Once upon a time, there was a man named Saburobe at Mangyo in Noto province. One night, the man went out. When he came back, he saw two wives in his room. He was sure that one of them was a goblin. Amazingly, there was no difference between their appearance or manners or the way […]
Once upon a time, there was a choja named Sukeemon at Nameshida village in Oshu. There was a tradition in their family that was carried down from generation to generation. It was that no matter how poor they became and even if the times were so bad that they had to sell their estate, they
Long ago, Sanya a poor merchant of Hyuga went on a journey with another merchant. It was a hot day and they were going along a lonely mountain road. They walked and walked and then decided to rest for a while under a tree. They lay in the shade of a tree by the side
Long ago, there lived an old couple with their only daughter who was extremely beautiful. The father felt sick and passed away. The widow had to work hard to earn their daily needs. She was also worried about her daughter’s future. One day, she called her child and said, “Dear, your father lies faraway in
Once in Yashu, there was a strange man who always boasted that he could swallow a manju (Japanese dough buns) in one gulp. His neighbour, a bad man, knew of this man’s weirdo. So, one day, he put a needle in his manju. As usual, the man ate it in one gulp. He felt a
Once upon a time, in a certain village, there lived an old couple. The old man earned his living by selling sedge hats in the town. As usual, on New Year’s Eve he went to the town to sell his hats. But he could not sell even a single hat. Tired, he loaded the hats
Once upon a time, there was a poor pack-horse leader who lived in the country. It was New Year’s Eve but there was no work. So, he decided to return home without a load on his horse. Suddenly, his eyes fell on a beggar who lay in the shade of the pine trees that grew
Long ago, there was a famous choja at Mano in Bingo. Before becoming famous, he was a humble, hard-working youth named Kogoro, the charcoal maker. He had built a little hut at Uchiyama in Mie and lived alone, baking charcoal for a living. One day, a beautiful lady from the capital-city came to meet Kogoro,
Once upon a time, Hage Badger of Awa came to meet Shibaemon Badger and suggested him that they should compare their abilities to disguise themselves. Shibaemon agreed and crossed the sea to Awa province. To begin with, Hage Badger displayed a disguise which looked like the feudal lord of Awa crossing the sea. There were
Long ago, in a certain village, there lived a bad fox who occasionally came out and did some mischief. In the same village lived a proud man who always boasted, “No fox can ever disguise himself to me.” One day, when the man was going home, he saw a fox on the sand bar of
Once upon a time in Japan, there was a brave samurai named Awazu-no-Kaja in Omi province. He had built a temple but there was no bell to hang in it. So, he decided to go and buy the iron required to construct the bell. He arranged for a boat and set out from Echizen to
Long time ago, Shinriki-bo, (a mountain priest) lived in a big house in Sakamoto Hachiman. A devil from Chichibu mountain came to his house daily. He used to demand huge quantities of wine and feasts and made many unreasonable demands. The priest was in great trouble. He wanted to teach the devil a lesson. So,
Once, there lived an old woodcutter in the village of Motoda in Oki-no-kuni. One day, he went along the Yasunaga river to cut wood in the mountain above the waterfall. By mistake, the axe slipped from his hands and fell into the little round pool at the foot of the waterfall. Suddenly, waves began to
Once upon a time, an old man lived in the mountains of Japan’s Higo province. He made his living by cutting down firewood in the mountains and then selling it in the town of Seki. One day, there were no customers and he could not buy any wood. Finally, he went to the river bridge
Long ago, there lived a young man named Saburo. He was born into a rich family of business persons. He fell in love with a beautiful woman named Otsuyu. Their love was a happy and blossoming kind of love, like a beautiful peony flower. They met in secret for some time and then decided to