A Child's Treasury of Japanese Fairy Tales

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	• Japanese Fairy Tales Borgo Press, 2002 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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A Child's Treasury of Japanese Fairy Tales

Originally published in 1903, Yei Theodora Ozaki's translation of Sadanami Sanjin's collection of Japanese fairy tales has been the introduction of many a young child into the legends and fables of old Japan across the years. Definitely not a scholarly reference or valuable research tool for folktale researchers, Ozaki unabashedly re-crafted some of the stories, translating loosely and adding in elements of unrelated tales, in order to make them more enjoyable and understandable for Western children. She even gave Urashimataro a happy ending!

There is something delightfully romantic about translations from this era, due to the unfamiliarity with Japanese culture at the time. Terms that would not be translated today, like "oni" and "samurai", are rendered as "ogre" and "knight" and other English equivalents. While unauthentic, this makes the stories more approachable by young children who have a mind for fantasy but haven't yet graduated to Japanese Studies.

While far from a picture book, artist Kakuzo Fujiyama contributed 66 beautiful drawings to illustrate the 22 tales. Unfortunately, all the illustrations are reproduced in black-and-white, instead of the original color plates included in the original pressings.

Many of the stories here are familiar with anyone even slightly interested in Japanese folklore. "Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach, "The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad", "Kintaro the Golden Boy" and "The Ogre of Rashomon". Along with these, there are rarer tales that I haven't seen in any other Japanese fairy tale collection. "The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa", "The Sagacious Monkey and the Boar" and "How and Old Man Lost his Wren" were all new to me.

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Twenty-two charming Japanese Fairy Tales, selected and translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki, including "My Lord Bag of Rice," "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow," "The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad," "The Farmer and the Badger," "The _Shinansha,_ or the South Pointing Carriage," "The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy," "The Story of Princess Hase," "The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die," "The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moonchild," "The Mirror of Matsuyama," "The Goblin of Adachigahara," "The Sagacious Monkey and the Boar," "The Happy Hunter and the Skillful Fisher," "The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Flower," "The Jellyfish and the Monkey," "The Quarrel of the Monkey and the Crab," "The White Hare and the Crocodiles," "The Story of Prince Yamato Take," "Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach," "The Ogre of Rashomon," "How an Old Man Lost His _Wen_," and "The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa." (Jacketless library hardcover)

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