Japanese folktales are an important cultural aspect of Japan. 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 of folklore. The admixed impostors are literate written pieces, dating back to the Muromachi period (14th–16th centuries) or even earlier times in the Middle 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 folklorist Kunio Yanagita. Yanagita disliked the word , 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). He therefore proposed the use of the term to apply to all creative types of folktales (i.e., those that are not "legendary" types which are more of a reportage).

Overview

A representative sampling of Japanese folklore would definitely include the quintessential Momotarō (Peach Boy), and perhaps other folktales listed among the so-called : the battle between The Crab and the Monkey, Shita-kiri Suzume (Tongue-cut sparrow), Hanasaka Jiisan (Flower-blooming old man), and Kachi-kachi Yama.

History

These stories just named are considered genuine folktales, having been so characterized by folklorist Kunio Yanagita. During the Edo period these tales had been adapted by professional writers and woodblock-printed in a form a called kusazōshi (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 (or The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), an example of the monogatari type of romance dated to as early as the 10th century, though extant manuscripts are much later. The text mentions, for example, the flame-proof " (or salamander)'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 the Uji Shūi Monogatari (13th century) that includes <!-- the nucleus of classics as--> Kobutori Jīsan &mdash; the old man with the hump on his cheek &mdash; and Straw Millionaire. This and the Konjaku Monogatarishū (12th century) contain a number of a type of tales called setsuwa, 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 the Konjaku Monogatarishū can be seen the early developments of the Kintarō legend, familiar in folktale-type form.

The Japanese word used to correspond to "folktale" has undergone development over the years. From the Edo period, the term used was , i.e., tales told by the otogii-shū, professional storytellers hired to entertain the daimyō lord at the bedside. That term remained in currency through the Meiji era (late 19th century), when imported terms such as minwa began to be used.

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. The stories mentioned in the Buddhist Jataka tales appear in a modified form throughout the Japanese collection of popular stories.

Some stories of ancient 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.

See also

  • Gesaku
  • Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya (')
  • Kaidan
  • Banchō Sarayashiki, the ghost story of Okiku and the Nine Plates.
  • Yotsuya Kaidan, the ghost story of Oiwa.
  • Yukionna, the snow woman.
  • Legends
  • , related to Hagoromo (play)
  • Kiyohime legend; passionate for a priest, she turned into a dragon.
  • Tamamo-no-Mae, a vixen-type yōkai monster, masquerading as a woman.
  • Ushiwakamaru, about Yoshitsune's youth and training with the tengu of Kurama.
  • Mythology
  • Luck of the Sea and Luck of the Mountains
  • Setsuwa
  • Urban Legends
  • Hōmyō dōji

References

Further sources

; Individual collections:

  • Brauns, David. Japanische Märchen und Sagen. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Friedrich. 1885.
  • Dorson, Richard M. "National Characteristics of Japanese Folktales". In: Folklore, Nationalism and Politics. Edited by Felix J. Oinas. Indiana University Folklore Institute Monograph Series, Vol. 30. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers, 1978. pp.&nbsp;147–162.
  • Dorson, Richard M. Journal of the American Oriental Society 95, no. 3 (1975): 512–14. Accessed July 1, 2020. .
  • , Article under , by Keigo Seki (:ja:関敬吾)
  • James, Grace; Goble, Warwick, III. Green Willow and other Japanese fairy tales. London: Macmillan and Co. 1910.
  • Mayer, Fanny Hagin. "Recent Collections of Japanese Folk Tales". In: The Journal of Asian Studies 31, no. 4 (1972): 911–914. Accessed July 1, 2020. .
  • Mayer, Fanny Hagin. "Religious Concepts in the Japanese Folk Tale". In: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1, no. 1 (1974): 73–101. Accessed July 1, 2020. .
  • Mayer, Fanny Hagin. "Japan's Folk Tale Boom". In: Journal of Japanese Studies 4, no. 1 (1978): 215–24. Accessed July 25, 2021. doi:10.2307/132081.
  • Mulhern, Chieko Irie and Mayer, Fanny Hagin. “Ancient Tales in Modern Japan: An Anthology of Japanese Folk Tales” (1986).
  • Nakawaki Hatsue. "Japanese Heroine Tales and the Significance of Storytelling in Contemporary Society". In: Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations across Cultures. Edited by Mayako Murai and Luciana Cardi. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 2020. pp.&nbsp;139–168. .
  • Rasch, Carsten: TALES OF OLD JAPAN FAIRY TALE - FOLKLORE - GHOST STORIES - MYTHOLOGY: INTRODUCTION IN THE JAPANESE LITERATURE OF THE GENRE OF FAIRY TALES - FOLKLORE - GHOST STORIES AND MYTHOLOGY, Hamburg. 2015.
  • Seki, Keigo. "Types of Japanese Folktales". In: Asian Folklore Studies 25 (1966): 1–220. .