 48m$10 · $0.00
The Complete Works of TolstoyLeo Tolstoy412h 44m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Louisa May Alcott (Annotated)Louisa May Alcott226h 24m$0.99 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes series - completeArthur Conan54h 8m$3.50 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h$1 · $0.00
H. P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft50h 45m$2 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m$29 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Charlotte Brontë (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë80h 44m$0.99 · $0.00
You may also like
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (Unabridged) (Annotated)Alexandre Dumas5h 2m$0.99 · $0.00
Tales of Old JapanAlgernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Baron Redesdale13h 24m$2 · $0.00
InstructionsNeil Gaiman5m$4 · $0.00
The Corsican BrothersAlexandre Dumas3h 31m$2.30
Strange Stories from the Lodge of LeisuresSongling Pu3h 25m$1 · $0.00
Grimm's Fairy Tales: Cleverness, Courage, and FollyJacob and Wilhelm Grimm13m$2
Ghosts in Our BackyardAlisha 'Priti' Kirpalani4h 12m$20 · $0.00
The Corsican BrothersAlexandre Dumas3h 33m$2.30 · $0.00
Land of EchoesDaniel Hecht15h 58m$28
Folklore of the Santal ParganasCecil Henry Bompas15h 51m$1 · $0.00
The StorycatcherAnn Hite10h 33m$20 · $0.00
The Book of Ghosts (Collected Horror Tales)Sabine Baring-Gould14h 14m$2 · $0.00
A Book of GhostsSabine Baring-Gould13h 37m$2.30
The Hedge SchoolWilliam Carleton8h 22m$2.30
The Book of Ghosts (Collected Horror Tales) (Annotated)Sabine Baring-Gould14h 26m$2 · $0.00
The Plague StonesJames Brogden9h 34m$20
Bones of ParadiseJonis Agee14h 28m$33 · $0.00
Japanese Fairy Tales (Annotated)Grace James7h 15m$2 · $0.00
Complete Short Stories of Rudyard Kipling: 25 Illustrated Collections (Annotated)Rudyard Kipling180h 26m$2 · $0.00
Vrouw Grobelaar and Her Leading Cases: Seventeen Short StoriesPerceval Gibbon5h 24m$2 · $0.00