Japanese stories for children. Japanese folk tales. How to tell Japanese tales

Japanese folk tales

Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They ran a shop and prepared and sold tofu. Read...

Japanese folk tales

This happened a long time ago. There lived an elder in one village. He loved to buy various outlandish things. Read...

Japanese folk tales

Behind the cemetery at Shotsaniyi Temple, in the suburbs of the capital, there once stood a lonely small house in which lived an old man named Takahama. Read...

Japanese folk tales

It was a long time ago. The badger invited the snail to come with him to worship at the Ise Temple. Read...

Japanese folk tales

It was a warm spring day. Heisaku went to the mountains to cut some hay for himself. Read...

Japanese folk tales

In the city of Osaka there lived a liar. He always lied, and everyone knew it. That's why no one believed him. Read...

Japanese folk tales

In the very north of Japan, on the island of Hokkaido, in the village of Inagi, there lived a peasant Gombei. He had neither father, nor mother, nor wife, nor children. Read...

Japanese folk tales

In ancient times, a husband and wife lived in the same fishing village. They lived together, but the only problem was that they had no children. Every day the wife went to the temple to pray to the gods, she kept asking them: “Send us at least some child for joy!” Read...

Japanese folk tales

A long time ago, when the city of Kyoto was still the capital of Japan, there lived a frog in Kyoto. Read...

Japanese folk tales

Once upon a time, two sisters lived in the same area. The eldest was a beautiful and kind girl, and the youngest was evil and greedy. Read...

Japanese folk tales

No one knew what Onlychon's real name was. Read...

Japanese folk tales

One peasant saddled his horse and rode to the city to buy soybeans. In the city he bought twelve bags of soybeans. Read...

Japanese folk tales

A traveling merchant entered a village inn. He had a large bale of goods behind him. And the owner of the hotel was a greedy woman. Read...

Japanese folk tales

A long time ago, poor people lived in a mountain village - an old man and an old woman. They were very sad that they did not have children. Read...

Japanese folk tales

In ancient times, there was a rich house in one village. Many generations have passed in it, but the cup has always remained the most valuable treasure of that house. Read...

Japanese folk tales

The owner got a willow sprout from somewhere and planted it in his garden. It was a rare species of willow. The owner took care of the sprout and watered it himself every day.

M, "Children's literature", 1988

In the audio book "Japanese Folk Tales" all the fairy tales included in the III volume of "Fairy Tales of the Peoples of Asia", published by Children's Literature, 1988, are voiced: Crane feathers, How a centipede was sent for a doctor, What the birds told about, A monkey with a cut off tail, A monkey and a crab, How a hare swam across the sea, A badger and a magic fan, A cone on the right, a cone on the left, Strawberries under the snow, There is no fertilizer better than stones, A magic pot, How a pine tree repaid a kindness, A skillful weaver, Long-nosed monsters, The Scarecrow and the rooster, The Jug Man, The Unlucky Rogue, Grateful Statues, The Carpenter and the Cat, The Box of Lies, Letters from Bimbogami, The Living Umbrella, The Poor Rich, Wormwood is a Cure for All Misfortunes, How a Girl Turned into a Bull, Stupid Saburo, The Hole in the Shoji, The Man Who I didn’t know how to open my umbrella, Long, long tale.
Centuries pass, generations change, but interest in the fairy tale does not dry up. The voice of the storyteller still sounds just as enticing, and the listeners listen to him just as captivated. Listening to fairy tales, both adults and children relax after a noisy day. In Japan they say about a fairy tale: “If you tell it during the day, the mice will laugh.”
The main thing in a fairy tale is fiction. The heroes of a fairy tale live and act in some special, fairy-tale world and time. Therefore, in Japanese fairy tales there are often such openings, for example: “In ancient times, ancient times,” “It was a long time ago,” which take us into a fairy-tale world and prepare us for listening to a fairy tale.
Fairy tales reveal the uniqueness of the national character, way of life, clothing, and customs of different peoples. They necessarily reflect the world in which the people who created them live. And first of all the surrounding nature. In the Japanese fairy tale “Strawberries under the Snow,” a girl walks through a snowy forest and falls knee-deep into snowdrifts.” Such a picture cannot be found in the fairy tales of the peoples of the tropical part of Asia.
In Japanese fairy tales, along with real animals, there are also imaginary ones. Fairy tales are inhabited by mythical creatures - evil and good spirits. They either harm the hero, or, conversely, come to his aid. So, Japanese tengu are not scary at all, but rather funny. “They had amazing noses: they could be made small - very small, the size of a button, or they could be stretched out and thrown over the mountains,” says the fairy tale “Long-Nosed Monsters.” All these creatures invented by man naturally appear in fairy tales and become part of fairy-tale fiction. The same role is played by deities like Bimbogami, the Japanese god of Poverty (fairy tale “Letters from Bimbogami”).
In many of the fairy tales in our audiobook, you will feel a mocking attitude towards monkeys: they apparently reminded the storytellers of fussy and unlucky people. Monkeys appear unattractive in the Japanese fairy tale “The Monkey with the Cropped Tail.” Pay attention to tales about animal werewolves, which can take on different forms. These tales appeared relatively late.
It is interesting that in Japanese fairy tales, objects, especially old ones that have been in use for a long time, can turn into badgers, which, to the considerable surprise of the characters, is what happens in the fairy tale “The Magic Cauldron”. The fairy tale, of course, turns into a funny joke. It must be said that the badger is everyone's favorite among the Japanese. “Here in Japan, even small children know that badgers are masters of performing all sorts of tricks and can transform into anyone,” says the fairy tale “The Badger and the Magic Fan.” Images of playful badgers are extremely popular on the Japanese Islands, and, perhaps, only here badgers enjoy such a good reputation.
However, I know that you guys listen very carefully and also read fairy tales, that is, fairy tales in which supernatural forces, magical objects, and wonderful helpers are necessarily at work. For example, the “old grandfather with a white beard” comes to the aid of the poor stepdaughter from the Japanese fairy tale “Strawberries under the Snow.”
Sometimes in a fairy tale, the giver, that is, the character who bestows benefits on the hero, turns out to be a tree. Thus, in the Japanese fairy tale “How the Pine Tree Repaid the Kindness,” the tree speaks and literally showers the glorious woodcutter with golden rain for his kindness. The pine tree, which turns green in summer and winter, is especially revered by the Japanese - as a symbol of powerful vital forces.
The literature of every nation is rooted in oral folk art. The most ancient Japanese literary monuments are closely connected with folklore. If we look at the medieval Japanese novel, we will see that the writers drew motifs, plots and images from folk tales. In the 11th century, a huge collection of “Ancient Tales” was created in Japan, amounting to thirty-one volumes. It included fairy tales and various funny stories. Storytellers inspired not only writers and poets, but also literary scholars with their wonderful stories.
So, we open for you the door to the world of Japanese fairy tales, a world of miracles, mysterious transformations and adventures, folk wisdom and goodness.

"Crane Feathers" is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World" (Volume 3, "Tales of the Peoples of Asia"). A magical audio fairy tale with the transformation of a crane into a girl, and a girl into a crane. About a greedy and unceremonious merchant, about two weak old men in a mountain village. “They were very sad that they didn’t have children...” One day an old man...

“How a centipede was sent for a doctor” is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series “Tales of the Peoples of the World” - volume 3 of “Tales of the Peoples of Asia”. A fairy tale about animals, in which the main role was given by the storyteller to a centipede, which cannot get itself together soon. The cicada had a headache. They decided to send for a doctor and chose a centipede because “...it has legs...

“What the Birds Told About” is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series “Tales of the Peoples of the World” - volume 3 of “Tales of the Peoples of Asia”. A magical fairy tale in which the storyteller’s flight of fancy allows the poorest old man to live by “...gathering brushwood in the mountains and selling it at the market...”; with the help of a magic cap, take a more status position and...

Japanese folk audio tale with a chain plot "Monkey with a Cropped Tail" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", Volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". “Once upon a time there was a monkey, small and stupid... Suddenly the branch under it broke off, and the monkey fell into a thorny bush, and a long sharp thorn stuck into its tail... Just at that time I was walking through the forest...

Japanese folk audio tale about animals "The Monkey and the Crab" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia", read by Nadezhda Prokma. The monkey and the crab were friends, but the monkey was constantly playing tricks on the crab. She ate the rice ball and ate delicious peaches from its own tree, and threw down an unripe, green, hard peach to the crab...

“How a hare swam across the sea” is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series “Tales of the Peoples of the World” - volume 3 of “Tales of the Peoples of Asia”. A fairy tale is a story about the obviously impossible. Audio tale "How a hare swam across the sea" - a fairy tale about animals. The characters in it are a hare and sharks. “Once upon a time there lived a hare, and he had a cherished desire - to swim across the sea to...

"The Badger and the Magic Fan" is a Japanese folk audio fairy tale from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World" - volume 3 of "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". The popular mythical creatures tengu in Japanese folklore are more funny than scary. "In ancient times, there lived in Japan demons with long noses. They were called tengu. Tengu had magic fans: if you slap them on the nose...

Japanese folk magic audio tale "The cone on the right and the cone on the left" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". Once upon a time, there lived an old man in the village of Asano. His name was Goemon. He had a lump sticking out on his right cheek, like a good apple. One day he went into the forest on the mountain to chop some wood for himself. Suddenly a thunderstorm began. The old man ran to...

“Strawberries under the Snow” is a magical Japanese folk audio tale, very similar to the fairy tale by S.Ya. Marshak "Twelve Months" “A long, long time ago, this happened. A widow lived in a village. And she had two daughters: the eldest, O-Tiyo, was her stepdaughter, O-Hana, her own. Her own daughter wore elegant dresses, and her stepdaughter wore rags. .. Stepdaughter and water...

Japanese folk audio tale "There is no fertilizer like stones" in which the main characters are a peasant named Heiroku and the old badger Gombe. Badger Gombe loved to play tricks on Heiroku. His jokes were far from harmless. So Heiroku decided to outsmart Gonbe. Once Gonbe came to Heiroku and asked him: “What are you most afraid of...

The Japanese folk audio fairy tale "The Magic Cauldron" reflects the uniqueness of the Japanese national character, way of life and customs. The main character of the fairy tale “The Magic Cauldron”, the badger cauldron Bumbuku, has no difficulties, but easily speaks human language. The fairy tale "The Magic Cauldron" is about a werewolf animal. In relatively later fairy tales...

“How the pine tree repaid the kindness” is a Japanese folk magic audio tale from the series “Tales of the Peoples of the World” - volume 3 of “Tales of the Peoples of Asia.” The fairy tale contains a clear edifying character, it specifies: this is good, this is bad. The pine tree, which turns green in summer and winter, is especially revered by the Japanese - as a symbol of powerful vital forces. In the audio tale "How...

"The Skillful Weaver" is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World" - volume 3 of "Tales of the Peoples of Japan". Magical audio fairy tale "The Skillful Weaver" about the origin of words, about the confrontation between good and evil forces: a peasant, a spider, the Sunny Elder (a kind, wonderful helper) and a snake. "...The spider thanked the Solar Elder for...

Japanese folk magic audio tale "Long-Nosed Monsters" about the fantastic creatures of Japanese fairy tales - funny tengu. Tengu are not scary at all, but rather funny. “They had amazing noses: they could be made small, the size of a button, or they could be stretched out and thrown over the mountains.” Blue and red monster tengu...

Japanese folk audio tale "The Scarecrow and the Rooster" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia", read by Nadezhda Prokma. “In ancient times, there was a village at the foot of the mountain, and in that village there lived very hardworking people - from early morning until late evening they worked in the fields. But then a disaster happened: out of nowhere...

"The Jug Man" is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World" - volume 3 of "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". A magical audio tale in which a seemingly ordinary object, a clay jug, turns out to be magical. The pitcher man seems to be a bad character, but he played a positive role in the life of the lazy Tarot, taught him intelligence -...

Japanese folk magic audio tale about travel - "The Unlucky Rotozey" from the series "Tales of the People of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". There lived a poor widow in the city of Osaka, and she had a son named Torayan - the first timid person in the world who always gets into trouble. The dishes fell out of his hands. The wallet itself, without the help of a thief, disappeared...

"Grateful Statues" is a Japanese folk audio fairy tale about the great power of simple human kindness. “An old man and an old woman lived in a mountain village, they lived poorly... The old man wandered around the city all day, but never sold a single hat... The old man wandered home, gloomy thoughts overwhelmed him (he really wanted to try rice for the New Year... .

“The Carpenter and the Cat” is a Japanese folk audio tale from the series “Tales of the Peoples of the World, Volume 3 - “Tales of the Peoples of Asia.” The everyday tale “The Carpenter and the Cat,” which might not have been a fairy tale, could have actually happened. great affection between animal and human."...The owner loved his cat, every morning when he left for work, he left...

Japanese folk household audio tale-anecdote "The Box of Lies" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". “Once upon a time there lived a poor man, a great master of inventing fables. One day a rich man called him and said: “...I bet you can’t deceive me. Well, if you deceive me, you will receive ten gold pieces.” “I’m very grateful.” ..

Japanese folk audio tale "Letters from Bimbogami" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". Read by Nadezhda Prokma. A long time ago, just before the New Year, a poor man did a big cleaning in his house. Suddenly he sees Bimbogami, the god of Poverty, sleeping in the far corner, resting comfortably, curled up in a ball. The poor man began to drive away Bimbogami...

Japanese folk audio tale "The Living Umbrella" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". Read by Nadezhda Prokma. In ancient times, master Hikoichi was famous throughout the area - no one knew how to make umbrellas better than him. And one umbrella Hikoichi had was special. As soon as it starts to rain, it will open by itself; when the rain stops, the umbrella will open by itself...

“The Poor Rich” is a Japanese folk audio tale, a parable from the series “Fairy Tales of the Peoples of the World” - volume 3 of “Fairy Tales of the Peoples of Asia”. “A poor man and a rich man lived in the same village. The rich man had a lot of money. One day the rich man called the poor man to his place. The poor man thought: “No way, he decided to give me a gift.” That’s why he’s calling.” He came and said: “What a blessing it is to have so many...

Japanese folk household audio tale "Wormwood - a remedy for all misfortunes" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". In ancient times, there lived a peasant. And he firmly believed in the magical properties of wormwood. One night a thief climbed into his room, pulled out a small jar of money from under his pillow and ran. But the peasant woke up and ran...

Japanese folk audio fairy tale "How a girl turned into a bull" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", Volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". “An old man and an old woman lived in a village, and they had a daughter of unprecedented beauty. Once a young prince was hunting in those forests. It began to rain, and the prince decided to wait it out with the old man and the old woman. He entered and was speechless - never...

Japanese folk audio fairy tale "Stupid Saburo" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia", read by Nadezhda Prokma. “Once upon a time there lived in a village a boy named Saburo. He was so stupid that his neighbors nicknamed him Stupid Saburo. If they entrust him with one task, he will somehow do it, and if he is assigned two things, he will confuse everything. Always...

Japanese folk everyday satirical, funny audio fairy tale-anecdote "Hole in Shoji" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", Volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". “Once on the very eve of the New Year, a rice merchant knocked on a poor man’s house: - Good evening! - Who’s there? - It’s me, the rice merchant. Today is the last day of the year, it’s time for you to pay off your debts! - Ah! Merchant...

Japanese folk household audio tale "The Man Who Didn't Know How to Open an Umbrella", from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", Volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". Once upon a time there lived a man who had never seen an umbrella in his life. He went for a walk. Suddenly it rains. They offered him an umbrella to protect him from the rain. And in Japan the words “open your umbrella” and “shut up...

Japanese folk boring audio tale "The Long, Long Tale" from the series "Tales of the Peoples of the World", Volume III "Tales of the Peoples of Asia". “In the old days, in the distant past, there lived one sovereign prince. More than anything in the world, he loved to listen to fairy tales... But no one could please the prince... And the prince ordered to announce everywhere: “Who will come up with such a long fairy tale that...

Japanese folk audio tale "The Abbot and the Attendant", which includes two independent audio tales. They are united by two main characters: the stingy abbot of the temple of the village of Chitosa and his resourceful servant. In the first audio tale, the greedy abbot, having received honey from the parishioners, did not even treat his servant, but hid the honey in a secluded place, although...

Audio dictionary of difficult words for Japanese folk tales, taken from Notes to Volume III of "Tales of the Peoples of Asia", published in 1988. Cicada is an insect; Large cicadas (up to 6 cm long) with wide wings live in warm countries. Cicadas make a loud, characteristic noise. Camphor tree is an evergreen tree from the family...

A badger comes and sees a beautiful girl near the temple, with servants crowding around her. “No other way, the rich man’s daughter,” thought the badger. He crept up to the girl and quietly slapped her on the nose with his fan. Here the beauty grew a long, very long nose. The girl got scared, screamed, the servants rushed in all directions! There was noise and commotion! And the badger sits on a pebble, grinning.

For a long time the badger and the fox did not come out of their holes: they were afraid to meet the hunters. The hunters, deciding that they had killed all the animals, stopped going into this forest. And so, lying in her hole, the fox thought like this: “If I leave my hole, then it is unknown whether I will catch the eye of the hunter. If I stay here for a few more days, then me and my little fox will both die of hunger.”

The monkey didn't want to listen to anyone. She climbed the tallest trees and jumped onto the thinnest branches. One day she climbed a tall tree. Suddenly the branch under her broke off, and the monkey fell into a thorny bush, and a long sharp thorn stuck into its tail.

Meanwhile, the monsters, howling and roaring, approached the tree itself and began to sit down on the grass. The main monster sat down in the middle, and smaller monsters sat on the sides in a semicircle. Then they all took porcelain cups and rice vodka from their pockets and began to treat each other, just like people. At first they drank in silence, then they sang a song in chorus, and then suddenly one little monster jumped up, ran out to the middle of the circle and started dancing. The others started dancing after him. Some danced better, others worse.

My father took twenty neighbors with him, and they all shouted En-yara-hoy!, En-yara-hoy! They shouldered the stick, brought it to the village and gave it to the boy. He happily grabbed a stick, leaned on it, grunted, strained himself and stood up. Then he stretched and, to everyone's surprise, in the blink of an eye he matured and turned into a handsome and fat, like a wrestler, a big man more than six shaku in height

There is a place in Shinano called Sarasina. A peasant lived there with his old mother. He couldn’t get the thought out of his head that his mother was already seventy years old and that the prince’s officials were about to appear and take her away. Will she survive the distant exile? What kind of work in the field is there - everything fell out of his hands! He was completely exhausted and decided that it was better to take his mother out of the house himself than to wait for the cruel officials to send her to God knows where.

He looked more carefully, but was completely speechless from fear - sitting behind a rock was a monster that lived on a large mulberry tree: his face was red, his hair was red, sticking out in different directions. The old man was frightened, cowered all over, and could barely breathe. I completely forgot about the fish. But the monster’s fish do nothing but bite. So they sat until dawn.

In this section of our fairy-tale portal, you can find Japanese fairy tales, which are filled with all the national characteristics of this Land of the Rising Sun.

The Japanese genre of folk art and its narratives convey the special, reverent attitude adopted in this country towards their loved ones and the older generation. By reading Japanese folk tales, children learn to distinguish good from evil and understand how important it is to always remain a real person and help their family and friends.

Much attention in Japanese stories is paid to the beautiful nature that can only be found here - this is the cherry tree, the national tree of Japan, cherry blossoms.

Today, many Japanese fairy tales for children have become favorite animated films and served as the basis for the creation of educational and entertaining computer games that not only children, but also adults are so keen on.

Japanese fairy tale "Issumboshi"

The beautiful Japanese fairy tale “Issumboshi” tells how one boy really wanted to become a great man and did everything for this - he worked, helped other people, even went on a long journey - to the capital of his state. He got a job in the palace and became friends with the minister's daughter. And then one day he went with her to the temple, but on the way they met two devils,

Japanese fairy tale "Strawberries under the snow"

The beautiful Japanese fairy tale “Strawberries under the Snow” is a version of the favorite Russian fairy tale “The Twelve Months”, only here the stepdaughter was sent by her evil stepmother to the forest in the cold and harsh winter to get a basket of ripe strawberries. In this fairy tale, a sweet girl was helped by an old man, who immediately realized that in front of him was a very kind and sympathetic soul, always helping all people and repaying with kindness

Read the Japanese folk tale “Crane Feathers”

The beautiful Japanese fairy tale “Crane Feathers” talks about how important it is to love and trust your neighbors, and to help in everything. Many Japanese folk tales, including “Crane Feathers,” are populated by main characters who appear to us in the guise of cranes - this bird is considered one of the symbols of this land of the Rising Sun and has been loved and revered since ancient times. One

How the villagers brought God back to life

In very ancient times, very rich people lived in one village. Why were they considered rich? The whole point was that the villagers were on very good terms with the god of the mountains himself. So he helped them in harvesting, in the fight against harmful insects, and drove away dark enemies. In the autumn of each year, the god of the mountains went to his domain and looked after the village from the mountain peaks.

Revenge of the crab

Once upon a time there lived a crab and a monkey. One fine day, they decided to take a walk together. They walked and walked and came across a persimmon grain lying on the ground. The monkey was the first to pick it up and, pleased with itself, moved on with the crab. They approached the river, and the crab found a rice ball there. He picked it up in his claw and showed it to the monkey: -Look what I found here! -And I found such a grain a little earlier,

It's winter, and from the cloudy sky

Beautiful flowers fall to the ground...

What's there behind the clouds?

Hasn't it come again

Spring replacing the cold weather?

Kiyohara no Fukayabu

How are fairy tales born? This amazing form of creativity arises equally among all peoples. Their external form depends on the “place of birth” and is determined by the special spirit of each people. But there is only one reason for creating a fairy tale - this is the universal human desire to “crack through the tough nut” of the world around us, to understand it, and, if we cannot get to the bottom of the truth, then to endow this world with our own “decoding”. And here the most amazing quality inherent in man comes into play - fantasy, which blurs the lines between living and non-living; between man and the rest of the animal world; between the visible and the invisible. Space begins to live a special life and interact: nature speaks to man and shares its secrets with him, fears come to life, miraculous transformations occur, boundaries disappear and everything becomes possible.

Today we are talking about Japanese fairy tales - funny and sad, crafty and edifying, as befits fairy tales that reflect the soul and conscience of the people, the priceless heritage of their ancestors, and ancient traditions. But that’s why they are fairy tales, because time is not an obstacle for them: the modern world is invading the fabric of fairy tales, and no one is surprised that a fox fools the driver by turning into an oncoming train, and a cunning badger is chatting on the phone.

Three groups of Japanese fairy tales

A characteristic feature of Japanese fairy tales and legends is their difference in historical form and in the degree of modern perception. They are divided into three large groups. The most enduring are the so-called “great fairy tales.” They are known to everyone. Without these fairy tales, not a single child’s childhood is unthinkable; more than one generation of Japanese has been brought up on their morality. There is even a unique term for them in modern Japanese folklore - Dare de mo shitte iru hanashi(“fairy tales that everyone knows”). Many of them have entered the world treasury of fairy tales.

Their peculiarity can be considered that over the centuries, each region, city, town or village has formed its own idea of ​​a fairy tale, its plot and characters. The tales of each prefecture of Japan are a kind of folklore world with its own laws and canons. And therefore, the tales of Osaka, splashing with enthusiasm and slyness, can never be confused with the refined romantic tales of Kyoto, and the simple-minded tales of the southern Ryukyu Islands with the harsh and strict tales of the northern island of Hokkaido.

And finally, among Japanese fairy tales there is a significant group of local fairy tales, which could conditionally be called temple fairy tales, since they are often known only in a small village or temple. They are deeply attached to the area that gave birth to them. The story of a were-badger necessarily associates the listener with the badger that is believed to live in the temple grove, and the old man and woman are the same ones who once lived at the foot of the nearby mountain.

Japanese fairy tales are varied in genre.

Tales about fools, klutzes, cunning people and deceivers are usually combined into the genre varai-banasi(“funny fairy tales”). To genre o-bake-banashi(“stories about werewolves”) include all scary tales: about ghosts, mysterious disappearances, night incidents on a mountain road or in an abandoned temple. Genre fusagi-banashi(“about what is unusual”) includes stories about various miracles - good and not so good, but always striking in their originality and emotional depth. A number of fairy tales are combined into a genre chie no aru hanashi(“about what is smart”). These are a kind of didactic fairy tales, parables, often with a transparently expressed morality. They are close to the genre dobutsu no hanashi(“stories about animals”). You can highlight popular tonari no jisan no hanashi(“stories about neighbors”).

Also popular in Japan are all kinds of fairy tales and jokes, known as keishiki-banashi(“fairy tales only in appearance”), for example, the so-called Nagai Khanasi(“long stories”), in which chestnuts falling from a tree or frogs jumping into water can be monotonously counted until the listener shouts: “Enough!” Fairy tales and jokes include mijikai hanashi(“short stories”), essentially these are boring fairy tales, which cooled the ardor of annoying listeners who demanded more and more stories. In Nagasaki Prefecture, for example, there was such a form of self-defense of the storyteller: “In the old days it was like that. A-ai. There were many ducks swimming on the lake. Then the hunter came. A-ai. He took aim with his gun. A-ai. Should I tell you more or not tell you?” - "Tell!" - “Pon! He fired and all the ducks flew away. The fairy tale is over."

All of the listed types of fairy tales are united by a single term - “ mukashi-banashi", which literally means "tales of old."

How to tell Japanese tales

Despite the closeness of fairy tales and legends, both genres in Japan originally developed independently, and the differences between them were felt from the very first words of the story. The fairy tale always had a traditional beginning: “In the old days” ( "mukasi") or "Once upon a time" (" mukasi-o-mukashi"). Next, it was necessary to tell about the place of what was happening, most often vague: “in one place...” (“ aru tokoro ni...") or "in a certain village.." (" aru mura ni..."), and then a short explanation followed: at the foot of the mountain or on the seashore... And this immediately set the listener in a certain fairy-tale mood.

If the action takes place on the seashore, then the adventures of the heroes will necessarily be connected with sea spirits, underwater kingdoms, kind or treacherous inhabitants of the sea element; if the village is somewhere in the mountains, then we will probably talk about incidents in a rice field, on a mountain path or in a bamboo grove.

The Japanese fairy tale and legend also differed in their ending. The fairy tale, as a rule, had a happy ending: good defeats evil, virtue is rewarded, greed and stupidity are mercilessly punished.

Japanese fairy tales have also been enriched due to the oral creativity of other peoples of Japan: the tales of the Ainu people, now living on the northern island of Hokkaido, and the Ryukyusans - the original inhabitants of the southern part of the country - the Ryukyu Archipelago.

Japanese fairy tale as an instrument of good

The Japanese fairy tale is deeply poetic. Poetry and fairy tales have always been revered in Japan as an instrument of goodness and justice, capable of taming the hearts of people and the rage of the elements. Those heroes of fairy tales who are endowed with the great gift of poetry always evoke respect, love and compassion. The one who creates cannot be the source of evil... And therefore the bride, who knows how to compose a beautiful poem to the point, gains the upper hand over her envious rivals. The badger stealthily steals scrolls with poems from someone else's house and selflessly recites them in a clearing illuminated by the moonlight. And the robber nicknamed the Red Octopus ascends the scaffold, giving people his last gift, simple and majestic - poetry.

Art lives in Japanese fairy tales. The statue of the goddess becomes the wife of the poor man. The black raven, flapping its wings, leaves the piece of canvas forever.

The fairy tale also has its own melodic pattern: in it you can hear the rumble of thunder and the rustling of autumn leaves, the sound of spring rain and the crackling of bamboo stalks in the New Year's fire, the grumbling of an old crab and the purring of a cat. Descriptions of numerous holidays and rituals are woven into the plots of fairy tales.

The Japanese fairy tale loves witty wordplay, riddles as a test of the mind, funny use of consonances: the peasant Jinsiro decided to ask the magic mallet for a pantry full of rice (“ kome-kura"), but he faltered, so blind dwarfs fell out of the bag (" ko-mekura»).

The heroes of fairy tales are looking for answers to eternal questions, trying to discover the world around them. The wanderers cross many mountains one after another, amazed at their number. The earthworms in the Ryukyu fairy tale cry bitterly, deciding that in the whole universe they are alone on their small island.

Transformation of Buddhist deities

In this regard, one cannot help but mention the influence of Buddhism (which began to spread in the 6th century), thanks to which a new pantheon of gods was formed in Japanese fairy tales.

Buddhist deities in fairy tales existed in two forms. These were well-known deities who were worshiped everywhere, and at the same time, some of them continued to exist at the local level, gradually becoming purely local deities in the perception of the Japanese.

This was the case, for example, with the god Jizo (Skt. Ksitigarbha). Known in China as the Bodhisattva who relieves suffering and danger, in Japan Jizo gained particular popularity as the patron of children and travelers. According to legend, Jizo does many good deeds: he saves from fire ( Hikeshi Jizo), helps in field work ( Taue Jizo), guarantees longevity ( Emmei Jizo).

Scary tales

The “evil spirits” of Japanese fairy tales are strictly differentiated according to their habitat and dominion: some of them belonged to the mountain, forest “evil spirits,” and the other to the water element. The most common demon of forests and mountains is tengu. According to legends, he lives in deep thickets and lives on the tallest trees.

This is not a person, not a bird, not an animal - it has a red face, a long nose, and wings on its back. Tengu can, if he wants, send madness to a person, his power is terrible, and if the traveler does not have ingenuity and intelligence, the mountain tengu will certainly faint him. The demon's most remarkable wealth is his magic fan. It has a special power: if you slap your nose with the right side of the fan, your nose will grow until it reaches the clouds; If you slap it with your left hand, your nose will become small again. Over time, the magical tengu fan becomes a kind of criterion for the morality of fairy-tale heroes: with the help of the fan, the good will certainly become happy, the evil will be punished by it.

Werewolves occupy a special place in fairy tales. Birds, animals and various objects - wallets and teapots, worn shoes and brooms - have the ability to transform. But since ancient times, foxes were considered the most unsurpassed masters of transformations ( kitsune) and badgers ( tanuki).

The tricks of the fox and badger were often crafty and harmless, but sometimes a real insidious demon was hidden behind the outwardly cute animal. The fox most often took the form of a young girl and appeared on a mountain path in front of a belated traveler. Woe to those who do not immediately recognize the tricks of the sly fox.

The badger turned into all sorts of household utensils, for example, into a pot for boiling water.

Such a badger was a kind of brownie, sometimes capricious, and then there was no life in the house from him, and sometimes economical and thrifty.

It happened that badgers turned into bouquets of chrysanthemums and little girls. There are many tales about how foxes and badgers helped people, about how by marrying a fox you can find happiness, and by making friends with a badger you can become rich.

Virtue in Japanese fairy tales

A significant place is occupied by tales about maiden birds: the crane, the nightingale, the swan. These heroines are endowed with mercy and kindness, capable of coming to the rescue and sacrificing themselves. Bird maidens are not only constant beauties, but also bearers of the highest virtues.

Equally complex and ambiguous are the images of those heroes whose birth is associated with plants: the brave Momotaro is born from a peach, and the captivating Uri-hime is born from a melon.

Fishermen and sailors had their own beliefs. Each ship had its own guardian spirit, called in most fairy tales " funadama"("ship treasure"), " fune no kami"("ship deity") or " fune no tamasiya"("soul of the ship"). Of course, evil spirits also live in the depths of the sea.

In Japanese fairy tales, the idea of ​​community is strong: a village or a tribal community. The only way to survive in the fight against the beautiful but harsh nature of the Japanese islands is to work together: plow the land on the spurs of the mountains and irrigate the rice fields. Loyalty to the community, the ability to sacrifice oneself for others is a duty and the ultimate dream.

True, in the tales of the late Middle Ages, when the Japanese community was no longer united, but was split into rich and poor, even within the same family, confrontation appeared.

Poverty is terrible: a poor man goes to the mountains to ask the wolf to eat him. Labor is revered in the fairy tale, but no one expects wealth from it. It is either an incredible accident or a predestination of fate.

Life in the magical world is a constant struggle between light and dark, good and evil. This is a constant choice, a search for a path for the hero, a test of his moral essence and the truth of his aspirations.

What Japanese fairy tales have you read? Are there any of your favorites? Write about it in the comments!