Claude LÉVI-STRAUSS describes the oriental customs of the Oki Islands.

Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908.2009)

Autographed letter signed to his friend, ethnologist Isac Chiva.

Two large octavo pages on Okura Hotel letterhead in Tokyo (crossed out).

Oki Islands [Japan]. November 16, 1977.

"I received your letter dated the 10th on Oki Island, in the Sea of ​​Japan." 

The anthropologist describes the oriental customs of the Oki islands located in the Sea of ​​Japan.

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"My dear friend, I received your letter of the 10th on the island of Oki, in the Sea of ​​Japan , to which I reply with this note inconveniently scribbled in a Japanese inn where, as you know, there isn't much to sit on or write with, except perhaps with a brush. As for Menset's thesis, that's obviously ^a bit of a stretch as a date, but I had read the text during the summer and taken some notes. It hasn't left much of an impression on me, and I'll have to refresh my memory before the 5th; I'll manage. You can therefore confirm my agreement for the 5th or the 6th, and thank you for what you have done."

Since we arrived in Oki last night, I don't have anything to say about it yet. The main city, Saigo, seems like a small village, and the scenery from the air is very beautiful. The people live mainly off fishing and, to a lesser extent, agriculture. They are, apparently, fanatics of bullfighting. Every well-to-do family, I was told last night, has its own bull, fed on pounded rice, wheat, beans, and eggs, and each animal has its designated place in a hierarchy of wrestlers. It arrives at the fight magnificently adorned. It's a shame there isn't an opportunity during the four days we're spending here. Then, starting Saturday night, it's off to Tokyo for a week, and back to Paris on the 26th.

Tell Evelyne that I received her letter and thank her for it. I will try to obtain the recommended book on Yamaguchi in Tokyo, the title of which she gave me. Despite all the beautiful and interesting things we see here, we will have been pulled in so many directions that Paris will seem like a haven of peace! I hope the lab hasn't given you too much trouble and that we will manage in the coming years despite the budget renewal without an increase. We will obviously have to ^our belts. With warmest regards, Claude Lévi-Strauss.

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Isac CHIVA (1925-2012), an ethnologist of Romanian origin, arrived in France in 1948 where he studied, worked at the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, became head of works at the École pratique des Hautes Études (director, from 1994), and deputy director of the Laboratory of Social Anthropology alongside Lévi-Strauss.