1. Momotarō

Once upon a time an old man and an old woman went to view cherry blossoms. While they sat on the ground to rest and eat their lunch, a peach came rolling to the old woman’s seat. She picked it up and tucked it into her bosom. She wrapped it in cotton at home and put it into her bed. The peach broke open and a little boy came out. They named him Momonokotarō [Peach Boy] because he was born from a peach. He looked after the house and studied when his parents were working in their garden. While he was studying one day, a crow called from a persimmon tree by the back door that he had brought a letter from Hell. The letter demanded that the best millet dango in Japan be made and brought there. Momonokotarō asked his mother and father to make the dango and he took them to Hell. When he knocked at the gate of Hell, the demons came out and asked to sample the best millet dango in Japan. After they ate the dango they fell asleep drunk. Momonokotarō put the Princess of Hell onto a cart hurriedly and pulled it off. The demons awoke and set out after them on their fire cart, but by then Momonokotarō and the princess were far out at sea where the demons could not follow them.

Momonokotarō and the princess reached home at last. Word about his feat reached the Emperor, who gave him a great reward. Momonokotarō became a chōja and his household prospered.

Iwate, Shiwa-gun

Aomori: Tsugaru k 12. No title. Except that the peach came floating downstream in a box, it is the standard story.

Hachinohe: MK II 2 30, “Rikitarō.” The child’s name was Kurikotanpō [Chestnut Boy]. A chestnut was picked up in the mountains and turned into a baby on the seventh day. The last half of the story has disappeared.

Iwate: Shiwa 28, “Momonokotarō.” Example.

Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 39. No title. The boy was called Momonaikotarō in this region. He took a pheasant, a monkey, and a dog to attack Onigashima.

Fukushima: Iwaki 1, “Momotarō.”

Tokyo, Kitatama-gun: MK II 1 48, “Momotarō.” The ending is like “The battle between the monkey and the crab.”

Ishikawa: Kaga 105, “A variant of the Momotarō story.” (Momotarō no itan). Added to it are “The son-in-law tasks” and “Rikitarō.”

Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 29, “Momotarō.” The peach was set upon a mortar. A voice from inside said, “Split me open.” Is this a fragment?

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 244, 230, “The revenge of the crabs.” (Kani no adauchi) and “Momotarō.” The peach came floating downstream in a little case. The first tale says that a persimmon was in the case and its seed was planted. The second turns into “The battle between the monkey and the crab.”

Nagano: Chiisagata 147, “Momotarō.”

Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: MK II 10 25, “Momotarō.”

Shimane, Oki: MK I 7 38, “The girl and the amanjaku” (Ane san to amanjaku). A peach came floating downstream. The last half becomes “Urikohime.”

It is interesting because it is midway between “Urikohime” and “Momotarō.”

Hiroshima, Asa-gun: Aki 56, “Momotarō.” An unusual example. Is this a fragment? It is close to “Monogusatarō,” an otogizōshi.

Kōchi: TD V 12 66, “Momokuritarō.”

Ehime, Kitauwa-gun: MK II 3 35, “Momotarō.” The followers who helped destroy the demons were a stone mill, a needle, horse dung, etc.

Fukuoka, Kiku-gun: Fukuoka 177, “Momotarō.” This is the same version as is heard in Tokyo. It is probably based on a book version.

Nagasaki: Amakusa min 83. No title. What the old woman took from the river was a beautiful Benta doll. When she put it into the cupboard and left it, it cried in the night. She took it to bed with her. It was a kappa. Gotō 243, “The filial piety of Kurihime” (Kurihime no kōkō). A little girl came out of a chestnut. She wanted a nightingale’s egg because her father was ill and she went to get one.

The story is broken for the most part.

Kagoshima, Satsuma-gun: MK I 12 37, “The snake’s gratitude” (Hebi no hōon).

2. Rikitarō

A shiftless old man and old woman made a doll from their bodily sweat and grime. They called him Konbitarō. He was a big eater and grew fast. He asked for a 100 kan metal rod to be made and set out with it to learn feats of strength. Along the way he met Midōkoseoi carrying a portable shrine on his back and Ishikotarō, who was splitting stones. He matched strength with them and won. They became his followers. They arrived at a castle town. Although it was daytime, all the doors were closed and there was no sign of anyone. A beautiful girl was weeping alone in the house of what appeared to be the foremost chōja in town. When they asked why she was crying, she said that on the first day of each month a monster came to carry off a young girl. She was crying because it was her turn this time. Konbitarō said he would destroy the monster for her. He hid her in a chest and waited on guard with his two companions.

The monster came at night and swallowed Midōkoseoi and Ishikotarō in a twinkling. When Konbitarō set upon him with his 100 kan rod, he twisted it in the middle. The monster received a mortal wound as they grappled. It blew Midōkoseoi and Ishikotarō from its nostrils and expired. The people of the family were overjoyed. They invited the three young men to remain and marry their daughters. Konbitarō sent for his parents and they all lived a life of ease.

Iwate, Waga-gun

Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 30, “Rikitarō.” See entry for “Momotarō.”

Iwate, Hienuki-gun: MK I 5 24, “Konbitarō.”

Waga-gun: MK II 3 41, “Konbitarō.” Example.

Esashi-gun: Kikimimi 80, “The three strong men” (Sannin no dairiki).

Ishikawa: Kaga 105, “A variant of the Momotarō story.” (Momotarō no itan). See entry for “Momotarō.”

Further reference:

Chōsen mintan shū 258.

3. Urikohimeko

Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman. He went to the mountains to cut wood and she went to the stream to do her washing. One day while the old woman was washing at the stream, a melon came floating down. She picked it up and took it home. When she and her old man opened it a beautiful little girl came out. They called her Urikohime [Melon Maid] and took loving care of her. After she grew bigger, she wove at the loom every day. One year the old couple thought they would take Urikohime to the village shrine festival. They went to town together to buy a sedan chair. Urikohime wove at the loom while they were gone. An amanojaku came along and asked her to open the tightly closed door just a little. Urikohime thoughtlessly opened it just a little. The amanojaku thrust a terrible hand in and opened the door wide with a clatter. Then she came in. She led Uriko out behind the house, took off her clothes, and tied her to a persimmon tree. Then she put on Urikohime’s clothes and sat at the loom as though nothing had happened. The old couple returned with the sedan chair they had bought in town. They put who they thought was Urikohime into the chair and set out for the shrine, but the real Urikohime cried out from behind the persimmon tree, “Don’t put Urikohime in the chair! Only give the amanojaku a ride.” Greatly surprised, the old man cut off the head of the amanojaku and threw it into the millet patch. The stalk of millet is red because of this.

Shimane

Aomori: Tsugaru m 99, “Urikohime and the amanojaku” (Urikohime to amanojaku).

Iwate: Kunohe 482, “Orikohimeko.” The beginning is omitted. It starts with the weaving. It is her real mother. The tale is close to “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Waga-gun: MK II 3 39, “Urikohimeko.” The first part is the usual form. The amanojaku asked Uriko to climb the persimmon tree to pick fruit. She fell into the lake and drowned. The bird calls in this region have a special quality. Kikimimi 368, “Urikohime,” No. 2.

Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 1, “Urikohimeko.” The part where the girl is killed and fed to the old man and old woman is like “Kachi-kachi Yama.”

Iwate-gun, Shizukuishi: Kikimimi 370, “Urikohimeko,” No. 3.

Shimohei-gun, Iwaizumi: Kikimimi 376, “Urikohimeko,” No. 6.

Kamihei-gun: Tōno No. 102. No title. A story about Orikohimeko and a yamahaha.

Yamagata, Kitamurayama-gun: MK II 5 24, “Ohimego.” No part about coming out of a melon. While the old couple were gone to dig mountain yams, the amanojaku came and coaxed Ohimego to gather plums. The girl fell from the tree and died. There is a part where birds make it known. It closes with the reason the roots of thatching reed are red. Has the first part been omitted?

Akita, Hiraga-gun: MK II 10 21, “Urihimeko and the amanojaku” (Urihimeko to amanojaku). Two boxes came floating downstream. A melon was in one out of which a little girl came. It is between the stories in Rikuchū and Chūgoku.

Kazuno-gun: Dai-ichi 43, “Urikohimeko.” Information about how she was born in missing. The story is rather abbreviated.

Senhoku-gun: Ugo 80, 105. The first is a poem. The second has no title.

Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 2 123, “Urikohime.”

Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 172, “The amanojaku and Urikohime” (Amanojaku to Urikohime).

Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 202, “Amangyaku.”

Ishikawa: Kaga 31 ff, “Urihime Kojorō.” Two stories with the same title.

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 231, “Urihime.” Urihime wove for her family with the help of the weaving sparrow and the weaving worm. The ending is happy and close to the story “Nishiki Chōja” and it also resembles “The stork wife.”

Nagano, Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 150, “Urihime”; MK I 1 34 and MK I 7 30, “Urihime.” The Chiisagata versions always end with a wedding.

Kamiina-gun: Mukashibanashi 100, “Urikohimeko.” The amanojaku ate the girl and got blood on her face. When she washed, her skin came off.

No revenge and no return to life.

Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: MK II 10 27, “Urihime.” There are four stories, but none is complete. The last one says that it was a boy called Uritarō.

Hyōgo, Himeji: Dai-ni 50, “Urikohimeko.”

Okayama, Mitsu-gun: MK I 9 29, “Urikohimeko.” Only the first half of the story.

Hiroshima, Toyota-gun: Aki 38, “Orihime” No. 1. Also stories from Kamo-gun, Takata-gun, Yamagata-gun, and Hiroshima City, totalling five versions.

Yamaguchi, Abu-gun: Bōchō I 2 18, “Urihime.” When the melon was taken from the stream and cut open, a maid came out of one side and an amanojaku came from the other.

Shimane, Ochi-gun: Ochi 850, “Urihime” (Urihime no hanashi); MK II 9 31, “Urihime.”

Oki: MN II 9 31, “Urihime.” A girl born from a melon went to attack Onigashima when she grew up and came back a chōja like the story of Momotarō. Okinoshima 30, “The amanojaku and Himegimi” (Amanojaku to Himegimi san). See entry for “Momotarō.”

Matsue: Nihon den 268, “Millet” (Kibi). Example. Nihon shū, jō 120, “Urikohime.”

Tokushima, Miyoshi-gun: MK II 9 30, “Amanojaku.” The first part is entirely omitted. MK II 10 37, “Yurikohime.” The maid came from a mountain lily bulb. The enemy was a baboon.

Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 72, “Urikohime.”

Ehime, Kitauwa-gun: MK II 3 35, “The maid born from a melon” (Uri kara umareta ohime sama). It is only about a girl who came from a melon and wove.

There may have been such a story with no danger to the girl and a happy ending.

Fukuoka, Munakata-gun: Fukuoka 213, “The maid who wove at a loom” (Hataori hime). The story develops around the sound of the loom as the central interest. There is no amanojaku.

Ōita, Hayami-gun: MK I 12 42, “The melon that came floating (Uri ga nagarete kita hanashi). The beginning is the same as “Urikohime.” Silver came out of melon instead of a girl. A bullfrog and snakes came out for the old couple next door.

Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 3 40, “Urihime.” She was fooled by a gamarijako.

Nagasaki, Iki: Hōgen V 4 48. Noted. A phrase in the story about a melon which came floating downstream.

Tsushima: TD XII 9 13, “Urihime.” Urihime is tied to a tall tree by a spirit.

Kagoshima: Koshiki 96, “Urihime.” There are three stories.

Further reference:

Kiyū shōran 9 ge, 69 omote. This may be the earliest written reference.

4. Nishiki Chōja

Akita, Senhoku-gun, Obonai: MK II 2 8. In “Recalling folk tales”) Mukashibanashi no omoide) by Fujiwara Ainosuke. This is the story of Urihime with a happy ending. There is no part about her birth. A yamauba came where she was weaving. At the conclusion it tells of the beauty of her weaving as it floated in the stream.

From this we can see that there was formerly a version of the story with a happy ending.

5. Takenoko Dōji

Once upon a time when a cooper’s apprentice went to cut bamboo, somebody inside the bamboo asked to be let out. When the apprentice cut the bamboo, a five-inch man called Takenoko Dōji came out. He was 1234 years old. He said he would grant seven wishes to Sankichi in thanks. He made Sankichi a samurai.

Kumamoto, Kuma-gun: MK I 8 37, “Takenoko Dōji.” Example.

Kagoshima, Shimokoshiki-gun: MK II 9 20, “Takehime”; Koshiki 101 “Takehime.” The same item. A beautiful girl came out of a bamboo which a poor man cut. When she was ten years old, she returned to heaven (no connection with suitors), leaving a red container for rice and a ladle.

This has some connection with “The old bamboo-cutter” story group, and it also reminds us of “The tongue-cut sparrow,” in which a little bird is of central interest.

Kagawa: (no source). When a poor man dug up three bamboo sprouts, they thanked him and guided him to a town.

The feudal lord there was looking for bamboo sprouts for his sick daughter.

This is closer to “Singing bones” than to a story about a child.

Further references:

“Taketori-no-okina” Gwaun nikken roku, 2 (Second Month, Bunka 4) [1444]. The writer asked a well-versed zatō what the origin was of the phrase “smoke of Fuji,” which was used often by poets, and he gave the following reply:

Long ago in the reign of Emperor Tenchi, an old man used to sell bamboo at the foot of Mt. Fuji. People were suspicious and followed him. They learned that he was from Uguisu-mura, a village half way up Mt. Fuji. A beautiful girl was at his house. She had been hatched from an egg in a cormorant’s nest and had turned into a little girl. The old man was bringing her up lovingly. People called him Take-tori-no-okina because he was making a living by selling bamboo.

She was promised later to be a consort of the Emperor. She was called Kaguyahime. There are episodes about her going up to heaven and the potion of immortality being burned, and the rest of the story is like “Taketori monogatari.”

“Uguisuhime” [Nightingale Princess]. As yet this is not found among legends of oral tradition.

The name Uguisuhime is mentioned in Koeki zokusetsubon, sei 3, 40. It is clear that Kaguyahime was Uguisuhime in Shinetsu jiken shū (in Zoku Gunsho ruijū 17, 154).

Gwaun nikken roku 1. The child came from a nightingale’s egg and was called Kaguyahime.

Kaidōki. The Kaguyahime of “Taketori-no-okina” was from a nightingale’s egg, and gold came out of green bamboo.

Kokumei fudoki (In Nihon fuzoku shi, chū).

Sangoku denki, maki 12 (In Tōyō kōhi daizen 151).

Konjaku monogatari, maki 31, No. 33. There is a part about finding gold inside the bamboo, just as in Kaidōki.

Shinrin saiyōshō. The story about a hawk and a dog of an old man called Hayashi Mitsukuri.

Ruijū meibutsuko, maki 17.

6. The Ghost that Cared for her Child

A woman came every night around midnight to buy ame at a little candy store in the village. She always put her hand through the door and she bought with the same coin. The owner of the shop thought it strange and followed her. After she went as far as the garden, she turned into a flame which went out beside a grave. The shopkeeper was sure she was a ghost. The next day when he went to look around where the fire had vanished, he found a hole opened in a new grave. He dug and found a baby boy with wide-open eyes sitting by a woman’s corpse. The child had been born after the woman had died, and she was taking care of him with the ame she bought each night for him to eat. It is said that the child became a famous priest later.

Shimabara

This could be called a derived tale, one about births underground.

Fukushima, Date-gun, Hobara-machi: Shintatsu 61, “The ghost who had a child” (Komochi yūrei). It is about a woman buried at Tōkōji in Katsurada-mura. It is in the form of a legend.

Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 2, 100, “How the ghost cared for her child” (Yūrei no kosodate).

Hyōgo, Himeji: Nihon zenkoku 245, “The ame at Shinkōji” (Shinkōji no ame).

Hikami-gun: TD X 4 70, “The ghost that cared for her child” (Kosodate yūrei).

Kinosaki-gun: MK II 8 32, “The ghost that cared for her child” (Kosodate yūrei). It is a story about a temple named Yūreizan Tsūgenji. (See Hyōgo-ken minzoku shiryō, No. 17.)

Nagasaki: Shimabara 76, “The ghost that cared for her child” (Kosodate yūrei). Example. (Old) Iki 88, “The woman who came to buy toasted mochi” (Yakimochi kai ni detekuru onna).

Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima I 5 72, “A dead woman who gave birth to a child” (Shinin ga ko o sanshita hanashi).

Koshikijima: Koshiki 109, “The ghost that cared for her child” (Kosodate yūrei).

Further reference:

Inu chōmon shū (in Tōyō kōhi daizen 629). The birth in the ground is not handled as a folk tale but as a legend. Many take the form of stories of destiny.

Zoku Minakata zuihitsu 291.

7. The Eagle’s Foundling

An eagle carried off a baby that was left in a basket while his mother was gathering mulberry leaves in the mountains. The child was saved and became the head priest of a large temple, and his aged mother met him after a long search.

Aomori, Hachinohe

Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 31, “The child snatched away by an eagle” (Washi ni sarawareta ko). Example. Perhaps it was formerly a katarimomo.

Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 438, “Nagasuda Manko.” This has an earlier part.

Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 126, Note No. 38. No title. The spider zatō is called Ryōben.

Nagasaki: Shimabara 169, 170, “The eagle’s foundling” (Washi no sodatego). Both stories with the same title. One is confused. The other has the account of the meeting between mother and son.

Further reference:

At Shinohara, Shinoki-mura, Higashikasugai-gun, Aichi, a legend is told about Lake Kotori and Nishio Michinaga, Lord of Ōgusa Castle.

8. Issun Bōshi

After a childless couple prayed to Kannon, the wife’s thumb began to swell. A little boy as small as a bean was born from it. They called him Mamesuke [Bean Boy]. Although they took good care of him, he did not grow. When he was 17 years old, he received permission from his parents to leave for a while. He set out carrying a little parched flour. He got work at a wine merchant’s building fires for the vats. Three daughters were at that family, but Mamesuke wanted the middle one, the most beautiful one. When she was asleep one night, he smeared parched flour around her mouth and threw the rest into the river. The next morning he pretended to cry as though his heart were broken because his parched flour was gone. The family began to investigate and finally discovered the flour around the middle girl’s mouth. She screamed that she did not remember eating the flour, but she was turned over to Mamesuke, who led her home. The angry girl looked for a chance to kill him on the way, but could not find one. Mamesuke’s parents were delighted that he had returned safely with his master’s daughter as his bride. They heated the bath, and Mamesuke was the first to get in. He called his bride to help him wash. She thought this was her chance and thrashed the bath water with a broom to stir it. Mamesuke’s body burst open with a bang and out stepped a handsome young man. Both the bride and the parents were astonished and delighted. The young couple lived happy after that with the family.

Niigata, Sado

Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 31, “Akutotarō.” A child was born from his mother’s heel. After he grew up, he took revenge on the yamauba who had eaten his mother. He was probably once called Chiisako [Tiny One].

Kamikita-gun: Nobechi 48, “Shineko Tanpo.” Said to have been a legendary monster.

Iwate, Hienuki-gun: MK II 5 29, “Suneko Tanpoko.”

Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 75, “Suneko Tanpako.”

Fukushima, Aizu: Hōgen IV 8 105, “Mamechokotarō”; Techō 6, “Mamechokotarō.” The story above.

Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 4, 5, “Donguritarō” [Acorn Boy] and “Issun Bōshi.”

Niigata, Sado: MK II 5 37, “Mamesuke”; Sado shū 211, “Mamesuke” (Mamesuke no hanashi). Example. MK II 4 30, “Issun Bōshi.”

Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 188, “The mudsnail son” (Tsubu musuko).

Ishikawa: Kaga 138, “Chibitarō.”

Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: MK II 10 26, “Yubitarō” [Finger Boy]. He was born in answer to the prayers of a farmer and his wife. He got into the ear of a horse and led it. He was swept from a cowshed and eaten by a cow. People thought it was a bad sign to hear a voice from the cow, and so it was killed, and Yubitarō was found in its stomach. Next, he was eaten by a wild dog. He led the dog to a chicken pen. The master killed the dog because its belly was big.

Caution should be exercised because this seems to be a foreign tale.

Hiroshima, Hiroshima City: Aki 90, “Daizu and the demon” (Daizu to oni). Daizu [Bean Boy] went on an expedition, fought a demon and won treasures. The carpenter next door tried to imitate him but failed.

Aside from the name, this is like “Issun Bōshi.”

Saeki-gun, Ogaki-mura: Geibi 48, “The magic mallet” (Uchide no kozuchi). About Mameichi.

Toyota-gun: Aki 87, “Issun Bōshi.”

Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 14, “Issun Bōshi.”

Fukuoka, Kurate-gun: Fukuoka 71, “The ill-natured mother” (Shōne waruki haha). A fragment. The ill-natured mother had a baby like a bean. He got a sack of rice and went into the mountains. His parents followed him and saw him walk into the lake with his clogs on and sit on the sack of rice to rest. This may have some connection with the Hiroshima story, “Daizu and the demon.”

Saga, Saga-gun: MK II 7 36, “Chinkoman-no-kohiyoro.” A baby boy born from a log that floated downstream was named “Chinkoman-nokohiyoro.” He set out to destroy a demon with a needle, a measuring stick and a bowl. He tied the demon to the ceiling and treasures came dropping down. The old neighbor’s failure to imitate him is included.

The tale is originally about a puppy and the part about destroying the demon has been inserted into it.

Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: MK II 10 47, “Mametarō”; Hōgen shi 22 53 “Mametarō.”

Shimabara: Shimabara 152, “The son-in-law called Issunbō” (Issunbō no muko). A man about the size of a one-shō bottle of sake became the son-in-law of a chōja, conquered Onigashima, brought home a magic mallet, turned into a handsome man, and prospered. The episodes about rice storehouses and burning one’s own house go with it.

Ikinoshima: (Old) Iki 179, “Mamegō” (Mamegō no hanashi).

Kagoshima: Koshiki 70, “Issun Bōshi.”

Kikaijima: Shima II 461, “Issun Kotarō.”

Okierabu: Okinoerabu 227, “Issunbō.”

Further reference:

Mukashibanashi kenkyū II 3 21, “Otogizōshi kaisetsu” by Okami Masao. He discusses the tales “Kootoko no sōshi” and “Himeyuri.”

Shans at home 3. A Tom Thumb story which resembles “The mudsnail son-in-law” of Iwate.

Yearsley 218. A story about being swallowed by a fish.

Huet 140.

Imamura in Okayama rekishi chiri.

9. A Child Bestowed by a God

A child was born to a childless couple who obeyed an oracle and used a small ax as a pillow. One of the child’s hands was like an ax. Because he used it to hurt other children in the neighborhood, he was abandoned in the mountains. The ending has been forgotten.

Kagoshima, Kikaijima

Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima I 5 72, “The child bestowed by a god” (Mōshigo banashi). Example. This story is related to the story of Ryūkichi. (See “The snake son”.)

Further reference:

Riyō shū 563. The poem about the chōja dance of Awanonaka-gun.