The Japanese Classics Collection: Literature, Myths, Samurai Philosophy, Folk Tales and More
The Tale of Genji, The Kojiki, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, The Book of Tea, and Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things
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Narrated by:
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Blaise Adams
About this listen
Japanese culture has fascinated the West ever since the country’s doors opened up in the 1800s. In many ways, Japan has remained elusive, and people have travelled from all around the world to see for themselves how unique this nation remains. Another way of exploring this enigmatic culture is through its literature. The English language succeeds surprisingly well in revealing the Japanese sense of life.
Book One: The Tale of Genji is an exquisitely crafted classic work of Japanese literature written in the 11th century. Some consider it to be the world's first novel, or the first modern or psychological novel. The narrative of 54 chapters is embellished by hundreds of little poems spread like a string of pearls through the prose. The story recounts the life of Hikaru Genji, the son of an ancient Japanese emperor and a concubine. Removed from the line of succession, Genji pursues a series of love affairs and a career as an imperial officer. The plethora of characters is impressively well-rounded while the setting of the Heian era in the tenth and eleventh centuries is magnificently portrayed.
Book Two: Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850 -1935) was a professor of Japanese at Tokyo Imperial University. This is his translation of the Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters”) which was compiled in AD 712 by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei. One of the two primary sources of the Japanese national religion of Shinto, the Kojiki is a collection of myths, early legends, songs, genealogies, oral traditions and semi-historical accounts. Starting with a creation story, the narrative shifts from mythology to historical legends, and concludes with a chronology of the early Imperial line. It includes supernatural episodes and tales of romance, passion, and murder.
Book Three: Bushido: The Soul of Japan is a seminal study on the way of the samurai, by the Japanese educator, Inazo Nitobe. From 1868, the beginning of the Meiji Era, Japan rapidly transformed itself from an isolated feudal society into a modern, industrialised nation state, influenced by Western philosophical and scientific ideas. Nitobe wrote Bushido in English to explain the samurai way to a western audience; it was later translated into Japanese. In the book, he explained the principles of the “bushi” (warrior) and “do” (way) and positioned Bushido in the historical paradigm of knighthood and chivalry. Using a combination of western and oriental thought, he illustrated the virtues of courage, benevolence, politeness, honor, self-control and loyalty with reference to Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism, as well as modern western philosophy and classical ideas from the Bible and Greco-Roman civilization. The book was a best-seller, and became an enduring classic; generations of scholars have consulted it to gain an understanding of the character of the Japanese people.
Book Four: "The Book of Tea" (1906) by Okakura Kakuzō is a long essay which examines the role of chadō (Teaism) in the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life. The author explains Teaism as “a philosophy founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence”. Originally written in English for a western audience, the essay deals with the spiritual traditions of Zen and Taoism, as well as the secular side of tea in Japanese life. The author shows how tea as a metaphor inspired the elegant simplicity which characterizes - inter alia - the art and architecture of Japan. According to the philosopher Tomonobu Imamichi, Martin Heidegger's concept of “Dasein” was inspired by Kakuzō’s expression “being-in-the-worldness” for the philosophy of Zhuangzi who composed a foundational text of the Tao. Kakuzó concludes that Teaism in itself serves as a universal remedy for promoting peace and tranquillity.
Book Five: Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things’ comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies" which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams. The story titled “Riki-Baka" is partly based on a personal experience of Hearn's, while “Hi-Mawari” is set in Wales and appears to be an account of a childhood experience. The three aforementioned essays in part two of the work examine the meaning of the insects and their imagery in art, literature, and religion.
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Dynamic traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save Big Bethel, the community’s church, and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s plantation. With the assistance of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, in a Tony Award-winning performance by Kara Young, Purlie hopes to pry loose an inheritance due his long-lost cousin and use the money to restore his beloved church.
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Wonderful performance
- By Jey123 on 01-27-25
By: Ossie Davis
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Beat the Devil
- By: David Hare, Donald Katz - Introduction
- Narrated by: David Hare
- Length: 1 hr and 10 mins
- Original Recording
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In the spring of 2020, as the world grappled with the deepening coronavirus pandemic, acclaimed British screenwriter and playwright David Hare was struck down by the virus himself. With brutal honesty, sharp humor, and his trademark insight, the renowned writer of modern classics like Skylight and Plenty brings us into his own experience battling the bizarre and terrifying symptoms of Covid-19.
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Almost Hilarious If Not Sad
- By Anonymous User on 10-30-24
By: David Hare, and others
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Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon
- Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream
- By: David McGowan
- Narrated by: Bill Fike
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times. But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
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My first review. This book changed me.
- By Robert on 06-30-19
By: David McGowan
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Petty: The Biography
- By: Warren Zanes
- Narrated by: Warren Zanes
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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No one other than Warren Zanes, rocker and writer and friend, could author a book about Tom Petty that is as honest and evocative of Petty's music and the remarkable rock and roll history he and his band helped to write. Born in Gainesville, Florida, with more than a little hillbilly in his blood, Tom Petty was a Southern shit kicker, a kid without a whole lot of promise. Rock and roll made it otherwise.
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Tom Petty gets some bio love
- By tru britty on 12-15-15
By: Warren Zanes
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We Were All Rooting For You
- By: Franchesca Ramsey
- Narrated by: Franchesca Ramsey
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
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The resurgence of viral clips from the long-running hit reality television show America’s Next Top Model left fans and foes alike wondering–how did a show so outrageous and at times offensive ever get on the air? For years, Americans dutifully watched as contestants faced uncomfortable situations regarding their race and gender, body-shaming, stereotyping, and problematic photoshoots. The show, which first premiered in 2003 and ran for 24 cycles, was helmed by supermodel Tyra Banks–the first Black female host of a smash network reality show.
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a trip down memory lane
- By Joni on 01-03-25
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Song of the Northwoods
- By: Jessica Huang
- Narrated by: Michele Selene Ang, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Emma Kikue, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Original Recording
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After a betrayal at work costs Song Kuan her job, she retreats to her friend Lucy’s idyllic family cabin on a lake in Minnesota to lick her wounds. She devotes herself to recording Ice Cold Cases, a true-crime podcast that she and Lucy cohost with the gleeful energy of obsessed fans—until an anonymous tip about a missing-person case disrupts their equilibrium. Then Lucy disappears, leaving Song alone in an unfriendly and unfamiliar town where locals don’t take kindly to strangers asking questions.
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Asians in MN! I loved it. The vivid sounds of Northern Minnesota totally took me there, and I was hooked into the mystery.
- By Sheila Morris on 04-26-22
By: Jessica Huang
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A Streetcar Named Desire
- By: Tennessee Williams
- Narrated by: Carla Gugino, Audra McDonald
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
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With Emmy, Grammy, and six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as Blanche DuBois alongside Carla Gugino as Stella, O’Hara takes a fresh and visceral look at the emotionally charged relationship between these two iconic sisters. Haunted by her past, Blanche seeks refuge with Stella and Stanley (Ariel Shafir) in New Orleans, where she wrestles with the nature of her sister’s husband, her sister’s denial, and her own unraveling mind.
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Classic With Fresh Insight
- By Talia Shafir on 12-04-20
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The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
- By: Lorraine Hansberry
- Narrated by: Oscar Isaac, Rachel Brosnahan, Gus Birney, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Fresh off the success of her groundbreaking first play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window tells the tragicomic story of a young bohemian couple in New York's Greenwich Village, struggling to do what's right in a world that rewards everything that's wrong. Sidney is a dreamer who wants his own Walden Pond; Iris is a budding actress whose own backstory is a performance. They're caught in a moment where, "the world is about to crack right down the middle," as the play tackles racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia, liberal complacency, and more.
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Excellent performance of Hansberry play
- By Betsy Fowler on 11-30-24
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The Godfather: A Film We Can't Refuse
- By: Paramount Pictures
- Narrated by: Rebecca Keegan
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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With exclusive insights from the legendary cast, including Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro, and Talia Shire, and commentary from a diverse array of film experts and ardent aficionados, we dissect the film’s magnetic allure and its pervasive influence across our culture. Journey alongside Rebecca Keegan, acclaimed senior film editor at The Hollywood Reporter, as she explores the heart of this cinematic masterpiece through a new lens.
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Deep dive into The Godfather
- By C.F. on 08-28-24
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Ayoade on Top
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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At last, the definitive audiobook about perhaps the best cabin crew dramedy ever filmed: View from the Top starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In Ayoade on Top, Richard Ayoade, perhaps one of the most 'insubstantial' people of our age, takes us on a journey from Peckham to Paris by way of Nevada and other places we don't care about. It's a journey deep within, in a way that's respectful and non-invasive; a journey for which we will all pay a heavy price, even if you've waited for the smaller paperback edition. Ayoade argues for the canonisation of this brutal masterpiece.
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Listened for an hour and a half, didn't laugh once
- By Wesley on 12-13-19
By: Richard Ayoade
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Japanese pronunciation a problem
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Kwaidan
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Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan Proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies", which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams.
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Delve into the mystical worlds of Celtic enchantment, the heroic sagas of Bulfinch's lore, the enigmatic tales of Slavic spirits, the celestial dances of Japanese deities, the profound fables of Turkish origins, the creation epics of Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations, the rich tapestry of Native American heritage, and the captivating chronicles from the Filipino archipelago.
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Every civilization has its myths. Only one is true. When 18-year-old Keiko Yamada's father dies unexpectedly, he leaves behind a one way ticket to Japan, an unintelligible death poem about powerful Japanese spirits and their gigantic, beast-like Guardians, and the cryptic words: Go to Japan in my place. Find the Gate. My camera will show you the way. Alone and afraid, Keiko travels to Tokyo, determined to fulfill her father's dying wish.
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Japanese pronunciation a problem
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Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan Proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies", which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams.
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Delve into the mystical worlds of Celtic enchantment, the heroic sagas of Bulfinch's lore, the enigmatic tales of Slavic spirits, the celestial dances of Japanese deities, the profound fables of Turkish origins, the creation epics of Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations, the rich tapestry of Native American heritage, and the captivating chronicles from the Filipino archipelago.
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Kwaidan
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A wonderful collection of spine-tingling ghost stories and thought-provoking essays on insects. This new version has an introduction "Hearn and Japan", which details the continuing influence of Hearn on contemporary Japan.
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Sixteen classic stories from masters of the genre: "The Judge's House", by Bram Stoker; "A Jug of Sirup", by Ambrose Bierce; "The Reconciliation", by Lafcadio Hearn; "The Woman With a Candle" by W. Bourne Cooke; "The Ebony Frame", by E. Nesbit; "On the Northern Ice", by Elia W. Peattie; "The Haunted Doll's House", by M. R. James; "The Old House in Vauxhall Walk", by Charlotte Riddell; "The Underground Ghost", by John Berwick Harwood; "Haunted", by Anon (from Tinsley's Annual); plus five more....
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Great narrations of classics
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The Tale of Genji
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Overall
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Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji in the 11th century to entertain the other women in the court. It follows the romantic exploits of the title character, an emperor’s son, as he navigates life within aristocratic society and eventually outside of it. Praised for its psychological insight into the characters’ motivations, the book greatly influenced Japanese culture and is widely considered the world’s first novel. In 1882, Suematsu Kencho translated a condensed version of the text into English, allowing this classic tale to reach a wider audience.
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Couldn't listen to an entire chapter
- By Jago on 01-02-19
By: Murasaki Shikibu, and others
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The Kojiki
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935) was a professor of Japanese at Tokyo Imperial University. This is his translation of the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), which was compiled in AD 712 by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei. One of the two primary sources of the Japanese national religion of Shinto, The Kojiki is a collection of myths, early legends, songs, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts.
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Excessively wordy
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The Pillow Book
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Overall
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Performance
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The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthrals with its lively gossip, witty observations and subtle impressions. Lady Shōnagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the elite world Lady Shōnagon so eloquently relates.
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Exquisite. Truly!
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Japanese Mythology Collection
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Overall
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Story
Discover fascinating ancient Japanese fairy tales as well as the folk tales of the Ainu/Aino. The first book in this collection, titled Japanese Fairy Tales, was written by Iwaya Sazanami and translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki, a 20th-century translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales. The second book in this collection is a rare one that is not usually available in audio format: Aino Folk-Tales by Basil Chamberlain, one of the most prominent British Japanologists active in Japan during the latter half of the 19th century.
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The reader...:(
- By Sara Penn on 02-24-24
By: Iwaya Sazanami, and others