told by Jonatha and Harold Wright
Harold and I took Antioch College students for a semester of study in Japan each year, 1992 through 2005. Also we were involved with the Kyoto Seika Students who came to Antioch for a semester each of those years. Harold was Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at Antioch. We also taught storytelling. Always we asked the Japanese students to tell us their favorite Japanese story. Ikkyu-san (E Q san [with short a, riming with Don]) is one of those stories. It tells a few of the famous antics of a real person, Ikkyu, born in 1399, in Kyoto. As an adult he was a famous Buddhist priest. The child Ikkyu was very mischievous. Tales of his precocious tricks are told throughout Japan where Ikkyu-san is legendary. There are even Buddhist temples in Kyoto with signs proclaiming the exact spot where Ikkyu played one prank or another. Besides historical and philosophical books about the priest , there are any number of children’s books and manga (comics) about his early life. Stories about the antics of Ikkyu are as well known in Japan as our own tales about the childhood of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. A simple mention of “Ikkyu” always bring smiles to the Japanese we have known”
About Jonatha and Harold
This is the fifth year when you can see Jonatha and Harold Wright, Lisa Holmes and Eric Wolf, the “Yellow Springs Tale Spinners” perform in October, at Young’s Jersey Dairy, Yellow Springs, in the Spooky Barn, 7:30 to 10:00 PM, Fridays and Saturdays. The Wrights have several products available for purchase: including two CD’s of Japanese stories, two books of scary Japanese stories, three books of children’s’ stories, a book/CD combination of Harold’s poetry, a two volume book/CD of Harold’s translations of his favorite Japanese poems and Jonatha’s book available through Amazon: Team Up! Tell In Tandem! Check their website.
Contact Jonatha and Harold
Website: www.jonathaandharold.com
Email:
Phone: 937-767-9823
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