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Japanese folktales are an important cultural aspect ofJapan. In commonplace usage, they signify a certain set of well-known classic tales, with a vague distinction of whether they fit the rigorous definition of "folktale" or not among various types offolklore. The admixed impostors are literate written pieces, dating back to theMuromachi period (14th–16th centuries) or even earlier times in theMiddle Ages. These would not normally qualify for the English description "folktales" (i.e., pieces collected from oral tradition among the populace).
In a more stringent sense, "Japanese folktales" refers to orally transmitted folk narrative. Systematic collection of specimens was pioneered by the folkloristKunio Yanagita. Yanagita disliked the wordminwa (民話), a coined term directly translated from "folktale" (Yanagita stated that the term was not familiar to actual old folk he collected folktales from, and was not willing to "go along" with the conventions of other countries).[1] He therefore proposed the use of the termmukashibanashi (昔話, "tales of long ago") to apply to all creative types of folktales (i.e., those that are not "legendary" types which are more of a reportage).[2]
A representative sampling of Japanese folklore would definitely include the quintessentialMomotarō (Peach Boy), and perhaps other folktales listed among the so-called "five great fairy tales" (五大昔話,Go-dai Mukashi banashi):[3] the battle betweenThe Crab and the Monkey,Shita-kiri Suzume (Tongue-cut sparrow),Hanasaka Jiisan (Flower-blooming old man), andKachi-kachi Yama.
These stories just named are considered genuine folktales, having been so characterized by folklorist Kunio Yanagita.[4] During theEdo period these tales had been adapted by professional writers and woodblock-printed in a form a calledkusazōshi (cf.chapbooks), but a number of local variant versions of the tales have been collected in the field as well.
As stated above, non-genuine folktales are those already committed to writing long ago, the earliest being the tale of Princess Kaguya (orThe Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), an example of themonogatari type of romance dated to as early as the 10th century,[5] though extant manuscripts are much later. The text mentions, for example, the flame-proof "fire rat (火鼠,Hinezumi) (orsalamander)'s fur robe," which attests to a considerable degree of book-knowledge and learning by its author.
Other examples of pseudo-folktales composed in the Middle Ages are theUji Shūi Monogatari (13th century) that includesKobutori Jīsan — the old man with the hump on his cheek — andStraw Millionaire. This and theKonjaku Monogatarishū (12th century) contain a number of a type of tales calledsetsuwa, a generic term for narratives of various nature, anything from moralizing to comical. Both works are divided into parts containing tales from India, tales from China, and tales from Japan. In theKonjaku Monogatarishū can be seen the early developments of theKintarō legend, familiar in folktale-type form.
The Japanese word used to correspond to "folktale" has undergone development over the years. From theEdo period, the term used wasotokibanashi (お伽話), i.e., tales told by theotogii-shū, professional storytellers hired to entertain the daimyō lord at the bedside.[6] That term remained in currency through theMeiji era (late 19th century), when imported terms such asminwa began to be used.[6] In theTaishō era the worddōwa (lit. "children's story", aloan translation forfairy tales ormärchen) was used.[6] Later Yanagita popularized the use ofmukashi-banashi "tales of long ago", as mentioned before.
Some Japanese ghost stories orkaidan, such as the story of theYuki-onna ("snow woman"), might be considered examples of folktales, but even though some overlaps may exist, they are usually treated as another genre. The familiar forms of stories are embellished works of literature bygesaku writers, or retooled for thekabuki theater performance, in the case of thebakeneko or monstrous cat. The famous collectionKwaidan byLafcadio Hearn also consists of original retellings. Yanagita published a collection, 'Legends of Tōno (遠野物語,Tōno Monogatari)' (1910), which featured a number of fantasticalyōkai creatures such asZashiki-warashi andkappa.
In the middle years of the 20th century storytellers would often travel from town to town telling these stories with special paper illustrations calledkamishibai.
There are many common characters throughout Japanese folklore. There is the reoccurringKappa, which is described as a humanoid creature with a turtle shell. There is theGashadokuro (餓者髑髏), which is perceived as a massive re-animated skeleton,Kuchisake-onna (口裂け女) or the "slit mouthed woman",Dodomeki (百々目鬼), which has bird eyes covering it's arms as a punishment for stealing, the Kitsune (狐) which is a fox spirit with supernatural abilities that increase as they age and Oni (鬼) which is a blue creature similar to ogres or trolls.[7]
Below is a list of well-known Japanese folktales:
| No. | Name | Portrait | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hero/heroine type | |||||
| 1 | Chikarataro | ||||
| 2 | Issun-bōshi |  | the One-inch Boy | ||
| 3 | Kintarō |  | the superhuman Golden Boy, based on folk hero Sakata no Kintoki | ||
| 4 | Momotarō |  | the oni-slaying Peach Boy | ||
| 5 | The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter |  | about a mysterious girl called Kaguya-hime who is said to be from the capital of the moon | ||
| 6 | Shippeitaro |  | a warrior and a dog who defeated evil spirits | ||
| 7 | Uriko-hime | a girl born out of a melon and adopted by an elderly human couple | |||
| 8 | Hachikazuki |  | a girl that wears a bowl on her head | ||
| 9 | Hagoromo | atennin has her feather mantle stolen by a fisherman | |||
| grateful creature motif | |||||
| 10 | Bunbuku Chagama |  | the story of a teakettle which is actually a shape-changing tanuki | ||
| 11 | Hanasaka Jiisan | the story of the old man that made the flowers bloom | |||
| 12 | Kasa Jizō | aJizō statue given a straw hat and is grateful | |||
| 13 | Omusubi Kororin | the story of an old man who drops rice into a mouse hole | |||
| 14 | Shita-kiri Suzume |  | the story of the tongue-cut sparrow | ||
| 15 | Urashima Tarō | -Urashima-p09.jpg) | who rescued a turtle and visited the bottom of the sea | ||
| 16 | My Lord Bag of Rice |  | |||
| 17 | Tsuru no Ongaeshi |  | the story of a crane returning a favor for saving its life | ||
| good fortune motif | |||||
| 18 | Kobutori Jīsan |  | a man with a large wen (tumor, kobu) on his cheek, and how he loses it | ||
| 19 | Straw Millionaire | Straw Millionaire (わらしべ長者,Warashibe Chōja) | |||
| punishment motif | |||||
| 20 | The Crab and the Monkey |  | Monkey-Crab Battle (さるかに合戦,saru kani gassen) | ||
| 21 | Kachi-kachi Yama |  | rabbit punishestanuki | ||
Tongue-cut sparrow: A washer woman cut off the tongue of a sparrow that was pecking at her rice starch. The sparrow had been fed regularly by the washer woman's neighbors, so when the sparrow didn't come, they went in the woods to search for it. They found it, and after a feast and some dancing (which the sparrow prepared), the neighbors were given the choice between two boxes; one large and one small. The neighbors picked the small box, and it was filled with riches. The washer woman saw these riches and heard where they came from, so she went to the sparrow. She too was entertained and given the choice between two boxes. The washer woman picked the largest box and instead of gaining riches, she was devoured by devils.[8]
Mandarin Ducks: A man kills a drake mandarin duck for food. That night he had a dream that a woman was accusing him of murdering her husband, and then told him to return to the lake. The man does this, and a female mandarin walks up to him and tears its chest open.[8]
Tanuki and Rabbit: A man catches a tanuki and tells his wife to cook it in a stew. The tanuki begs the wife not to cook him and promises to help with the cooking if he is spared. The wife agrees and unties him. The tanuki then transforms into her and kills her, then cooks her in a stew. Disguised as the man's wife, the tanuki feeds him his wife. Once he is done, the tanuki transforms back to his original form and teases the man for eating his wife. A rabbit that was friends with the family was furious, so he had the tanuki carry sticks and, while he wasn't looking, set these sticks on fire. Then the rabbit treated the burn with hot pepper paste. Finally, the rabbit convinced the tanuki to build a boat of clay, and the rabbit followed in a sturdy boat. The clay boat began to sink, so the tanuki tried to escape, but then the rabbit hit him in the head with an oar, knocking him out and making him drown.[8]
Badger and Fox cub: A badger, vixen, and the vixen's cub lived in a forest that was running out of food, so they came up with the plan of one of them pretending to be dead, the other disguising as a merchant, and the “merchant” selling the “dead” animal to a human. Then they would have money to buy food. The vixen pretended to be dead while the badger was the merchant. While the transaction was happening however, the badger told the human that the vixen wasn't actually dead, so the human killed her. This infuriated the cub, so he proposed a competition. They would both disguise as humans and go into the village at different times. Whoever guessed what “human” was the other first, wins. The cub walked towards the village first, but he hid behind a tree. The badger went into the village, and accused the governor of being the fox, so the bodyguards of the governor beheaded him.[8]
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The folklore of Japan has been influenced by foreign literature as well as the kind ofspirit worship prevalent all throughout prehistoric Asia. Some of the most common origins of these tales areShinto,Buddhism andconfucianism[9].
The monkey stories of Japanese folklore have been influenced both by theSanskritepicRamayana and theChinese classicJourney to the West.[10] The stories mentioned in the BuddhistJataka tales appear in a modified form throughout the Japanese collection of popular stories.[11][12]
Some stories ofancient India were influential in shaping Japanese stories by providing them with materials.Indian materials were greatly modified and adapted in such a way as would appeal to the sensibilities of common people of Japan in general, transmitted through China and Korea.[13][14]
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