My three favorite Japanese Folk Tales are:
There are a few different versions of this story around, but they all explain why the stars Altair (the herdboy) and Vega (the princess) can only meet once a year across the Milky Way.
The story of 'The Princess and the Herdboy' is about the Princess who known as the 'weaving Princess' because she sits at her loom all day and weaves the most delicate stuff for her father, the King of the sky. The delicate things she wove was hung among the stars in the sky and draped down towards the Earth, the cloth that we call clouds, fog and mist. The King was very proud of his daughter, because she was a big help to him as he was busy making the sky and needed all the help he could get. One day he noticed that the Princess was becoming pale from all her hard work, so he tells her that she must take a one day holiday. The Princess is very happy to have a holiday, and decides that she will go and wade in the stream called the Milky Way, that flows through the sky. When she got to the Milky Way, in the middle of the stream, she saw a handsome boy, washing a cow in the water. They introduce themselves to each other, dance together, and fall in love. They are so happy together that the Princess forgets all about going home to her father. The king of the sky became very worried when the Princess failed to return, and sends a messenger to find her and tell her to come home. But the Princess was having so much fun that she didn't listen to the messenger, and so the King had to come himself to take the Princess home. The King told his daughter that she had been a very bad girl, that she can never have another holiday and must stay with him and weave everyday. To prevent the Princess from returning to the Herdboy the King poured more and more star water into the milky way, until the shallow stream became a deep, deep river, so that the Herdboy and the Princess could no longer get across to each other. The Princess returns with the King and sits at her loom, but she is so lonely and longed so much for Herdboy that she couldn't weave at all. Instead she just sat there weeping all the time, and over time the sky became emptier and emptier of clouds, fog and mist. On seeing this, the king tells his daughter that if she weaves again and works very hard he will let her go and play with the Herdboy once a year. The Princess was so happy that she did what her father asked and has been working hard ever since, and once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month, the King of the sky keeps his promise to the weaving Princess, and builds a bridge that she can cross to meet with the Herdboy once a year.
This is why the Japanese children celebrate the holiday called 'Tanabata-sama' (weaver girl) on 'the seventh night of the seventh month'. The children decorate bamboo branches with bright pieces of paper with their wishes on them, to remind the king of the sky that it is time for him to keep his promise again, for Altair and Vega to meet once a year.
'The Princess and the Herdboy' has been my favorite Japanese Folk Tale ever since l read it and celebrated the festival when l was on exchange in Japan in 2003. I like this story because l liked the idea of the romantic tale of the stars Altair and Vega only meeting across the Milky Way once a year.
'Momotaro' is a popular story that children all over Japan love to listen to.
The story of 'Momotaro' is about an old married couple who are lonely and want a child. One day when the old woman was washing the clothes in the river, she sees a big peach come floating down the river towards her. She decides to take it home and give to her husband to eat. However, when the husband is about to cut the peach in half, the peach splits in half and they find a baby in the middle. The baby explains to the old couple that the God of heaven had sent him to them to be their son, as he had seen how lonely the couple was. The old couple decides to call this baby Momotaro (peach boy) and raise him as if he were their very own son. When Momotaro was fifteen years old he comes to a decision and tells his parents that now he is old enough he will got to Ogre Island to fight the ogres and bring back the treasure that they had stolen from the villages to help his country. His parents are very surprised and worried, but as they are so proud of their son for wanting to help so many other people, so they decide that he is old enough to do what he wants. His parents help to prepare him for the journey, by giving him armor and a sword as well as plenty of food for his journey. On his journey, Momotaro meets and makes friends with a dog, a monkey and a pheasant who decide to join him and go together to fight the ogres. On arriving at Ogre Island, Momotaro and his three new friends find the ogres and defeat them in battle, so that the ogres bow down to Momotaro, and the ogres promise to never attack the villages and steal their treasure ever again, and they give the treasure to Momotaro. Momotaro and his three new friends return home with the tresure, and the old man and woman were very happy to see their son again, safly home from Orge Island. They had all become rich now with the treasure, and they all lived together very, very happily.
'Momotaro' is one of my favorite Japanese folk tales because it amazes me how the old couple who wanted a child so very much, found that child in a peach, its something that just seems so magical. 'Momotaro' is a story that all children in Japan know and love, the story will never die.
'The Crane Wife' is a very old Japanese Folk Tale set in ancient Japan.
The story of 'The Crane Wife' is about a lonely sail maker named Osamu, who lived high above the sea on a hilltop. From his house he would watch the Cranes flying and resting in the green salt marsh below his house. He wishes for a wife so he won't be so lonely, but he knows he is unlikely to find one when he is only a poor sail maker. One night in autumn during a big storm he hears something hit his house, and so goes outside to investigate. Outside he finds a great Crane outside his home, which is stunned and still. He feels very sorry for the Crane and decides to bring it inside his home and nurse the Crane back to good health. Once the Crane becomes healthy again it leaves the home and returns to the other Cranes. Time passes, and then one night the man hears someone knocking on his door. He opens the door to find a beautiful girl standing there. The man learns that the woman's name is Yukiko, and stays with him in his home, and over time she becomes his wife. However, because Osamu was just a poor sail maker, he begins to run out of money to feed them both. On seeing this Yukiko offers to weave him a magic sail, but only on the condition that he will promise not to watch her while she is working. The sail that Yukiko gave Osamu felt so light and delicate, and sounded as if it had the wind woven into it. Osamu sells the magic sail and makes enough gold for them to live on for half a year. Over time the money begins to run out again, and so Osamu asks Yukiko to weave another magic sail for him to sell. Yukiko warns him that it will take all that she is to weave another magic sail, and that she is afraid to make another. Osamu convinces her to make another, and so she makes him make the same promise as last time, not to watch her while she is weaving. Osamu once again sells the sail and makes enough gold for them to live on for another half year. One day a wealthy trader, captain of a huge ship, comes to the village, and tells Osamu that he had been searching for him. He offers Osamu a lifetime's gold for a magic sail to be made for his ship. Osamu persuades Yukiko to make one final sail for a lifetime's gold. Once again Yukiko makes him promise her not to look on her while she is weaving. This time Osamu breaks his promise and looks in on his wife while she is weaving to learn her secret, only to find that she is the same Crane that he saved, and that for the magic sail she is weaving she uses her own white feathers, that she weaves into the sail on the loom. Yukiko leaves Osamu and returns to live with the other Cranes, while Osamu goes on living alone making simple sails.
'The Crane Wife' is one of my favorite Japanese folk tales because when l first read it, it seemed such a wonderful Japanese story. The crane is so grateful to the man who saved her life, that she turns into a human and becomes his wife, which the man had for a long time longed for.
