Folktales from the Japanese Countryside

227 Pages·2007·1.33 MB·English

by  Fran Stallings

Folk tales from the Jap a nese Coun try side
World Folk lore Ad vi sory Board
Si mon J. Bronner, Ph.D.
Dis tin guished Pro fes sor of Folk lore and Amer i can Stud ies
Penns ylv an ia State Univ ers ity at Harr isb urg
Jo seph Bruchac, Ph.D.
Abenaki Sto ry teller and Writer
Natalie O. Kononenko, Ph.D.
Pro fes sor of Slavic Lan guage and Lit er a ture
Univ ers ity of Virg inia
Norma J. Livo, Ed.D.
Writer and Sto ry teller
Mar ga ret Read Mac Don ald, Ph.D.
King County Li brary Syst em
Folkt ales from the
Jap a nese Coun try side
As told by Hiroko Fujita
Ed ited by Fran Stallings
with Haro ld Wright and Miki Sakurai
World Folkl ore Ser ies
Westport, Con nect ic ut • Lond on
Li brary of Con gress Cat a log ing-in-Pub li ca tion Data
Fujita, Hiroko, 1937-
Folkt ales from the Japa n ese count rys ide / as told by Hiroko Fujita ;
edi ted by Fran Stallings with Haro ld Wright and Miki Sakurai.
p. cm. — (World folkl ore ser ies)
Inc ludes bibl iog raphi c al refe re nces and ind ex.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59158-488-9 (alk. pap er)
1. Tales—Jap an. 2. Folkl ore—Jap an. I. Stallings, Fran.
II. Wright, Haro ld, 1931- III. Sakurai, Miki, 1933- IV. Tit le.
GR340.F826 2008
398.20952—dc22 2007017727
Brit ish Li brary Cat a logu ing in Pub li ca tion Data is avail able.
Copyr ight © 2008 by Hiroko Fujita and Fran Stallings
All rights res erved. No port ion of this book may be
rep rod uced, by any proc ess or techn ique, witho ut the
exp ress writt en cons ent of the publ isher. An exc ept ion is
made for use in edu c at ional, not-for-profit sett ings.
Lib rary of Cong ress Cata l og Card Numb er: 2007017727
ISBN-13: 978-1-59158-488-9
First publ ished in 2008
Lib rari es Unl imi ted, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
A Memb er of the Greenw ood Publ ishi ng Group, Inc.
www.lu.com
Printed in the United States of Amer ica
The pap er used in this book comp lies with the
Perm an ent Pap er Stand ard iss ued by the Nat ional
In for ma tion Stan dards Or ga ni za tion (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover ill ust rat ion by Kyoko Kobayashi, “Tanabata: Star Festival” (see “The Home of the Bush
War bler”).
The publ isher has done its best to make sure the ins truct ions and/or reci p es in this book are cor-
rect. How ever, us ers should ap ply judg ment and ex pe ri ence when pre par ing rec i pes, es pe cially
pare nts and teache rs worki ng with young peop le. The publ isher acc epts no res pons ib ili ty for the
outc ome of any reci pe inc luded in this volu me.
This book is dedicated to Takeda Kuni and Toshiko Endo,
traditional country folktellers who preserved the tales they had
heard as children and passed them along to Hiroko Fujita.
It is also dedi c ated to the many list ene rs of all ages on both sides
of the Pac ific Ocean who loved heari ng Hiroko Fujita’s tales and
begged for more.

CON TENTS
Cont Cenotnst ents
Ack nowle dgm ents...............................................xi
A Brief Hist ory of Ja pan .........................................xiii
Hist ori c al Highl ights.........................................xv
Mode rn Pe riod: 1868 to the Prese nt............................xvii
Stor yt elli ng in Jap an ............................................xxi
Oral Tra di tion in Jap a nese Lit er a ture............................xxi
Jap a nese Folk tales in Mod ern Times ...........................xxii
Sto ry tell ing in Com mu ni ties and Homes........................xxiii
Sto ry tell ing in Ja pan Today..................................xxiii
About These Stor ies ............................................xxv
Map of Jap an.................................................xxvii
Part 1: Stor ies of Ani mals
Owl’s Paint Shop ................................................3
Sparr ow and Swal low.............................................5
The Tale of the Liz ards’ Tails.......................................6
The Fourth Leg..................................................7
Mouse Teeth ....................................................9
Earth worm and Snake............................................12
Sky Watcher ...................................................13
Bracken and Snake ..............................................16
Melti ng Grass ..................................................18
The Mice Make a Pil grim age ......................................20
Part 2: Stor ies of Vil lage Peop le
Ta ble Man ners..................................................25
Plant of For get ful ness............................................29
Peach Ped dler ..................................................32
Mask of Oni ...................................................35
Doct or Who Dropped His Eye .....................................38
Boy with a Runny Nose ..........................................40
The God of Pove rty..............................................43
Con tents vii
Two Strong Men................................................47
Baka Musuko ..................................................49
Fool ish Greet ings .............................................50
Tea-chest nut-per sim mon-vin e gar.................................52
Pickle Bath ..................................................54
Scary Snack..................................................56
Part 3: Stor ies of Priests and Ap prent ices
Sut ra of the Mouse ..............................................61
The Floati ng Coff in..............................................64
A De bate in Sign Lan guage .......................................66
Fu Fu Pata Pata.................................................69
New House Mochi ..............................................71
How Much Rice? ...............................................72
Part 4: Stor ies of Strange Happ eni ngs
A Poet’s Ghost .................................................75
Spiri ts of Old Things.............................................77
You Are Watched...............................................79
The Home of the Bush Warb ler ....................................81
Snow Woman ..................................................88
Part 5: Sto ries of Yamanbas
Mr. Sun’s Chain ................................................93
A Wife Who Doesn ’t Eat .........................................97
Clothes Bleached in the Moon light.................................101
Pick ing Moun tain Pears .........................................104
Old Woman’s Skin .............................................108
Part 6: Sto ries of Su per nat u ral Crea tures
The Moon Sticks Out Its Tongue ..................................115
Spooky Tanuki Mus ic...........................................116
Tanuki Who Turned into a Die....................................119
The Fox Barb er................................................121
Fox Tea ket tle .................................................125
A Hoin Monk and a Fox.........................................129
Kap pas.......................................................133
Kappa’s Pa per...............................................134
A Kappa and a Fish Ped dler ....................................136
viii Con tents
Part 7: Food, Games, and Crafts
Rec i pes ......................................................141
Mochi ...................................................141
Co co nut Mochi ............................................142
Botamochi................................................143
Kappa Sus hi Rolls..........................................145
Home Style Miso Soup......................................147
Jap a nese Green Tea.........................................148
Green Tea Ice Cream .......................................148
Shop ping List .............................................149
Games.......................................................150
Crafts........................................................153
App end ix A: Comm ents and Notes.................................159
Stor ies of Ani m als..........................................160
Sto ries of Vill age Peop le.....................................163
Stor ies of Priests and App rent ices..............................169
Stor ies of Strange Hap peni ngs ................................171
Stor ies of Yamanbas........................................173
Sto ries of Su per nat u ral Crea tures..............................177
App end ix B: Guide to Words in This Book ..........................181
Pro nun ci a tion Guide........................................181
Gloss ary .................................................181
Bib li og ra phy..................................................187
In dex........................................................191
About the Ed i tor and Con tri bu tors .................................195
Con tents ix