Issun-boshi

 

Long, long ago there lived a sweet old couple. Having no children but desiring one very much, they went to the shrine and prayed, "Please, please let us have a child, no matter how small." Eventually, a son was born to them. But small indeed was the child - no larger than a grown man's fingertip.

The couple raised the child tenderly, and though he became a bright and well-respected young man, he grew not at all. As a result, he became known as Issun-boshi (issun is a unit measuring about 3 centimeters).

 

One day, Issun-boshi told his parents that he wanted to seek his fortune in the city. His parents were worried about their son but, trusting him, they sent him off with a sword made of a sewing needle, a sheath made of straw, and a boat made from a rice bowl with a chopstick for an oar. Issun-boshi walked along until he came upon the river that flowed towards the town. There he set his rice bowl in the water and paddled with the chopstick for days on end, until at last he reached the town. 

Issun-boshi walked about town until he found himself in front of the stately mansion of the lord. At the gate he announced, "I have come to the city to work and train. I beg of you to make me a servant." But he was so tiny that the guard did not notice him. "I'm here, I'm here," Issun-boshi shouted. Finally the guard spotted him and lifted him up from the shadow of his geta (Japanese sandals). Issun-boshi was granted permission to see the lord and, in the palm of the lord's hand, he knelt, bowed, and pledged his loyalty. The lord took an instant liking to Issun-boshi and made him a retainer. Everyone in the mansion soon came to like the intelligent, charming Issun-boshi, but none more so than the lord's daughter. Before long, he became her personal attendant.

One afternoon the princess took Issun-boshi along and went to pay her respects at the Kiyomizu temple. Along the way, two ogres suddenly jumped out onto the road and blocked their path. Issun-boshi unsheathed his sword and instantly threw himself upon their attackers. But then suddenly one of the ogres swallowed him up in one gulp. In retort, he stabbed at the insides of its stomach. The ogre was so overcome with pain that it threw Issun-boshi up out of its stomach. Issun-boshi immediately jumped up on the other ogre's eyebrow and stabbed at its eye. Defeated, the ogres fled away crying, and in the process, one of them dropped its magic hammer.

 

 The princess picked up the hammer and said, "If you wave this, anything you ask for - money or rice - will be yours." Issun-boshi replied, "I want neither money nor rice. All I want is to become full-sized." The princess nodded, then waved the hammer, singing, "Growww, growww." 

 

 

In an instant, Issun-boshi became a full-grown, handsome warrior. He married the princess and, together with his parents, they lived happily ever after.

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Sannen Netaro (The Young Man Who Slept For Three Years)

Long, long ago, there lived an old man, an old woman, and their son. Now the son was of an age where he should be out working in the rice fields, but he did nothing but sleep from morning to night. He lay around the house like this for three years. People started calling him Netaro, the "Sleeping Boy."

His old mother was worried. "Get up!" she told him. "Go out and help in the fields! If you don't do any work, you'll never find anyone willing to marry you."

But a sleepy "mmm" was all that Netaro said.

The old man was angry with Netaro. He shouted at his son: "This is no time to sleep! We've had no rain this season, and the fields are looking terrible. Go fetch some water from the river and water the fields. If you don't help out a little, we'll have no rice to eat!"

Once again, though, "mmm" was all Netaro had to say.

One day, though, Netaro suddenly got out of bed. "I'm going up to the mountains," he told his parents. "I'll be back."

Later that day he came home with a large eagle. No one could imagine where or how he had caught the bird. "Don't let him escape," Netaro warned. He put the eagle in a cage.

"Now I'm going into town," he told his parents. "I'll be back."

He returned that evening with a lantern he had bought in town. "Hey, Netaro, what have you been up to?" his parents asked him.

But sure enough, Netaro only said one thing: "Mmm." He went right to sleep.

Now the house next to Netaro's belonged to a wealthy family. They had endless fields and rice paddies, and a huge storehouse filled to the brim with two or three years' worth of rice.

One night, as everyone else lay sleeping, Netaro woke up, got out of bed, and sneaked into the yard of the house next door. With him he had his eagle and the unlit lantern. Carrying them carefully, Netaro climbed the big pine tree growing in the yard. When he reached the top, he called out to the rich man: "Hey! Come out at once!"

 

The rich man was awakened by Netaro's shouts.

"I'm a tengu!" Netaro called out from the treetop. "I live deep in the mountains!"

A tengu is a long-nosed Japanese goblin. Nobody wants to get on a tengu's bad side. To avoid offending the tengu, the startled rich man quickly went outside. "A tengu?!" he said to himself. "Oh my!"

"Good evening, Mr. Tengu," the rich man said, crouching and bowing before the darkened tree. "What can I do for you?"

"I want you to give your only daughter's hand in marriage to Netaro, the young man next door."

"What?!" the rich man said in surprise. "Why would you want me to do that?"

"Don't ask why. Just hand her over by tomorrow."

"I know you're a powerful tengu," the rich man cried, "but I can't give my only daughter away just like that."

"Oh, I see," Netaro said. "You can't give your daughter to a lazy fellow like Netaro. All right. If that's the case, someday your family is going to become just as poor as his."

"Oh no!" said the rich man. "What'll I do? Let me think . . . Well . . . All right! Have it your way. I'll give up my daughter."

It was then that Netaro lit his lantern. He fastened the lantern to the eagle's talons and sent the eagle flying. Flapping its big wings, the eagle headed for the mountains. The rich man wept with fear, thinking the flying eagle with the lantern attached to its feet was a real tengu.

The next morning, the rich man's daughter showed up at Netaro's house to marry him. From that day onward, Netaro was a different man. He never again lay around the house, but worked as hard as he could.

 

First he started digging a ditch to bring water from the faraway river to the village. His bride helped him. Although the rich man's daughter had never worked in her life, she picked up a hoe and started digging. Finally, some years later, water flowed from the river into the village. The villagers never again had to worry about getting enough water for their fields.

The rich man was delighted, and gave all his rice paddies and fields to Netaro. He went around the village with a smile on his face, proudly telling anyone who cared to listen that Netaro was the reincarnation of a tengu.

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Kachikachi-yama

 

Long long ago there lived a kind-hearted old farmer and his wife. The two made friends with a rabbit that lived in the mountains nearby, and came to love it as if it were their own daughter. In the same area there also lived a mean raccoon, who constantly destroyed the old man's field. This became so disturbing to the old man that one day he captured him. 

 

 

Some days later, the rabbit dressed up in pretty clothes and lay in wait for the raccoon. When the raccoon appeared, she said to him: "I need to carry this firewood to the mountains but my legs are hurting. Would you be so kind as to carry it for me?" The raccoon decided to show off to the rabbit and hoisted the load onto his back.

The rabbit then began to strike her flint. The raccoon, unable to see because of the heavy load on his back, asked, "Hey, what's that scratching noise?" The rabbit replied, "It's the sound of the screechy birds from the screechy mountain." Finally, the rabbit ignited the flame and lit the firewood. The fire whooshed upward in a roar. The raccoon asked, "Hey, rabbit, what is that cackling sound?" The rabbit answered, "It's the sound of the cackling birds from the cackling mountain." At last, the flame burned through the wood and reached the raccoon's back. "Ah! Help me!" cried the raccoon. Frightened and scorched, he turned and fled.

 

The next day the rabbit, appearing in a disguise, prepared a batch of soy bean paste containing red hot peppers. Soon the burn-blistered raccoon came along. The rabbit called out: "This medicine is excellent for burns. Let me rub some on for you." The raccoon was elated and asked the rabbit to apply some to his back. But when the red peppers touched his burns, he screamed: "Ah, Ah, that hurts!" He rolled around on the ground in agony, legs flailing in the air.

 

 

After the raccoon's burns healed, the rabbit put on yet another disguise and called him over. "Would you like to go fishing?" "Fishing?" responded the raccoon, "Mm, that sounds good!" The rabbit then said, "Let's build a couple of boats. I'm light so I'll build my boat out of light wood. You're heavy so you need to make yours out of heavy mud." The greedy raccoon was fooled again and did as he was told.

When the boats were finished they set them in the water. The rabbit, leading the way, floated farther and farther down the river. Soon the raccoon's boat became water-logged and started to fall apart. "Ah, save me!" he cried. But far from saving the raccoon, the rabbit began to hack at the boat with her oar. "This is in revenge for killing the old woman!" Helpless, the evil raccoon sank to the bottom of the river.

 

 

 

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Tanabata

Tanabata is a festival that is celebrated every year on July 7 (or August 7 in some places). When this time of year comes around, people write their wishes on strips of paper and hang them on bamboo trees, along with decorations. You can see this almost everywhere.

Tanabata Stories are similar to Tanabata in many Asian countries, the Japanese version of the story is a mixture of a Chinese legend and local beliefs, so the story is told differently in different areas of Japan. Tanabata is also known as the story of Altair (the Cowherd Star) and Vega (the Weaver Star).

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 A long time ago, there was a young man who lived in a small village. One day as he was on his way home from working in the fields, he discovered something amazing: the most beautiful clothes he had ever seen. He wanted the clothes very badly, so he quietly put them in his basket and started on his way.

Just then, a voice called out, "Excuse me." The boy was startled and said, "What? Did somebody just call me?" A beautiful girl answered, "Yes, I did. Please give back my robe of feathers. I live in heaven, and I just came down to this pond to take a bath. Without my robe of feathers, I can't go back."

The girl looked as though she were about to cry, but the boy pretended not to know and answered, "Robe of feathers? I don't know anything about that." Unable to go back to heaven, the goddess was forced to remain on earth. She began to live with the young man.

The goddess's name was Tanabata. Tanabata and the young man got married and were living together happily. One day several years later, though, while the young man was working in the fields, Tanabata found her robe of feathers hidden between two beams in the ceiling. "I knew it. He's been hiding it," she thought to herself. She put on the robe of feathers and right away began to feel like the goddess she had once been.

 

That evening when the young man came home, he was surprised to see Tanabata wearing the robe of feathers, standing in front of the house. Tanabata began rising up toward heaven and called out to the young man, "If you love me, weave a thousand pairs of straw sandals and bury them around the bamboo tree. If you do that, we'll be sure to see each other again. Please do this. I'll be waiting for you." Tanabata rose up higher and higher and returned home to heaven.

 

  

The young man was very sad, but he knew what to do. On the very next day he began making straw sandals. He continued weaving them day and night. At last he finally finished making his last pair and buried them all around the bamboo tree.

Right away the bamboo tree began to get bigger and bigger, and it grew higher and higher into the sky. The young man immediately began climbing the tall bamboo tree. He climbed higher and higher until he was almost able to reach heaven. But because he had wanted to see Tanabata with all his heart, he had hurried when making the straw sandals and had actually made only 999 pairs. The tree stopped one step short, and the young man's hand could not reach heaven.

"Hey! Tanabata! Tanabata!" the young man cried out to heaven. "Oh, it's you!" Tanabata exclaimed. She extended her hand to the young man and pulled him over the clouds. "Tanabata, I missed you so much," the young man said. The two of them were overjoyed to see each other once again.

 

Tanabata's father was not happy that she had married a man from the world below. He gave the young man hard work to do, hoping to make him miserable. "You'll guard the melon field for three days and three nights," he said. Watching the melon field made the young man extremely thirsty, but if he ate one of the melons, it was said that something terrible would happen. Tanabata told him, "You absolutely cannot eat one of those melons."

But as the three days went by, the young man grew thirsty and became unable to bear it any longer. He reached for a melon. The instant he did, water burst forth from the fruit and became a flowing river. "Darling!" "Tanabata!" In an instant the two were pulled apart from each other.

The two lovers looking across the river at each other became the stars Altair and Vega. Tanabata's father allows them to meet, but only once a year, on the night of July 7. To this day these two stars face each other across the Milky Way, shining brightly.

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Urashima Taro

 

Long, long ago in a faraway village by the sea, a young fisherman named Urashima Taro lived a modest life with his old mother. One fall, the sea was rough day after day and Urashima Taro was unable to fish. Early one morning he went down to the shore and watched the choppy sea. He suddenly noticed three boys close to him, teasing and hitting a turtle with heavy sticks. "How dare you hurt a creature like that?" shouted Urashima Taro, chasing the boys away.

 

The next day Urashima Taro went to the shore again and saw the turtle's head poking out from the waves. "I owe you my life!" said the grateful turtle as it came out of the sea to meet Urashima Taro. "As a token of my thanks, I would like to take you to the Dragon Palace." Urashima Taro thought this was a splendid idea, but felt that he could not leave his old mother alone at home. "We won't be long," assured the turtle, so Urashima Taro accepted the invitation and climbed onto the turtle's back. The turtle dived deep into the sea.

 

Gliding along, they neared a castle, glittering with gold and silver. From it emerged a charming, beautifully dressed princess, accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting and a host of fish. She took Urashima Taro into the palace, where an exquisite banquet was spread out for him.

 

While dining endlessly on delicacies and drinking fine wine, he was entertained with gorgeous music and dancing beauties and fish. Urashima Taro was spellbound. Before he knew it, three whole years had passed.

 

Finally coming out of his spell, Urashima Taro said he wanted to return home. As a farewell gift, the Sea-Princess handed him a three-tiered tamatebako (jeweled hand-box), saying: "If you find yourself in trouble or at a loss, please open it up." With the box tightly secured under his arm, Urashima Taro once more climbed onto the turtle's back and set off for home.

Back in his village, Taro was puzzled to see that the rivers and mountains had changed their shapes beyond recognition and that many trees had withered. Approaching an old farmer, Taro asked him, "Do you happen to know where to find the house of Urashima Taro, a fisherman who used to live here?"

The old man replied, "When my grandfather was a young man, someone by that name was said to have traveled to the Dragon Palace. He was never heard of again." Taro felt lost and lonely. His mother had died and all that was left of his house was an overgrown patch of garden.

 Not knowing what to do, Urashima Taro remembered the words of the Sea-Princess as she handed him the precious hand-box. He opened up the top drawer and found a crane's feather. Then he opened the middle drawer; all at once white smoke poured out and enveloped him. In space of few seconds, Urashima Taro became a silver-haired, hunched-over old man. Looking at himself in the mirror that he found in the bottom drawer, Taro was dumbfounded to see how he had aged.

 While he wondered how this was possible, a wind swept up the crane's feather and blew it onto Taro's back. In a flash, Urashima Taro was transformed into a crane, and he flew high into the skies. The turtle, who was actually none other than the Sea-Princess herself, gazed up quietly at Taro from the sea below.

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Kintaro

Once upon a time there was a boy who lived with his mother on Mt. Ashigara. His name was Kintaro, and he was very strong from the day he was born. Kintaro wore a red haragake (a kind of clothing worn by small children long ago) that his mother made for him emblazoned with the character "kin" (which means "gold") and often went outside to play.

 Kintaro's friends were the creatures of the mountains, such as rabbits, monkeys, and wild boars. All of the animals liked Kintaro. They played sumo together, but no one could ever beat Kintaro. One bear who was very proud of his strength decided to take Kintaro on, saying, "I'll wrestle you," but Kintaro won.

 

One day Kintaro took a hatchet, climbed onto the bear's back, and went off into the mountains with his friends. On the way, they came to a cliff overlooking a big stream and found that there was no bridge across. "I'll knock a tree over and make us a bridge," said the bear. But even though he pushed and pushed, the tree didn't budge. "I'll give it a try," said Kintaro, and he began to push with all his might. When he pushed, the tree began to move, and with a loud crack it fell over and spanned the river. "Hooray!" shouted all of Kintaro's friends.

 

 

Just then a voice called out from behind, saying, "What incredible strength!" When Kintaro turned around to look, he saw a great samurai and his retainers. The samurai said to Kintaro, "Your strength is incredible! Won't you please become my retainer?" "Can I really become a warrior?" Kintaro asked. "Of course you can," said the samurai. "One day you'll become a magnificent warrior." 

Kintaro went home and told his mother, "I really want to become a great warrior, too." His mother said to him, "I'm sure you'll be a splendid warrior. Actually, your father was a powerful warrior himself. Don't worry about me. Go ahead and go." Kintaro said goodbye to his mother and his animal friends before heading off into the mountains. "Mother," he said, "thank you for raising and taking care of me. I will never forget your kindness. I will come back and get you." After Kintaro grew up, he became a powerful warrior called Sakata Kintoki and vanquished an ogre living on Mt. Oe. Kintaro then sent for his mother, and the two of them lived together happily ever after.

 

 

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Nezumi no Yomeiri (The Mouse's Marriage)

 

Once upon a time, there lived a wealthy mouse family. Their only daughter was a good-natured young mouse, and Father Mouse and Mother Mouse were very proud of her.

One day Father Mouse said to Mother Mouse, "Wouldn't we want our daughter to marry the best person in the world? Who could be the greatest in all the world?" Mother Mouse replied, "It must be Mr. Sun. He lights up the whole world from high up in the sky."

So Father Mouse and Mother Mouse visited Mr. Sun and said, "Mr. Sun, Mr. Sun, we beg you. You are the greatest person in the world. Will you marry our precious daughter? Our only daughter is most good-natured, and we want her to wed the very best groom."

But Mr. Sun answered, "Hmm. The greatest person in the world is surely not myself but Mr. Cloud. However hard I may try to light up the world, I am easily hidden away when Mr. Cloud comes out."

So the two went on to see Mr. Cloud. "Mr. Cloud, we have been told that you are the greatest person in the world. Please do take our dearest daughter as your bride," they asked.

"Oh no, there is someone greater than myself," replied Mr. Cloud. "It's Mr. Wind. However hard I may try to cover the sky, Mr. Wind can blow me away with a single puff."

  

"I see," Father Mouse and Mother Mouse said, and went off to Mr. Wind. 

 

"Mr. Wind, as you are the greatest person in the world, we would like you to marry our only daughter."

"Well, thank you, but there is someone who is greater than myself."

"Who is that?"

"It's Mr. Wall. However hard I blow, I just can't blow him down."

Finally, Father Mouse and Mother Mouse went to see Mr. Wall.

"Mr. Wall, please wed our daughter. We want our daughter to marry the greatest person in the world and lead a happy life."

"Ho-ho, Father Mouse and Mother Mouse, you are quite mistaken. If you mice nibble on me, I'm full of holes. The greatest ones in the world must be mice."

"Now, that never occurred to us. So we are the greatest in the world!"

 

Father Mouse and Mother Mouse went back home smiling. "Why, we mice are the best after all. Well then, Chusuke Mouse next door gets along well with our daughter. If the two are happy to do so, it must be best for them to marry."

So Chusuke Mouse and Daughter Mouse were happily wed. Their wedding celebrations went on for three days and three nights, and they lived happily ever after.

(origins:http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/folk/yomeiri/index.html) 

 

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Warashibe Choja

 

Once upon a time there lived a young man named Yosaku. Not having a farm of his own, he wandered from village to village, helping other farmers and living off of the vegetables he received for his efforts. And with no home of his own, he slept in Buddhist temples, where he would pray to Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. "Kannon, every day I work hard. I have no home of my own. Please give me a place to stay tonight. And let me find work again tomorrow."

One night, Kannon appeared at Yosaku's side, immersed in gold light, and said to him, "Wake up, Yosaku." Kannon spoke to him: "Yosaku, you are an admirable man. However poor you may be you never complain and you help people for the smallest of pay. I'm going to provide you with a happy life. Tomorrow, the first thing you touch will reap great rewards for you." With these words, Kannon disappeared.

 

The following day, as Yosaku headed out to work, he tripped on a stone on the roadside and fell down. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. When he stood up, he found himself holding a stalk of straw. "I wonder if this straw is what Kannon told me to hold on to. How is this going to make me happy?" Puzzled, he resumed walking.

Suddenly, a horsefly flew by and began buzzing around his face. Yosaku caught it and tied it to the end of his straw. The bug tried to escape, but Yosaku held onto the other end of the stalk, so that the horsefly spun the straw around and around in circles, like an amusing toy. A wealthy boy who was passing by saw this and exclaimed to his elderly attendant, "I want one! I want one!" Yosaku gladly offered it to the boy. In return, the boy's guardian gave him three oranges. "Wow, three oranges for a single piece of straw!" he thought happily, and again started down the road.

Soon he came upon a distressed-looking woman. "Oh, it's hot. I'm so thirsty that I think I'm going to faint! Please give me some water," said the woman. "If these oranges would do, please have them," said Yosaku, handing them to the woman. The woman ate them and soon regained her strength. "You've saved me. Please take this as a token of my thanks," she said, handing Yosaku a bundle of woven silk cloth.

 

"This expensive cloth must be a gift from Kannon," Yosaku thought to himself as he continued on his way. Soon he came upon two samurai standing in the middle of the street. As he drew closer he saw that their horse, exhausted from the heat, was laying in the middle of the street. "What a useless horse!" exclaimed the samurai, who were at a loss as to what to do. Finally, Yosaku said to them, "Honorable samurai. If it would please you, how about exchanging your horse for this bundle of silk cloth?" The samurai, elated, said, "Great! Not only can we get rid of this horse, but you'll give us a bundle of silk as well!" The samurai took the cloth, left the horse, and went on their way. Yosaku turned to the horse and said gently, "You've been in pain, haven't you. Here, drink some water." He gave the animal plenty of water, and the horse was soon on its feet again. 

Yosaku mounted the horse and rode to the edge of town, where he came upon a large house. People there were making travel preparations, piling luggage onto a cart. Yosaku spotted a man who looked like the owner of the house and, relating the details of his journey, asked him if he would like to buy the horse. The man listened to Yosaku's story with great interest, and replied, "Sure, I'd be happy to buy your horse. But right now I have to go on a trip and don't have any money to spare. Instead, why don't I give you part of my rice paddy." The owner also let Yosaku stay and take care of the house while he was away. Not only did Yosaku get his own paddy, but a place to live as well. This inspired him to work harder than ever.

After some time the owner returned from his trip. The rice was growing abundantly and the house had been cleaned from wall to wall. Deeply impressed, he said, "Yosaku, you're a fine young man. Why not marry my daughter and live in this house forever?" Yosaku happily accepted. He married the daughter and was blessed with adorable children. He continued to work hard and become very wealthy, and always helped those who were poor or in need. Because of his kindness, he came to be affectionately called "Warashibe Choja" (Lord Straw Stalk) by the villagers.

(origin:http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/folk/warashibe/index.html)
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