Changes

==Before Folk Studies==

==Before Folk Studies==

Yanagita (originally named Matsuoka Kunio) was born early within the [[Meiji Period]] in the year [[1875]], in a small village in [[Hyogo Prefecture|Hyôgo Prefecture]]. His father was a local physician, and Kunio was the fifth of eight children, the third of four surviving sons.<ref name=women191>Marcia Yonemoto, ''The Problem of Women in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2016), 191.</ref> He was quite well-read in Western literature as well as that of Japan and China, and it is likely that his attitudes toward folk studies stemmed from Western books concerning folklore and ethnology that he read during his formative years.  Moreover, his father’s deep interest in the [[Kokugaku|National Learning]] movement instilled in him an appreciation for traditional Japanese faith and values in the face of what he called "foreign ways" and "newfangled affectations".<ref>Mori, 87.</ref>

Yanagita (originally named Matsuoka Kunio) was born early within the [[Meiji Period]] in the year [[1875]], in a small village in [[Hyogo Prefecture|Hyôgo Prefecture]]. His father was a local physician, and Kunio was the fifth of eight children, the third of four surviving sons. Kunio's eldest brother had a failed marriage, and relocated to [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]] in search of a new life, while his second-oldest brother was adopted away into another family, as Kunio himself would be. Neither he nor his brothers continued their father's medical practice.<ref name=women191>Marcia Yonemoto, ''The Problem of Women in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2016), 191.</ref> He was quite well-read in Western literature as well as that of Japan and China, and it is likely that his attitudes toward folk studies stemmed from Western books concerning folklore and ethnology that he read during his formative years.  Moreover, his father’s deep interest in the [[Kokugaku|National Learning]] movement instilled in him an appreciation for traditional Japanese faith and values in the face of what he called "foreign ways" and "newfangled affectations".<ref>Mori, 87.</ref>

After a childhood in which he was devoted to reading and literature, Yanagita received an education at Tokyo Imperial University in the field of agricultural administration, with the hopes that through this work he could improve the suffering and poverty of farmers. He was adopted in [[1901]] at the age of 26 by the Yanagita family, who saw in him a promising heir, based on his Tokyo Imperial University education and prospects as a government bureaucrat. Three years later, he was married to their fourth daughter, Ko. His new father-in-law, Yanagita Naohei, was a high court justice, and had many connections in the government bureaucracy.<ref name=women191/> He later took a post at the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce as a bureaucratic inspector, traveling to various regions in Japan, and eventually becoming chief secretary of the Upper House.  During this brief career Yanagita had been developing his attitudes and ideas concerning the common folk of Japan, and gradually these interests eclipsed in his mind the importance of agriculture, as it became clear that his ideas on the latter subject were gaining little support.   

After a childhood in which he was devoted to reading and literature, Yanagita received an education at Tokyo Imperial University in the field of agricultural administration, with the hopes that through this work he could improve the suffering and poverty of farmers. He was adopted in [[1901]] at the age of 26 by the Yanagita family, who saw in him a promising heir, based on his Tokyo Imperial University education and prospects as a government bureaucrat. Three years later, he was married to their fourth daughter, Ko. His new father-in-law, Yanagita Naohei, was a high court justice, and had many connections in the government bureaucracy. Though he came to have a rather successful life in many respects, Yanagita Kunio is said to have been perpetually treated as an outsider within his in-laws' family, and was given only a very small room in the house to use as his study.<ref name=women191/>  

 

Soon after his adoption and marriage, he took a post at the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce as a bureaucratic inspector, traveling to various regions in Japan, and eventually becoming chief secretary of the Upper House.  During this brief career Yanagita had been developing his attitudes and ideas concerning the common folk of Japan, and gradually these interests eclipsed in his mind the importance of agriculture, as it became clear that his ideas on the latter subject were gaining little support.   

Yanagita eventually found a position in the legislative bureau of the Japanese government, and in his free time traveled all around the country collecting folklore.  His collections were not limited to folktales and legends, but also to folk beliefs and customs, which he divided into three categories: (Mori 92)

Yanagita eventually found a position in the legislative bureau of the Japanese government, and in his free time traveled all around the country collecting folklore.  His collections were not limited to folktales and legends, but also to folk beliefs and customs, which he divided into three categories: (Mori 92)