Old-World Japan: Legends of the Land of the Gods — A Reader’s Guide

Divine and Mortal Encounters

The excerpts show a pattern of mortals meeting divine beings, often with tension over trust or possession. In the moon-maiden tale, the fisher Hairukoo demands a dance before returning her feather robe, prompting the goddess's anger: “The wicked oni will take you for their own, if you doubt the word of a goddess.” The robe's feathers, given by Heavenly Birds, symbolize love and trust. Similarly, in “The Great Fir Tree of Takasago,” O-Matsue's beauty is described through natural metaphors—her eyes like an ocean-pool, her smile like sunshine on Lake Biwa—and she weaves robes for peasants while hearing stories of the jelly-fish who lost his shell and the Blessed Island of Eternal Youth.

Sensory Richness in Setting and Action

Rinder's prose emphasizes sensory details: sound, sight, and smell. The moon-maiden's dance is accompanied by a stringed instrument, with notes “clear and infinitely sweet.” She skims the sea surface, touches pine tops, and moves through bamboo and cherry blossoms. After she departs, Hairukoo is left “alone with the sound of the sea, and the fragrance of the pines.” In the Takasago tale, O-Matsue sings a song about cherry flowers fluttering down, and the fir tree's fallen needles form a soft couch. These recurring elements—music, fragrance, natural textures—anchor the supernatural events in a vivid physical world.

Abbreviated Names and Selective Storytelling

Rinder states in the preface that he abbreviates many-syllabled Japanese names to avoid wearying the reader. The excerpts show this practice: “Ama-terasu” for Amaterasu, “Hairukoo” for a longer original. He also selects tales unfamiliar to the English-reading public, focusing on “beauty and charm of incident and colour” over comprehensive representation. The preface notes that the first six tales are founded on “the most significant and picturesque incidents” of the God-period, including the creation of Japan and Izanagi's descent to Hades. This selective approach shapes the collection as an introduction to lesser-known legends rather than a scholarly survey.

Readers may notice how Rinder balances mythic grandeur with intimate, sensory moments—the fragrance of pines, the sound of the sea, the shimmer of a feather robe. The abbreviated names and selective tales offer a curated entry into Japanese mythology, but the preface's acknowledgment of Chinese influence and the use of primary sources like the Kojiki ground the work in historical context. Approach these legends as crafted retellings that prioritize atmosphere and incident over exhaustive detail.