First published in 1908, ‘Japanese Fairy Tales’ is a book of beautiful legends and fairy tales of Japan that were collected, translated and retold by the author, Yei Theodora Ozaki, an early translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales. Her translations have been very popular, and were reprinted hundreds of times after her death. It is a delightful introduction to the culture of Japan through its traditional children's stories. In part, the project was the result of a suggestion made by her friend Andrew Lang, another collector of fairy stories, who printed his stories in the many Colored Fairy Books.
They feature animals and humans, creatures normal and fantastical, peasants and kings. They contain 22 tales that include ghouls, goblins and ogres, sea serpents and sea kings, kindly animals and magic birds; demons and dragons; princes and princesses. Some are ‘Momotaro’, ‘The Son of a Peach’, ‘The Jellyfish and the Monkey’, ‘The Mirror of Matsuyama’, ‘The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child’, ‘The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa’.
