was a Japanese folklorist. He was joined a group under

Yanagita Kunio Kunio Yanagita (柳田國男, Yanagita Kunio, July 31, 1875 – August 8, 1962) was a Japanese author, scholar, and folklorist. He began his career as a bureaucrat, but developed an interest in rural Japan and its folk traditions. This led to a ...

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

University Life

Seki was a native of

Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast. N ...

and graduate of

Toyo University is a university with several branches in Japan, including Hakusan, Asaka, Kawagoe, Itakura, and Akabane. Overview The predecessor to Toyo University was , which was founded at Rinsho-in Temple by Enryo Inoue in 1887. Inoue felt that the ...

. He studied philosophy and worked as a librarian for the university. He founded the Japanese Society for Folk Literature (Nihon Koshobungei Gakkai) in 1977 and was its first president. 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).

Research and Hypotheses

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. 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. Seki also thought that there was a universal element to folktales and that they are not based on particular ethnic groups.

Major works

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Categorization

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 system had Japanese folktales divided into in the following 18 categories: # Origin of Animals #

Animal Tales An animal tale or beast fable generally consists of a short story or poem in which animals talk. They may exhibit other anthropomorphic qualities as well, such as living in a human-like society. It is a traditional form of allegorical writing. An ...

# Man and Animal #* Escape from Ogre #* Stupid Animals #* Grateful Animals # Supernatural Wifes and Husbands #* Supernatural Husbands #* Supernatural Wifes # Supernatural Birth # Man and Waterspirit # Magic Objects # Tales of Fate # Human Marriage # Acquisition of Riches # Conflicts #* Parent and Child #* Brothers (or Sisters) #* Neighbors # The Clever Man # Jokes # Contests # Osho and Kozo # Lucky Accidents # Fools and Numskulls #* Fools #* Blunderers #* Village of Numskulls #* Foolish Son-in-Law #* Foolish Daughter-in-Law # Formula Tales

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * 1899 births 1990 deaths Japanese folklorists {{Japan-myth-stub