Kizen Sasaki

Kizen Sasaki (佐々木喜善), also sometimes Sun-Hee Sasaki, (5 October 1886 – 29 September 1933), was a Japanese folklorist, sometimes known as the "Japanese Grimm".

He was the son of a weathly farming family and attended Shiritsu Tetsugakukan (now Toyo University) and then graduated with a degree in literature from Waseda University in 1905. In 1908 he became acquainted with Kunio Yanagita, and Sasaki began to collaborate with Yanagita on collecting the oral traditions and tales of Iwate Prefecture. In his later years he became friends with the poet Kenji Miyazawa with whom shared his discoveries. Sasaki suffered from respiratory problems and died at the age of 47.

Professionally, Sasaki published a number of books of collected folktales and customs.

ources

*Yamada, Norio (1977) "柳田国男の光と影 : 佐々木喜善物語" ("Yanagita Kunio no hikari to kage", "Kunio Yanagida's light and shadow: A Biography of Kizen Sasaki") 農山漁村文化協会 (Rural Cultural Association); electronic location [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015031469961 Hathi Trust Digital Library (search only)]
*JaTrans|佐々木幹郎

Persondata
NAME = Sasaki, Kizen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Sasaki, Sun-Hee
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Japanese folklorist
DATE OF BIRTH = 5 October 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH = Iwate Prefecture, Japan
DATE OF DEATH = 29 September 1933
PLACE OF DEATH = Japan