Japanese

Japanese folklore is one of the most distinctive storytelling traditions in the world, shaped by Shinto and Buddhist beliefs and by a deep reverence for the natural world. Japanese fairy tales and folk tales are populated by supernatural beings – spirits, shape-shifting animals and monsters known as yokai – alongside heroic samurai, clever peasants and virtuous maidens. The oldest written chronicle, the Kojiki (711 AD), preserves the earliest layer of Japanese myth, but the oral tradition runs far deeper.

See full list of Japanese fairy tales.

Interest in Japanese storytelling outside Japan grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, driven by writers who had lived in or studied the country. Yei Theodora Ozaki, of Japanese heritage, translated classic texts and brought them to English-language readers with careful attention to their cultural roots. Grace James compiled Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales after years spent in Japan. Matilda Chaplin Ayrton documented children’s stories and customs in Child-Life in Japan. William Elliot Griffis arrived in Japan in 1870 to teach and later published his Japanese Fairy World collection.

Recurring themes in Japanese folk tales include the rewards of kindness, the danger of greed and the consequences of breaking taboos. A storytelling tradition known as Kamishibai – “paper drama” – used illustrated boards to tell moral stories to village audiences, flourishing from the 1920s through the 1950s. Japanese folk tales have also shaped manga, anime and horror cinema worldwide, making this one of the folklore traditions with the widest modern reach. Browse the full A-Z list of Japanese fairy tales below.