Keigo Seki

Keigo Seki (関 敬吾, Seki Keigo, 1899–1990) was a Japanese folklorist. He joined a group under Yanagita Kunio, but often came to different conclusions regarding the same folktales. Along with collecting and compiling folktales, Seki also arranged them into a series of categories.[1]

This work culminated in his Nihon mukashibanashi shūsei (Collection of Japanese Folktales) (1928, revised 1961), in six volumes, which classified Japanese folktales after the model of the Aarne-Thompson system.[2]

A selection was published as Nihon No Mukashi-Banashi (1956–7), and was translated into English as Folktales of Japan (1963) by Robert J. Adams.[3][4]

Seki founded the Japanese Society for Folk Literature in 1977.[2]

University Life[edit]

Seki was a native of Nagasaki Prefecture and graduate of Toyo University.[5][6] He studied philosophy and worked as a librarian for the university.[6] He founded the Japanese Society for Folk Literature (Nihon Koshobungei Gakkai) in 1977 and was its first president.[6] Seki understood German and translated two works of folktales from German to Japanese, Kaarle Krohn's Die folkloristische Arbeitsmethode (Folklore Methodology, 1926) and Aarne's Vergleichende Märchenforschung (Comparative Studies of Folklore, 1908).[6]

Research and Hypotheses[edit]

Keigo Seki's research was on how folklore came to Japan and if some folktales had been imported to Japan from countries such as India and China.[6] Seki's second hypothesis was that folktales should be examined to understand their impact on ordinary events and are to help people in their daily lives.[7] Seki also thought that there was a universal element to folktales and that they are not based on particular ethnic groups.[7]

Major works[edit]

  • Nihon Mukashibanashi Shūsei (日本昔話集成, "Compilation of Japanese Folktales")
  • Seki, Keigo, ed. (1963), Folktales of Japan, Robert J. Adams (tr.), University of Chicago Press, ISBN 9780226746159

Categorization[edit]

In “Types of Japanese Folktales.” Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 25, 1966, Keigo Seki details his own categorization system for folktales, but it did not catch on and the Aarne-Thompson system prevailed. Seki's new categorization method was named “Nihon mukashibanashi no kata”.[2] Seki's system had Japanese folktales divided into in the following 18 categories:[8]

  1. Origin of Animals
    • Folktales 1-30
  2. Animal Tales
  3. Man and Animal
    • Escape from Ogre
      • Folktales 31-74
    • Stupid Animals
      • Folktales 87-118
    • Grateful Animals
      • Folktales 119-132
  4. Supernatural Wives and Husbands
    • Supernatural Husbands
      • Folktales 133-140
    • Supernatural Wives
      • Folktales 141-150
  5. Supernatural Birth
    • Folktales 151-165
  6. Man and Waterspirit
    • Folktales 166-170
  7. Magic Objects
    • Folktales 171-182
  8. Tales of Fate
    • Folktales 183-188
  9. Human Marriage
    • Folktales 189-200
  10. Acquisition of Riches
    • Folktales 201-209
  11. Conflicts
    • Parent and Child
      • Folktales 210-223
    • Brothers (or Sisters)
      • Folktales 224-233
    • Neighbors
      • Folktales 234-262
  12. The Clever Man
    • Folktales 254-262
  13. Jokes
    • Folktales 263-308
  14. Contests
    • Folktales 309-326
  15. Osho and Kozo
    • Folktales 327-344
  16. Lucky Accidents
    • Folktales 345-356
  17. Fools and Numskulls
    • Fools
      • Folktales 357-385
    • Blunderers
      • Folktales 386-399
    • Village of Numskulls
      • Folktales 400-417
    • Foolish Son-in-Law
      • Folktales 418-441
    • Foolish Daughter-in-Law
      • Folktales 442-452
  18. Formula Tales
    • Folktales 453-457

References[edit]

Citations
  1. ^ Morse, Ronald A. (2015), Yanagita Kunio and the Folklore Movement (RLE Folklore): The Search for Japan's National Character and Distinctiveness, Routledge, ISBN 9781317549208
  2. ^ a b c Ozawa, Toisho (2008). "Seki Keigo". The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales. 3: 846 – via Gale Ebooks.
  3. ^ Jenkins, Esther C.; Austin, Mary C. (1987), Literature for Children about Asians and Asian Americans, Greenwood Press, p. 99, ISBN 9780313259708
  4. ^ Seki (1963).
  5. ^ Enzyclopädie des Märchens" (2007), de Gruyter, p. 541
  6. ^ a b c d e Ozawa, Toshio (2008), "Seki Keigo (1899-1990", in Haase, Donald (ed.), The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: Q-Z, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 846, ISBN 9781317549208
  7. ^ a b Kawamori, Hiroshi (2003). "Folktale Research after Yanagita: Development and Related Issues". Asian Folklore Studies. 62 (2): 237–256. ISSN 0385-2342. JSTOR 30030288.
  8. ^ Seki, Keigo (1966). "Types of Japanese Folktales". Asian Folklore Studies. 25: 1–220. doi:10.2307/1177478. ISSN 0385-2342. JSTOR 1177478.
Bibliography


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