Changes

The main importance of folk studies to Yanagita was uncovering the history of Japanese faith (Mori 93).  The means for him and his followers toward investigating these and other matters of folk belief were not through examination of historical documents and texts, but through firsthand collection of folktales and descriptions of customs and beliefs as told to him and others orally.   

The main importance of folk studies to Yanagita was uncovering the history of Japanese faith (Mori 93).  The means for him and his followers toward investigating these and other matters of folk belief were not through examination of historical documents and texts, but through firsthand collection of folktales and descriptions of customs and beliefs as told to him and others orally.   

Yanagita established in 1928 a journal called ''Tabi to densetsu'' (旅と伝説, “Travels and Legends”),  in which he outlined instructions to readers for traveling to countryside locations and collecting tales.  Shortly after this, he published a guidebook for the same purposes, encouraging even more folktale submissions.  After these early attempts at gathering tales, greater interest arose in his works, and through the sponsorship of the Japan Broadcasting Association, he and his students and colleagues such as Seki Keigo embarked on larger hunts for information, using as sources direct conversations from people like "rice farmers, deep-sea fishermen, and their wives" from "remote villages" (Seki viii).  By 1935, several independent societies and institutes had formed with the goal of organizing similar collection efforts, most of which looked to Yanagita Kunio as their inspiration and authority.  One of these was the Minzokugaku Kenkyûjo, or Institute for the Study of Japanese Folklore, which Yanagita himself established.  While a great amount of material was collected by Yanagita's staff and students, he mostly limited the organization and analysis of these materials to himself in the early years (Mori 101).  

Yanagita established in 1928 a journal called ''Tabi to densetsu'' (旅と伝説, "Travels and Legends"),  in which he outlined instructions to readers for traveling to countryside locations and collecting tales.  Shortly after this, he published a guidebook for the same purposes, encouraging even more folktale submissions.  After these early attempts at gathering tales, greater interest arose in his works, and through the sponsorship of the Japan Broadcasting Association, he and his students and colleagues such as Seki Keigo embarked on larger hunts for information, using as sources direct conversations with people like "rice farmers, deep-sea fishermen, and their wives" from "remote villages" (Seki viii).  By 1935, several independent societies and institutes had formed with the goal of organizing similar collection efforts, most of which looked to Yanagita Kunio as their inspiration and authority.  One of these was the Minzokugaku Kenkyûjo, or Institute for the Study of Japanese Folklore, which Yanagita himself established.  While a great amount of material was collected by Yanagita's staff and students, he mostly limited the organization and analysis of these materials to himself in the early years (Mori 101).

==Later Years==

==Later Years==