Myths & Legends of Japan

We are told that in the very beginning "Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the _In_ and _Yo_ not yet divided." This reminds us of other cosmogony stories. The _In_ and...

A long time ago a certain Emperor became seriously ill. He was unable to sleep at night owing to a most horrible and unaccountable noise he heard proceeding from the roof of the...

Long ago there lived an old bamboo-cutter by the name of Sanugi no Miyakko. One day, while he was busy with his hatchet in a grove of bamboos, he suddenly perceived a miraculous...

The following legend is obviously not of Japanese origin. The priests of Buddhism in Japan knew that the success of their religion lay, not in sweeping out the old gods of Shint...

The fox takes an important place in Japanese legend, and the subject is of a far-reaching and complex kind.[1] Inari was originally the God of Rice, but in the eleventh century...

Jizō, the God of little children and the God who makes calm the troubled sea, is certainly the most lovable of the Buddhist divinities, though Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy, has...

Sir Alfred East, in lecturing on the subject of Japanese art, described it as "great in small things, but small in great things," and this, generally speaking, is very true. The...

One of the most romantic of the old Japanese festivals is the Festival of Tanabata, the Weaving Lady. It takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month, and on this occasio...

Mount Fuji, or Fuji-yama ("The Never-dying Mountain"), seems to be typically Japanese. Its great snow-capped cone resembles a huge inverted fan, the fine streaks down its sides...

Japanese bells are among the finest in the world, for in their size, construction, and decoration the bell-maker of Nippon has reached a high level of efficiency. The largest be...

"Midwinter gloom the earth enshrouds, Yet from the skies The blossoms fall A flutt'ring shower, White petals all! Can spring be come, So soon beyond the clouds?" _Kujohara No Fu...

"All the joy of my existence is concentrated around the pillow which giveth me nightly rest, all the hope of my days I find in the beauties of Nature that ever please my eyes."...

"One day Kinto Fujiwara, Great Adviser of State, disputed with the Minister of Uji which was the fairest of spring and autumn flowers. Said the Minister: 'The Cherry is surely b...

Old Japanese metal mirrors are circular, the surface convex, and the back adorned with elaborate designs in relief of flowers, birds, and other scenes from Nature. Professor B....

Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy, resembles in many ways the no less merciful and gentle Jizō, for both renounced the joy of Nirvana that they might bring peace and happiness to ot...

Our English dolls, with their flaxen hair, blue eyes, and simpering faces, are certainly not a credit to the toy-maker's art if they are to be regarded as bearing even a remote...

The _San-ga-nichi_, or "three days" of the New Year, is one of the most important of the Japanese festivals, for the Japanese make far more of the New Year than we do in this co...

Tsuyu ("Morning Dew") was the only daughter of Iijima. When her father married again she found she could not live happily with her stepmother, and a separate house was built for...

Kōbō Daishi[1] ("Glory to the Great Teacher"), who was born A.D. 774, was the most holy and most famous of the Japanese Buddhist saints. He founded the Shingon-shū, a Buddhist s...

"Her weapons are a smile and a little fan." This quotation from Mr. Yone Noguchi only illustrates one phase of the Japanese fan, the phase with which we are familiar in our own...

"The earth is full of saltpetre and sulphur, which rise in the form of mist, and, uniting in the sky, become a vapour that possesses the properties of gunpowder. When this nears...

Many of the following stories are the tales a Japanese mother narrates to her child, for animal stories make a universal appeal to the child-mind. They are generally regarded as...

We have already noticed certain birds mentioned in Japanese legend, the pheasant in the story of Momotaro, the _Ho-Ho_ Bird, the Bridge of Magpies in the account of Tanabata, th...

"The first cup moistens my lips and throat, the second cup breaks my loneliness, the third cup searches my inmost being.... The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration--all the...

In the stories concerning Yoshitsune and his loyal retainer Benkei we have already referred to the battle of Dan-no-ura, the last conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans.[...

The Maiden Unai dwelt with her parents in the village of Ashinóya. She was extremely beautiful, and it so happened that she had two most ardent and persistent lovers--Mubara, wh...

"Oh! that the white waves far out On the sea of Ise Were but flowers, That I might gather them And bring them as a gift to my love." _Prince Aki_. (Trans. by W. G. Aston.)

The subject of Japanese superstition is of special importance, because it serves to indicate the channel by which many myths and legends, but more particularly folk-lore, have e...

The _Kappa_ is a river goblin, a hairy creature with the body of a tortoise and scaly limbs. His head somewhat resembles that of an ape, in the top of which there is a cavity co...

An old married couple went to the shrine of the deified Empress Jingo,[1] and prayed that they might be blessed with a child, even if it were no bigger than one of their fingers...

Kato Sayemon lived in the palace of the Shōgun Ashikaga, where he had his separate apartments, and as there was no war at that time, he remained contentedly with his wife and co...