Hares, Sheep, and Goats: Folklore and Legends

Why does a hare bring good fortune in one place and disaster in another? How does a sheep become a model for a silent monk—or a mysterious plant growing from the earth? Minakata Kumagusu gathers these questions into two exuberant essays on the animals of the zodiac.

His investigations move between Japan, China, India, Europe, and Africa, drawing on ancient histories, Buddhist scriptures, naturalists, travelers, and remembered conversations. A supplementary essay follows animal races beyond the familiar tortoise and hare, finding crabs, butterflies, frogs, geckos, and tortoises that defeat stronger opponents through ingenuity.

These are also unmistakably personal essays. Minakata interrupts scholarship with drinking jokes, reflections on cruelty, and fierce criticism of officials. Conflicting traditions and bold conjectures stand beside patient observation, offering a vivid encounter with a Japanese naturalist and folklorist’s working imagination.