Aino Folk-Tales

A difficult read

I must first admit I didn’t read all of this work. It was far too much for me. This work isn’t difficult to read because of the difficulty of language or content, for while the language used isn’t modern, the stories contained are very simple. The difficulty lies in the writer’s voice. From the outset, the reader is deluged in copious amounts of what seems to be utter self adoration and a great disdain of the people the author is writing about. Stupid or lice-infested are the descriptions the author uses to introduce us to the Ainu people. It’s difficult to read such a voice, especially when compared with the respectfulness possessed by other contemporary authors who wrote about the Japanese, such as Percival Lowell (I highly recommend his book on Noto.).
I suppose this book may possess some merit for the dedicated student of folk-lore, for I feel one must be dedicated to their passion to be able to survive the author who has written it. However much I dislike the author, it does seem he had some commitment to accurate transcription, at least so he would lead you to believe from his self assessment.