SOURCE: "A Note on Japanese Allusions in Gary Snyder's Poetry," in Western American Literature, Vol. 18, No. 2, Summer, 1983, pp. 143-48.

In the essay below, Yamazato traces Snyder's use of Japanese folktales and culture in his poetry.

Recent criticism of the poetry of Gary Snyder has focused on the poet's use of allusions. While Buddhist and Chinese allusions have gradually been identified and explicated, the equally important Japanese allusions in Snyder's poetry have attracted little attention. Reflecting the poet's Japanese years (1956–1968), these allusions range widely over such subjects as classical Japanese literature, folklore, religion, and the Japanese way of life in general. The allusions to the Japanese subjects indeed are so varied that a coherent discussion of them would require a much longer study than the present one. Instead of attempting an exhaustive discussion of Snyder's Japanese allusions, then, I would like to narrow my focus and discuss a few...