Born Matsuoka Kunio (he took his wife's surname when he married into her family), Yanagita is largely considered the father of Japanese folklore studies, and although he was not the first to delve into this field, his work has played the largest part in forming the methodologies and approaches used by most other folklorists today. His first work, and arguably his most famous, is Tono monogatari, or The Legends of Tono, a collection of legends collected by himself and colleague Sasaki Kizen in the Tono Village region of Iwate Prefecture. Though his earlier work focused on tales of ghosts, monsters, and the mysterious, Yanagita's central focus later became the traditions and culture of rice farmers in mountain, seaside and lowland villages.
