▁sag as ▁that ▁form ▁a ▁long ▁rich ▁tradition ▁of ▁or al ▁literature . ▁In ▁older ▁periods , ▁the ▁ep ics ▁were ▁performed ▁by ▁both ▁men ▁and ▁women ; ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁and ▁early ▁ 2 0 th ▁centuries , ▁when ▁A inu ▁culture ▁was ▁in ▁decl ine , ▁women ▁were ▁generally ▁the ▁most ▁skill ful ▁perform ers . ▁▁ ▁Trad itional ▁tales ▁describe ▁floating ▁world s ▁with ▁" A inu ▁Mos ir ", ▁or ▁the ▁land ▁of ▁the ▁humans ▁( as ▁opposed ▁to ▁" K am uy ▁Mos ir ", ▁the ▁land ▁of ▁the ▁gods ), ▁rest ing ▁on ▁the ▁back ▁of ▁a ▁fish ▁whose ▁movements ▁cause ▁earth qu akes . ▁ ▁Professor ▁Ky ō su ke ▁K inda ichi ▁collected ▁y uk ar ▁and ▁translated ▁them ▁into ▁Japanese . ▁ ▁In ▁August ▁ 2 0 0 6 , ▁the ▁As ah i ▁Sh imb un ▁reported ▁in ▁its ▁article ▁that ▁Japan ' s ▁Agency ▁of ▁Cultural ▁Affairs ▁( B unk ach o ) ▁would ▁dis continue ▁fund ing ▁by ▁fis cal ▁year ▁ 2 0 0 7 ▁of ▁the ▁project ▁to ▁translate ▁and ▁trans cribe ▁the ▁y uk ar ▁comp il ations ▁of ▁I me kan u , ▁, ▁which ▁consists ▁of ▁ 9 2 ▁y uk ar ▁stories ▁written ▁in ▁Rom aj i ▁with ▁the ▁t enth ▁story ▁lost ▁and ▁ 4 9 ▁stories ▁left ▁un trans l ated . ▁ ▁It ▁is ▁said ▁that ▁the ▁sto pp age ▁is ▁because ▁of ▁Sh iger u ▁Kay ano '