Background: Overview Mythology Yōkai & Bakemono Folklore in Art Content: Mukashibanashi Densetsu Kaidan Kotowaza   Further Reading Resources

Mukashibanashi: the Japanese folktale Mukashibanashi 昔話 ("tales of long ago") is the Japanese word for folk tale. Another term, otogi-banashi お伽話, refers to night meetings held by groups of worshippers, or to stories told to feudal lords in the evening. These tales are among the simplest types of folk narratives, and are transmitted orally from generation to generation. A very few of them seem to be based on myths found in texts such as the Kojiki or the Konjaku monogatari, though it is entirely possible that it is the other way around. They often include certain elements (which are discussed in the overview) and themes, such as mischievous animals, extraordinary brides and their suspicious husbands, strange occurances, the good old man and the bad old man, and sudden reversals of fortune, to name a few. There are hundreds of folktale types, which have been catalogued by the early folklorist Yanagita Kunio, and later by his protege Keigo Seki. The latter has prepared a paper on these types for translation into English, which was printed in the Asian Folklore Studies journal in 1966 and can be found here. In compiling as extensive a list as possible for the purposes of this website, various problems have been encountered. The ideal format for these tales is a direct English translation, with no additions or subtractions, and a minimum of embellishment. There are a great number of tales translated into this language in this manner, most of which can be found in the translations of the works of the two early folklorists mentioned above. However, some of the most famous and well-known of mukashibanashi are not included in these works, and so I have had to settle for re-tellings by English speakers, most of whom wrote their versions in the early 1900s. There are a few problems with such re-tellings, most notably that the tales are quite visibly embellished and romanticized, thus obscuring thier original nature and flavor to a large degree. Such versions were recast as European tales (in terms of structure and sensibility), or tales of fancy, and retain almost none of their original character. Also, as said before, these versions were written not by folklorists recording them from oral sources but by travelers and ambassadors in the early years of the 20th century, a time when the West was just beginning to make efforts to understand Japanese culture; obviously not an ideal period for accurate re-tellings of mukashibanashi. At times in transcribing these versions I have had to remove the vestiges of antiquarian English language features. I have provided a brief note at the end of each tale giving its source; if merely the tale's place of origin is given, that means it is among those translated from the works of Yanagita and Seki. I have also provided annotations explaining certain features of tales and comparisons with others. And so in summation, while I have strived for the best versions of the tales available, by nature this collection is flawed, and readers should not take it as a definitive source. Again, as I have said numerous times here, those who are interested are encouraged to continue investigation into these subjects. It should also be noted that the selection provided here is not definitive of the range of types of tales, though I've strived to be as representative as possible.   Long ago, in a certain place... The Frog Wife The Fox Wife What the Yama-chichi Observed Komebukuro and Awabukuro The Tongue-Cut Sparrow Uguisu-hime, or Kaguya-hime Uriko-hime Urashima Tarō Momotarō, the Peach Boy The Crane Wife The Monkey and the Crab The Cuckoo and the Shrike The Mujina, the Monkey and the Otter The Wife Who Didn't Eat The Mountain Pears The Three Charms Kogorō, the Charcoal Maker The Water Spider The Monkeys' Jizō The Two Tumors The Sound of Chewing Acorns The Wolf's Eyebrows Kachi-kachi-yama Bunbuku Chagama The Monkey's Liver Tawara Toda, "Lord Bag of Rice" The Spider and the Old Man Shippei Tarō Tokutarō Tricked by Foxes The Gratitude of the Samebito The Boy Who Drew Cats Yuki-onna, the Snow Woman The Golden Axe and the Silver Axe The Monkey Bridegroom The Quiver of the Mountain Deity Little Runny-nose Boy From a Meadow Lane in Spring The Fox's Laugh The Listening Hood This section is always under construction. More mukashibanashi are to be added in the future, so check by for updates often!