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Celtic and Japanese Literatures: A Comparative Study.

About Yuka and her Studies:

Yuka Kodama is currently completing a degree in Comparative Culture at Sophia University in Tokyo. She recently spent two years as a visiting student at the University of Oxford. Whilst there she specialised in Celtic Studies, learning Old Irish and studying many of the works written down in that language. Noticing many similarities between literary and cultural traditions in both Celtic and old Japanese societies, she became enthused with the idea of researching a doctorate thesis on the subject. She has been accepted for a postgraduate MSt course at Oxford in which she will continue her studies into the Old Irish literature and the Celtic cultures and societies that formed the background in which the bards and poets composed and recited these works.
After completing the Masters degree she hopes to remain in Oxford and progress to writing a D.Phil thesis which will build on her studies in Oxford and Tokyo to compare and analyse the similarities and differences in Celtic and Japanese cultures that produced their respective literary traditions. In both cases, of course, many of the tales and poems were a product of an oral story-telling tradition and were written down and preserved at a slightly later time, after each work had to a degree evolved, grown and merged with others. This process of genesis and evolution in an oral medium before being fixed in a more permanent state by being written down only adds to the fascination of the subject and introduces a strong element of literary archaeology.

After her time reading Celtic Studies in Oxford, Yuka wrote down some thoughts on the work she would like to undertake at postgraduate level. To read about her ideas at the time, click here.

A few examples of work written by Yuka during her studies in Oxford and Tokyo: (more will be posted soon)

Portrayal of Heroes in Japanese and Celtic Epic Tales.

Over the last year, whilst she has been studying Japanese literature, Yuka has had many more ideas regarding the concepts that she wishes to incorporate into her research. She will write about these in the very near future.

Yuka was the recipient of a travel award from Oxford University that allowed her to visit several places of interest in Ireland and to spend some time in the remote valley of Gleann Cholm Cille in County Donegal, where she was able to study the Irish language as it is spoken today.
This picture was taken in Carlingford, looking over the Lough towards the Mountains of Mourne. This area is the setting for the Irish epic tale T�in B� C�ailnge.
For more information on the history and legends of Carlingford and the Cooley Peninsula, click here.

This page is partly an outlet for Yuka to share the results of her studies with the world at large, and in due time will no doubt also contain plenty regarding her ballet teaching etc, but is mainly here as a rather desperate plea for help.
   Yuka is extrememly enthusiastic about the subject of her research but has hit the brick wall that many researchers and students come up against, namely the problem of funding. In order to study the Irich/Celtic side of things, she obviously has to use resources in Europe rather than Japan. One of the best resources in the world is the collection of libraries at the University of Oxford, including the Celtic Studies library at Jesus College, the Taylorian Institute and, of course, the Bodleian Library.
   To the best of our knowledge, Yuka, has applied, unsuccessfully, to all the scholarships available for a Japanese student wishing to study an esoteric subject such as this. As can be imagined, the number of available sources is somewhat limited, and the most promising ones are usually biased towards more mainstream subjects, usually in the sciences.
   Hence the idea of setting up a webpage to see if there is anyone out there who would be interested enough in this research to dip into their pockets and help Yuka's dreams come true. I can't really describe just how keen she is to be able to do this work.

If you would like to encourage Yuka, if you can help out in any small way or if you would just like to ask her a question, you can write to her at the following address: [email protected]

A proper mailing address will be posted here very soon.