Talking of criticism, one should be aware of its different expressions: criticism in content and criticism as method. The former means the genre of reading creative works, criticism of literature; the latter is the critical attitude inherent in the writing. I will deal with the latter in this essay. In other words, I will contemplate the problem of how, in ancient poetry and narratives, words charged with critical force achieve to constitute the work's unique method. The words appear to function not as criticism in itself, but as a medium that induces a critical element. In short, I hope to stress, how, in ancient literature, words evoke criticism, instead of criticism informing words.

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Sekkyo, Sanshodayu is a reorganized narrative of the essentially two stories of the fall of the Sanshodayu Family and the Restoration of Iwaki Hangan Masauji clan. The central element in the reorganization is compactly represented in the union and separation of the brother and sister Zushiomaru and Anju. Especially, Anju's death is a ritual death of a scapegoat that resolves the tension between family and Community (Uniformity). At the same time, the rebirth and the worldly success of Zushio is won at the exclusion of Anju and the Sanshodayu Family and covering of their existence.

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The ritual parting with gods still performed in Korea today is the festival at a shrine (for the entire village) centered on the singing, dancing and offering of sacrifice by a shaman (mudan). This ritual has the performing style quite similar to that of hanamatsuri (flower festival) in Japan's Okumikawa (the remoter parts of Aiichi) District. In this essay, I have compared the myth narrating the origin of the mudan, "The Myth of the Parikonju," and "A Tale of the Ox-headed King," deeply related to hanamatsuri I have also attempted to trace the narrative (mythical) kinship of these stories with Hakusan no Honkai," a guide to the rebus representing the map of Hakusan, which helped spread the worship of Hakusan all over the country. Furthermore, I have pointed out the similarities between the rituals concerning Hakusan at the hanamatsuri and the rituals of Kilgarum performed by the mudan. Finally, I have tried to indicate that the "traffic" between the Japanese and Korean myths in the Middle and Early Modern ages, as shown in this paper, gives a legitimate ground for my propositions made at the Division of Early Modern (Kinsei) Literature at the General Convention of Japanese Literary Association last Year.

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In the Taisho Period, Kafu was remarkably productive in the diverse fields of fiction, translation of poetry, theories of art, and essays observing the modern city. For example, he constructed his novels quite self-consciously while, keeping his sharply critical relationship with society. At the same time, he employed the conscious strategy of inserting the temporarily-and spatially-distanced hetero-genous cultural structures into his writing, as demonstrated in the figures of "France" in the collection of poems Sangoghu, or "Edo" in The Theory of Edo Art. I have contemplated the problems of "criticism" and language in the literary works of Kafu by redefining this diverse and multi-faceted development of his narrative as an act of deconstructing the framework of "modernity."

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