image of person or book cover 7440408040980899153.jpg
This image has been sourced from online.
y separately published work icon Kojuro and the Bears single work   picture book   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 1987... 1987 Kojuro and the Bears
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

This story describes the hardships and sorrows of a bear hunter. Kojuro comes to regret that he must kill the bears in order to make a living. Eventually, the wheel turns and his life is ended by a bear. (Source:From the book)

Exhibitions

Notes

  • Adapted by Helen Smith from the original Japanese story by Kenji Miyazawa.

Affiliation Notes

  • This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it is based on a Japanese story.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Collins , 1987 .
      image of person or book cover 7440408040980899153.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 29p.
      Description: col. illus.
      ISBN: 0732272289 (pbk.)
Alternative title: Kojuro og Bjornene
Language: Danish
    • Copenhagen,
      c
      Denmark,
      c
      Scandinavia, Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Carlsen ,
      1989 .
      Extent: 30p.
      Description: col. illus.
      ISBN: 8756240228

Works about this Work

The Picture Book 'Kojuro and the Bears' : A Cross-Cultural Comparison with 'The Bears of Mount Nametoko (Nametoko Yama no Kuma)' Helen Kilpatrick , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 7 no. 1 1997; (p. 16-30)

Kilpatrick explores the notion that 'different cultural and narratological differences can affect the significances arising out of the texts' (16), through an examination of Miyazawa Kenji's Nametoko Yama no Kuma, the Morimoto/Smith adaptation Kojuro and the Bears (Australian CBC Picture Book of the Year 1987), and the unillustrated original narrative. In a cross-cultural comparison, Kilpatrick argues that the westernised adaptations 'signify an unfamiliar message of interaction between nature and life to an audience acculturated by more anthropocentric traditions' (16).

Buddhism is intrinsic to Kenji's narratives and Kilpatrick sees a disparity between the central Buddhist tenet regarding the 'equality and ultimate oneness of all beings and objects in the phenomenal world' and the anthropocentric western perspective that privileges humans over animals and nature, in a hierarchy that is fixed and naturalised (17). The contrast shows how culture and 'discoursal strategies' affect intepretation through methods of representation and how certain significations 'foster and provoke [a] more intense contemplation of life' (25).

However, Kilpatrick highlights how the western adaptations are encoded with a more humanistic, ecological ideology, which, she argues, shows that, fundamentally, 'different notions about death and the cosmos make it difficult to avoid acculturated beliefs' (25).

[Review] Kojuro and the Bears Joan Zahnleiter , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 2 no. 3 1987; (p. 25)

— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book
The Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards 1987 : The Short Lists Jo Goodman , 1987 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 2 no. 2 1987; (p. 12-13)
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears Ann Young , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 39-40)

— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book
Judges' Report - 1987 1987 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 10-16)
The report also includes short criticisms of the honour books and shortlisted titles and a general comment on each award category.
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears Joan Zahnleiter , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 2 no. 3 1987; (p. 25)

— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book
Australian Children's Book Awards : The 1987 shortlist Margaret Dunkle , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 91 1987; (p. 29-32)

— Review of Riverman Allan Baillie , 1986 single work novel ; Creatures in the Beard Margaret Wild , 1986 single work picture book ; Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book ; The Wild Bob Graham , 1986 single work picture book ; All About Anna and Harriet and Christopher and Me Libby Hathorn , 1986 single work children's fiction ; Melissa's Ghost Michael Dugan , 1986 single work children's fiction ; Blue Days Donna Sharp , 1986 single work novel ; Space Demons Gillian Rubinstein , 1986 single work novel ; Taronga Victor Kelleher , 1986 single work novel ; My Sister Sif Ruth Park , 1986 single work novel ; All We Know Simon French , 1986 single work children's fiction ; Animalia Graeme Base , 1986 single work picture book ; Farmer Schulz's Ducks Colin Thiele , 1986 single work picture book ; Pigs Might Fly Emily Rodda , 1986 single work children's fiction ; Sister Madge's Book of Nuns Doug MacLeod , 1986 selected work poetry ; Boss of the Pool Robin Klein , 1986 single work children's fiction ; Murgatroyd's Garden Judy Zavos , 1986 single work picture book ; The Nativity Ron Lander , 1986 single work picture book
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 7 March 1987;

— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book
'High-Tech Hit Misses Out. Judges Get It Wrong Again, says Katharine England' Katharine England , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 15 August 1987;

— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears Ann Young , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 39-40)

— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book
The Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards 1987 : The Short Lists Jo Goodman , 1987 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 2 no. 2 1987; (p. 12-13)
The Picture Book 'Kojuro and the Bears' : A Cross-Cultural Comparison with 'The Bears of Mount Nametoko (Nametoko Yama no Kuma)' Helen Kilpatrick , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 7 no. 1 1997; (p. 16-30)

Kilpatrick explores the notion that 'different cultural and narratological differences can affect the significances arising out of the texts' (16), through an examination of Miyazawa Kenji's Nametoko Yama no Kuma, the Morimoto/Smith adaptation Kojuro and the Bears (Australian CBC Picture Book of the Year 1987), and the unillustrated original narrative. In a cross-cultural comparison, Kilpatrick argues that the westernised adaptations 'signify an unfamiliar message of interaction between nature and life to an audience acculturated by more anthropocentric traditions' (16).

Buddhism is intrinsic to Kenji's narratives and Kilpatrick sees a disparity between the central Buddhist tenet regarding the 'equality and ultimate oneness of all beings and objects in the phenomenal world' and the anthropocentric western perspective that privileges humans over animals and nature, in a hierarchy that is fixed and naturalised (17). The contrast shows how culture and 'discoursal strategies' affect intepretation through methods of representation and how certain significations 'foster and provoke [a] more intense contemplation of life' (25).

However, Kilpatrick highlights how the western adaptations are encoded with a more humanistic, ecological ideology, which, she argues, shows that, fundamentally, 'different notions about death and the cosmos make it difficult to avoid acculturated beliefs' (25).

Judges' Report - 1987 1987 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 10-16)
The report also includes short criticisms of the honour books and shortlisted titles and a general comment on each award category.
Last amended 8 Nov 2017 12:58:33
Settings:
  • c
    Japan,
    c
    East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X