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HAYAO KAWAI (1930–2007)
Hayao Kawai was a scholar of Clinical Psychology and Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University. He studied at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich and became the first licensed Japanese Jungian analyst. His works have been published widely in Japanese and English and have earned him some of Japan’s most prestigious prizes in scientific as well as literary fields. Designated as “Person of Cultural Merits” by the Japanese Government, Kawai is the author of numerous books, including Buddhism and the Art of Psychotherapy and Dreams, Myths, and Fairy Tales in Japan.
The Japanese Psyche Cover image
THE JAPANESE PSYCHE
Major Motifs in the Fairy Tales of Japan
With a Foreword by GARY SNYDER
Third, revised edition
Paperback original, 212 pages, $25
ISBN: 978-0-88214-096-4
Kindle/Apple Books edition, $9.99
ISBN: 978-0-88214-097-1
This book examines the haunting, sad, and lively depths of the Japanese soul by interpreting some of major themes in fairy tales. A Japanese Jungian psychologist credited with founding Japanese analytical and clinical psychology and a senior professor at Kyoto University, Kawai addresses here such questions as why so many Japanese fairy tales end in a “Happily ever after” marriage, and why the female figure best expresses the culture’s ego and the country’s possible future. Throughout the book, Kawai delicately presents the multiple layers of the Japanese psyche.
The American poet and essayist Gary Snyder, who lived for years in Japan, gaining familiarity with the soul of its culture and thought, introduces Kawai’s book to the reader.