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Yasaburo Ikeda

いけだ やさぶろう

Ikeda Yasaburo

Aliases: 池田彌三郎 / 池田 弥三郎

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1914-12-21 （Kyobashi Ward, Tokyo City (now Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan)）
Died
1982-07-05 （Japan (details unknown)） age 67
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Ginza (Tokyo) → Uozu (Toyama Prefecture) → Kamakura (burial place)

Career

Occupations
Japanese literature scholar, Folklorist, Essayist, University professor
Active Years
1937-1982
Affiliations
Keio University, Faculty of Letters, Senzoku Gakuen Uozu Junior College (Professor, Department of Japanese Literature)
Influenced By
Shinuo Orikuchi

Education

Keio University
Faculty of Letters / Department of Japanese Literature
Degree: 文学士
Period: 1934-1937
Year of Graduation: 1937
Country: Japan
Transferred in 1934 from preparatory economics course to the Faculty of Letters, Department of Japanese Literature
Keio University
Graduate School / Graduate School of Letters
Degree: 博士（文学）
Year of Graduation: 1963
Country: Japan
Received PhD (Literature) for thesis 'Nihon Geinō Denshōron' (Japanese Performing Arts Transmission Theory)

Awards

Medal with Purple Ribbon
1977
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 受章

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Performing Arts

1955 Folklore / Scholarly work

A study surveying Japanese folk performing arts and examining their transmission and meanings.

transmission of performing artsfolklore

On the Transmission of Japanese Performing Arts

1962 Scholarly work

Based on his doctoral dissertation, a major study on the structure and transformation of performing arts transmission in Japan.

traditionhistory of performing arts

Ghosts of Japan

1959 Folklore / Essays

An accessible book interpreting Japanese ghosts and tales from a folkloristic perspective.

ghostsfolktales

Bibliography

  • Performing Arts (Iwasaki Shoten, Folklore Series)
  • Literature and Folklore (Iwasaki Shoten)
  • Japanese Performing Arts (Iwasaki Shoten)
  • Hadaka Fudoki (Kodansha)
  • Ghosts of Japan (Chūōkōron-sha)
  • On the Transmission of Japanese Performing Arts (Chūōkōron-sha)
  • Wavering Japanese Language (Kawade Shobo Shinsha)
  • The Seat of the Rare Person: Orikuchi Shinobu and Me (Chūōkōron-sha)
  • Twelve Chapters of Ginza (Asahi Shimbun)
  • My Food Essays (Kawade Shobo Shinsha)
  • Culture of Language (Kawade Shobo Shinsha)
  • My Theory of Orikuchi Shinobu (Chuko Shinsho)
  • Topics for Conversation (Bunshun Bunko)
  • Whether Going or Stopping, Dreams Are Dreams (Kodansha)
  • Letters from Uozu (Mainichi Shimbun)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
essayistic and approachable narrative voiceanalytical folkloristic perspective on phenomena
Recurring Motifs
performing arts and traditionlanguage (Japanese)food culture and everyday lifescenes of Tokyo and Ginza

Health

  • Liver cirrhosis
    晩年（1980年代初頭）
    His liver cirrhosis worsened and he died in 1982.

Legacy

He left numerous works at the intersection of Japanese literature and folklore, contributing to studies of Orikuchi Shinobu and the transmission of Japanese performing arts. Known also for TV appearances as a 'celebrity professor' and his essays, he taught at Keio University for many years and received the Medal with Purple Ribbon.

Museums

  • Takaoka Manyo History Museum (special exhibition: The World of Yasaburo Ikeda) Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, Japan

Academic Societies

  • Folklore Society of Japan
  • Organizations related to Japanese literature studies

Archives

  • Keio University archives (holds related materials)

Quotes

  • This turns pages faster, which makes it easier to get carried away.
    Source: Quoted in Tomoshi Muramatsu, 'Yume no Shimatsu-sho' (citation)

Trivia

  • His family ran the tempura shop 'Tenkin' in Ginza.
  • He used custom narrow manuscript paper (20 characters vertical × 5 characters horizontal).
  • Appeared on NHK quiz-variety shows such as 'Watashi Dake ga Shitteiru', an early example of a 'celebrity professor'.
  • Awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1977.