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The task of compiling a handbook about Japanese mythology is a daunting one. As Michael Ahkenazi cautions in the preface to his Handbook of Japanese Mythology, issues connected with mythology are politically and socially vibrant, and “the views the reader will encounter will often be contentious and conflicting” (HJM, Preface, xvii). Nonetheless, Ashkenazi has produced a fascinating work that provides excellent insight into a component of Japanese culture that both nforms about and is deeply embedded in daily life, ritual, and history. The handbook is one of nine titles in ABC-CLIO’s Handbooks of World Mythology series.