Yuki–Onna: Folktale from Japan IN a village of Musashi Province, there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an old man; and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. Every day they went together to a forest situated about five miles from their village. … Read more
A Dead Secret: Folktale from Japan A LONG time ago, in the province of Tamba, there lived a rich merchant named Ina muraya Gensuke. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up with only such teaching as … Read more
Mujina: Folktale from Japan ON the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka, which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii. On one side of this slope you see an ancient moat, deep and very wide, … Read more
Jikininki: Folktale from Japan ONCE, when Muso Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone through the province of Mino, he lost his way in a mountain-district where there was nobody to direct him. For a long time he wandered about helplessly; and he was beginning to despair of finding shelter for the … Read more
Diplomacy: Folktale from Japan IT had been ordered that the execution should take place in the garden of the yashiki. So the man was taken there, and made to kneel clown in a wide sanded space crossed by a line of tobi-iski, or stepping-stones, such as you may still see in Japanese landscape-gardens. His arms … Read more
The Story of O-Tei: Folktale from Japan A LONG time ago, in the town of Nii-gata, in the province of Echizen, there lived a man called Nagao Chosei. Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father’s profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called O-Tei, … Read more
Oshidori: Folktale from Japan THERE was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjo, who lived in the district called Tamura-no-Go, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out hunting, and could not find any game. But on his way home, at a place called Akanuma, he perceived a pair of oshidori (mandarin ducks – … Read more
The Story Of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi is from the book “Kwaidan: stories and studies of strange things, by Lafcadio Hearn; 1904; Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.” Deriving its title from the word for “ghost story” in Japanese, Kwaidan is a book by scholar and translator Lafcadio Hearn in which are compiled an array of ghost stories hailing … Read more
The Two Daughters: Folktale from Japan At Akita, in the province of Inaba, lived an independent gentleman, who had two daughters, by whom he was ministered to with all filial piety. He was fond of shooting with a gun, and thus very often committed the sin (according to the teaching of holy Buddha) of taking … Read more
Karma: Folktale from Japan The young man, Ito Tatewaki, was returning homeward after a journey which he had taken to the city of Kioto. He made his way alone and on foot, and he went with his eyes bent upon the ground, for cares weighed him down and his mind was full of the business … Read more
The Nurse: Folktale from Japan Idé the samurai was wedded to a fair wife and had an only child, a boy called Fugiwaka. Idé was a mighty man of war, and as often as not he was away from home upon the business of his liege lord. So the child Fugiwaka was reared by his mother and … Read more
The Cold Lady: Folktale from Japan Once an old man and a young man left their village in company, in order to make a journey into a distant province. Now, whether they went for pleasure or for profit, for matters of money, of love or war, or because of some small or great vow that … Read more
The Clever Monkey and the Boar: Folktale from Japan Long, long ago, there lived in the province of Shinshin in Japan, a traveling monkey-man, who earned his living by taking round a monkey and showing off the animal’s tricks. One evening the man came home in a very bad temper and told his wife to … Read more