was a Japanese folklorist, and a close collaborator and friend of the historian Amino Yoshihiko

Yoshihiko Amino

was a Japanese Marxist historian and public intellectual, perhaps most singularly known for his novel examination of medieval Japanese history. Although little of the work by Amino has been published in the West, Japanese writers and historians of Japan regard Amino as one of the most important...

. He graduated from the department of literature at Tokyo University of Education (now University of Tsukuba

University of Tsukuba

is located in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The University has 28 college clusters and schools with a total of around 15,000 students...

) in 1960, was appointed Assistant Lecturer at the Tokyo Gakugei University

Tokyo Gakugei University

Tokyo Gakugei University or Gakudai , for short, is a national university in Koganei, Tokyo. While its history may be traced to 1873, it was formally chartered as a university in 1949 through the merging of four teacher-training institutions....

 in 1970, and became full-time professor at the University of Tsukuba

University of Tsukuba

is located in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The University has 28 college clusters and schools with a total of around 15,000 students...

 in 1980. On his official retirement he took up a professorship at Kanagawa University

Kanagawa University

, abbreviated to is a private university in Japan. The main campus is located in Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.- History :The university was founded in 1928 by as . It was an evening school for the working youth...

.