151 Tales From Japan

Long ago, there was a famous choja at Mano in Bingo. Before becoming famous, he was a humble, hard-working youth named Kogoro, the charcoal maker. He had built a little hut at Uchiyama in Mie and lived alone, baking charcoal for a living. One day, a beautiful lady from the capital-city came to meet Kogoro, […]

Once upon a time, Hage Badger of Awa came to meet Shibaemon Badger and suggested him that they should compare their abilities to disguise themselves. Shibaemon agreed and crossed the sea to Awa province. To begin with, Hage Badger displayed a disguise which looked like the feudal lord of Awa crossing the sea. There were

Long ago, in a certain village, there lived a bad fox who occasionally came out and did some mischief. In the same village lived a proud man who always boasted, “No fox can ever disguise himself to me.” One day, when the man was going home, he saw a fox on the sand bar of

Once upon a time in Japan, there was a brave samurai named Awazu-no-Kaja in Omi province. He had built a temple but there was no bell to hang in it. So, he decided to go and buy the iron required to construct the bell. He arranged for a boat and set out from Echizen to

Long time ago, Shinriki-bo, (a mountain priest) lived in a big house in Sakamoto Hachiman. A devil from Chichibu mountain came to his house daily. He used to demand huge quantities of wine and feasts and made many unreasonable demands. The priest was in great trouble. He wanted to teach the devil a lesson. So,

Once, there lived an old woodcutter in the village of Motoda in Oki-no-kuni. One day, he went along the Yasunaga river to cut wood in the mountain above the waterfall. By mistake, the axe slipped from his hands and fell into the little round pool at the foot of the waterfall. Suddenly, waves began to

Once upon a time, an old man lived in the mountains of Japan’s Higo province. He made his living by cutting down firewood in the mountains and then selling it in the town of Seki. One day, there were no customers and he could not buy any wood. Finally, he went to the river bridge

Long ago, there lived a young man named Saburo. He was born into a rich family of business persons. He fell in love with a beautiful woman named Otsuyu. Their love was a happy and blossoming kind of love, like a beautiful peony flower. They met in secret for some time and then decided to

Once upon a time, there lived a cooper in a certain village of Japan. One morning when he went out to work, he saw that it had snowed. Suddenly, a frightful monster with only one eye and one leg appeared in front of him. Looking at him, the cooper thought, ‘This must be yama-chichi which

Once upon a time in the village of Yawata in Higo province, there was an old pond near the shrine. It was decided that the pond needed to be drained and the fish taken out. Finally, the day arrived and at early morning all the villagers gathered and started dipping the water out. They kept

Once upon a time, in the village of Ibori in Owari, there was a heavy downpour. As a result, the Kiso river rose higher and higher. The villagers were scared that the barriers might break. So, they set up a watch by the flood. One night, a voice called out from the depths of Mino-no-Ikiyama

One summer evening, a man living in Oshu went fishing in a pond at Handayama. He caught many fish and his basket was full up to the brim. To cool himself, the man soaked his bare feet in the pond. Suddenly, a water spider came out of the pond and fastened his thread onto the

Once in a certain village of Japan, a beautiful willow tree stood near the centre. People loved the tree and admired it for its beauty and strength. A young farmer named Heitaro lived with his family near this tree. Every morning when he woke up, he saw the tree from his bedroom window. One day,

Once upon a time, there lived an old man who had a lump on the left side of his face. He felt the lump irritating and did everything to remove it but could not. So, he kept himself away from people. With time, the lump got bigger. He lost all hope and knew that he

Once, a poor man was walking through the woods. He found a tanuki (raccoon dog) caught in a trap. Overcome with pity, he set him free. That night, the tanuki visited the poor man. The tanuki said, “Thank you for your kindness. As a token of my gratitude, I will tell you something very important.