The most famous work in all of Japanese classical literature, the KonjakuMonogatari Shu is as integral a part of its nation's culture as Canterbury Talesand The Inferno are of ours. In Japanese Tales from Times Past, the editors andtranslators have winnowed down this massive cycle of traditional folklore fromthe original's 1,039 stories to ninety powerfully entertaining tales that are widelyregarded as literary masterpieces of lasting interest to both general and scholarlyreaders. These stories are filled with keen psychological insights, wry sarcasm, andscarcely veiled criticisms of the clergy, nobles, and peasants alike, suggestingthat there are, among all classes and peoples, similar failings of pride, vanity,superstition and greed-as well as aspirations toward higher moral goals.Japanese Tales from Times Past marks the first time such a large selection hasbeen translated and published for an English-reading audience. In theirenlightening introduction, the editors highlight how many of the era's mostpressing social concerns-including the teaching of Buddhism, attitudes towardenvironmental ecology, and feminism-are still deeply relevant today.