ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾHousehold thingsfrom long, long ago- Tales that tell of another life -Household thingsfrom long, long ago- Tales that tell of another life -Writing and Editing OZAWA Hana
Illustration
SEKI Etsuko
English Translation TAMAMUSHI Renate

Foreword
Long, long ago there was an old
man and an old woman….
Everybody has at least once
heard a story, that begins thisway.
In the evening, when people sataround the fireplace (irori), thegrandfather or the grandmotherwould tell stories, and the children
listened excitedly with their heart
throbbing.
Such tales, sometimes
enjoyable, sometimes scary,sometimes sad or mysterious,
are collected here.

2

They are set against thebackground of a bygone time,
when people thought and felt
differently.
In Nihon Minkaen (Japan OpenAir Folk House Museum) there
are 25 buildings mostly from theeastern parts of Japan, that havebeen taken apart andreassembled here. Some ofthese houses also brought old
tales with them. These stories
center around household beingsor household things.

3

Contents
Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago
Zashiki-Warashi- Iwate prefecturep.6

The Kappa, who lived at the bend of the river- Chiba prefecture

A map of the placesfrom which the stories are
introduced
Stories connected to the houses that are reconstructed in Nihon Minkaen

p.10

The tale of the fox who failed to bewitch someone- Kanagawa prefecture

p.14

The wife who did not eat- Nagano prefecture

p.18

Dandarabôshi- Mie prefecture

p.22

Part 2: Old stories from Kawasaki city

Yamagata prefecture ⑧

Iwate prefecture ①

The Sugawara House

The Kudô House

Nagano prefecture ④
The Sasaki House, The Misawa House

The Suzuki House

Chiba prefecture ②

How sericulture began- Asao ward

Fukushima prefecture ⑨

The Sakuda House

p.28

Kawasaki city ⑥⑦
Kokagesan Shrine, The Kiyomiya House

The Jizô who helped by leading the horse- Takatsu ward

Kanagawa prefecture ③
The Kitamura Housep.36

Mie prefecture ⑤

Part 3: Wellknown stories

Shizuoka prefecture ⑩

Kabuki Stage

The crane’s gift of gratitude- Yamagata prefecture

p.40

The Jizô and the bamboo hats
- Fukushima prefecture

p.44

Part 4: Stories from School textbooks
The racoon dog and the spinning wheel- Shizuoka prefecture

p.48①Zashiki-Warashi②The Kappa, who lived at the bend of the river③The tale of the fox who failed to bewitch someone④The wife who did not eat⑤Dandarabôshi⑥How sericulture began⑦The Jizô who helped by leading the horse⑧The crane’s gift of gratitude⑨The Jizô and the bamboo hats
⑩The racoon dog and the spinning wheel

Zashiki-Warashi

Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

A tale from Iwate prefecture

Zashiki-WarashiIn a certain rich family,
so the legend goes, there lived ahousehold spirit called a ZashikiWarashi. One day when the
grandmother was sitting in front of thefamily altar, she saw a Zashiki-Warashi.
It had a red face like a monkey.
In another family a Zashiki-Warashi
tickled a person sleeping in the room infront of the tokonoma (a ceremonial
alcove), and threw cups and wooden
soup bowls from the ceiling and did all
kinds of naughty things. If such a thing
6

were to happen, misfortune would
befall the family, the house would burndown or a family member would die.
In another house there was also a
Zashiki-Warashi. When a group ofyoung men stayed overnight, one ofthem decided to sleep in the guest
room, where a Zashiki-Warashi wassaid to live. Just as he was falling
asleep, a child came out of nowhere andjumped about the room and over his
sleeping mat. The young man becamefrightened and ran away. This ZashikiWarashi looked like a human child.
SASAKI Kizen, “The story of Zashiki-Warashi in Ôshu”,1920

7

Zashiki-Warashi

Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

Tableware of long ago

What are Zashiki-Warashi?

Individual box type tray
with tableware
At meal times the lid wasreversed to form a tray.
This was used from theEdo period up to the
Meĳi period.

Most people today sit at the table at meal �mes. But inolden �mes each person had a box table, that also
served as a container for their tableware.

Zashiki-Warashi in the Kudôhouse
The veranda of theKudô house
Before the house wasremoved to the Nihon
Minkaen, the outer
doors of the veranda
were closed and thespace was used asstorage room. The
room on the inside wasa guest room.

According to the people who had lived in the Kudôhouse, the steps of li�le children were some�mes heard
on the veranda (engawa) and somebody heard noises
like the winding-up of an old-fashioned gramophone.

They lived in the tatami rooms of houses long ago andacted as protec�ve spirits. Tales of Zashiki-Warashi weretold in the prefectures of Iwate, Aomori, Akita andthereabout. They looked like li�le children with apageboy haircut. They liked prac�cal jokes but were notmalicious. Families that had a room with a ZashikiWarashi in it, were said to prosper. But one day the
Zashiki-Warashi might suddenly disappear.

89

The Kappa, who lived at the bend of the river

A tale from Chiba prefecture

The Kappa, who lived at
the bend of the riverA

long time ago there
lived a Kappa (amythical water creature) in abend of the Sakuda river,
who used to pull the “pearlof life” (i.e. the soul) out of
the behind of swimmers. One
summer morning a man sat fishingwhen something tapped his shoulder,
ton ton. The man turned around andthere was a Kappa, who told him: You
come and wrestle with me. If you win,
I’ll give you all my fish, but if I win,
you leave all the fish you caught
behind. Though the man was not very
10

Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

confident of winning, and was wearing
only a loin cloth, he started to wrestle
with the Kappa. Despite his small
stature the Kappa was very strong.
When the man tired, the Kappa started
to pull him into the river. But after awhile the man let out a big puff ofbreath and swam towards the riverbank. When he came home, the people
were surprised by his story and told himthat he was lucky to have survived.
What the man did, was to take the lid ofa tea kettle and put it over his behind, so
the Kappa could not pull out the man’s“pearl of life”, and thus he was saved.
Now the river has been straightened,
and the Kappa lost his home in the bendof the river. There are no Kappa tales
told any more.
“The history of Kujukuri town, specific topics vol.2”, 1992
11

The Kappa, who lived at the bend of the river

Kappa live in the muddy
backwaters of a riverPart 1: Stories handed down from long ago

What is a Kappa?

When a river has many windings, there will be muddy
backwaters at the bend that are deep and may havewhirlpools. And if there are bamboo groves near theriver bank, the fallen leaves may cover the water and it
becomes quite an eerie place. Here Kappa dwell andone should not go into the water there.

A creel (wicker basket) and a fishing rod
The caught fish are put into the creel.

Kappa used to pull the life force out of a human being’s
behind. In Japanese this life force was called shiriko or
shiriko-dama, a mythical globe or pearl inside the body,that is sought a�er by Kappa. This “pearl” is inside thehuman body and if it is removed, the person dies.
Therefore it was considered very important. But thoseonce so terrifying Kappa are nowadays considered cuteand popular figures.
12

Picture of a Suiko or “Water Tiger”
An Edo period picture from the now
Oita prefecture of a captured “watertiger” (Kappa).
Kawasaki City Museum collection

13

A mythical creature, akind of goblin, found at
the river bank, wasgenerally called a Kappa,
wri�en with thecharacters for river[kawa] and children[wappa] and pronounced
kappa. It was also called awater deity andsome�mes there wereeven special celebra�ons
for it. Its body was green,
it had a plate-likeindenta�on on top of thehead, and it was known
to like cucumbers.
Some�mes it was notgreen but looked like amonkey.
As men�oned in the tale,
it liked to wrestle in thestyle of a Sumo wrestler,
and displayed greatstrength in its small body.
But at �mes it was caught
by humans and punished.

The tale of the fox who failed to bewitch someone

A tale from Kanagawa prefecture

The tale of the fox who
failed to bewitch someone
long time ago an old
woman happened togo out to visit her
grandchild. When she
went home again, it was getting dark
and the people were afraid a fox might
try to bewitch her.
But the grandmother was a strongminded person. In her right hand she
carried a lantern and in her left hand astone and she went back alone. Whenshe had walked as far as the Zôrin-ji
temple, she noticed that somebody witha flickering light was following her. The
grandmother thought “A fox isfollowing me” and walked very
cautiously, when the light was suddenly
extinguished. When she arrived homeA

14Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

and told her family what had happened,
they said: “Grandmother, because you
acted so courageously, the fox was notable to bewitch you.”
Again, when somebody went to themountain to work, the weather which
until then had been fine, suddenly
turned dark. “This is doubtlessly thedoing of a fox”, the man thought. “I
don’t have time to be fooled” and he sat
down and had a smoke. When he wasdone, suddenly the weather was fine
again. He had remembered that when he
was a child his grandfather had told
him: “When going to the mountains,always carry your smoking things
along. And if the fox is trying tobewitch you, the right thing to do ishaving a smoke.” Therefore he always
carried his pipe when going to themountains.
“The history of Hadano city, extra issue folklore”, 1987

15

The tale of the fox who failed to bewitch someone

Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

Foxes bewitch humans

Nights in old times

Foxes in fairytales o�en seem to do mischief to people.
Compared to other animals, foxes lived rela�vely close
to human dwellings.
Also fox images are seen in Inari shrines and there they
are worshipped as the fox god, a deity you pray to for agood harvest.
In the second story the man was not fooled by the fox,
and the smoke of his pipe served as a charm against evil
spirits.
In this connec�on it should be noted that the town ofHadano, where this story was told, was a region that had
become prosperous by the growing of tobacco leaves.

In Japan electric light only became popular about ahundred years ago. In the �mes before electricity, oncethe sun went down, it became completely dark. If one
wanted to go out, a lantern was necessary. Inside thehouse people had standing lamps called andon (a paper
covered wooden stand with a light inside) or similarlamps. Inside the lanterns candles were used, and inside
the paper covered lamps were plates filled with oil or a
special oil filled bowl.

kiseru (a pipe)
It is stuffed with finely
chopped tobacco and lit forjust a few puffs.

Oil filled plate and bowl
A special kind of rush, called igusa, wasused as a wick. By moving the wick holder,
the length of the wick could be adjusted.
Compared to the plate, the bowl held much
more oil.

Pipe and box for tobacco

Two types of andon

16

17

Lantern and candles

The wife who did not eat

Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

A tale from Nagano prefecture

The wife who did not eat

Along time ago there
was a very stingy
man. Once, as he wasgoing to work in themountains, he said tohimself: I wish I had a wife who
worked a lot and ate very little. Going
home again, he met a woman just likethat and he married her. The manthought happily: This way I can save a
lot of rice. But one day he noted that therice bin was almost empty. That is
peculiar, he thought, and the next day
he pretended to go out, but went to theupper floor and looked down through ahole in the ceiling.The wife started afire in the cooking stove (kamado) andput rice in a pot and began to cook it.
When the rice was done, she let down
her hair and on top of her head a hugemouth appeared into which the rice
disappeared. When the wife realisedthat the man had seen her, she became
18

furious and turned into a witch(onibaba), threw the man into the bathtub, and ran away to the mountains. She
came to a place with a lot of sweet flags
and mugwort, and realised that this was
Sword Mountain, a poisonous and scaryplace for her and she took a long detour
around it.
The man climbed out of the bath tub
and started to run away. When the witch
saw him, she started to follow him. The
man hid among the sweet flags. When
the witch got there, the sharp leaves ofthe sweet flags pierced her eyes andwhen she fell into the mugwort, it madeher body melt and she was dead.
The man was saved and with his head
covered with sweet flags and mugwort
he arrived home again. The day
happened to be the fifth day of the fifthmonth, the day of the boys’ festival.
From this day on people began todecorate the eaves of their houses withsweet flags and mugwort to keep away
evil spirits.
INADA Kazuko et al.,“Children’s Stories from Japanese Fairy Tales vol.3”, 1996

19

The wife who did not eat

Part 1: Stories handed down from long ago

Cooking rice on a cooking stove
In old (farm) houses
one can s�ll find a
kamado or cooking
stove. About 60 years
ago a special pot forrice cooking, called
kama, was used on a
kamado for preparing
meals, for stewing
vegetables and forcooking rice.

kama
Pot for cooking rice

The seasonal festival of the fifthmonthTwo-mouthed woman
Kawasaki City Museum collection

In olden �mes, people believedthat strange and frightening
creatures lived in themountains. They were a bit
different from the one whichappears in this tale, but in the
Edo period there were picturesof creatures like that.

kamadoCooking stove in an old house

Taking a bath

Bath tub
Unlike modern bath tubs, the old ones
were made from wood. The heating
device was attached to the tub.
20

Today every house hasa bathroom, but inolden �mes only very
few houses in a village
had one. They would
heat up the water inthe tub and theirneighbours would go
there to take a bath.
This was called“borrowed bath”.

Sweet flag (shôbu) and mugwort(yomogi)

Sweet flag leaves hung from theeaves

The leaves of sweet flags are sword-like. Also sweet flags
and mugwort have a strong smell, and in the past wereused as medicine or as a charm to drive away evil spirits.
Nowadays many people put sweet flags in their bath on
the fi�h day of the fi�h month, or Boys’ Day (nowKodomo no Hi or Children’s Day)
Originally the seasonal fes�val of the fi�h day of the fi�hmonth was introduced to Japan from ancient China andthe present day custom of carp streamers or koinobori
as a sign for the Boys’ Day is a product of the Edo period.
21DandarabôshiPart 1: Stories handed down from long ago

A tale from Mie prefecture

DandarabôshiL

ong ago there lived
a giant called
Dandarabôshi on an
island called Daiôjima. He had only one
eye and one leg and he was ten meterstall. Dandara used to produce
thunderstorms to harass the villagers, sothey prayed to the gods to drive himaway.
One day a beautiful young woman
appeared, sitting on a headland on theisland, weaving a straw mat. Dandara
went up to her and asked her: “What isthat?” The girl answered him: “It is a
straw sandal for our strong village
headman.” Hearing this, Dandara
became frightened, thinking that here
was someone with even larger sandals
than his own.
22

Next he met fishermen on Dandaraisland repairing their sardine dragnets
and asked them: “What is that?” The
fishermen answered: “This is the loin
cloth of our strong village leader.” Next
he saw a big basket two meters wideand he asked again: “What is that?”“That is our village headman’s
lunchbox”, answered the fishermen.
Dandara was even more surprised andscared and he ran away across the ocean
and never came back.
Actually the young woman and thefishermen were messengers of the gods.
Thereafter the sea became more quiet
and day after day the villagers hauled ina big catch.
At Dandara island the two meter footprints of Dandara remained, but when
the harbour was built, they werecovered up by concrete.
“The history of Daiô town”, 1994

23

DandarabôshiPart 1: Stories handed down from long ago

In olden times everything was
made by hand
In these tales from long ago we hear about straw matsand straw sandals. A�er the rice was harvested, matswere woven from the straw. The straw was also used tomake sandals and people used them to walk long
distances. Now we buy things in shops, but at that �me
you had to make everything yourself.

A tool for making straw sandals
How to use the tool to weave straw
sandals
The maker of sandals sat on the longarm of the tool. Then thin straw ropes
were put among the teeth of the tool(people also used their toes) and were
woven together to form sandals.
Straw sandals

The legend of
Dandarabôshi spread to
Kantô and central Japan.
It belongs to a group of
giant-stories. The stories
as well as the giant’sname differ according to
the region. Our story is aversion connected topeople living by the sea
and the name of Dandara
may be an
onomatopoe�c word forthunder orthunderstorm.

Dandarabôshi
How to weave straw mats(1) On a straw mat loom, thestraw is woven between
vertical strings.
(2) A weaving shuttle is
moved between the strings toform the mat.

24

25

DandarabôshiPart 1: Stories handed down from long ago

Life in a fishing village
Daiôchô is a village on the Shima peninsula, which is also
called Sakishima peninsula, in the Pacific ocean. The
village consists of four parts: Nakiri, Funakoshi, Nata andAzena. It has been a fishing village from �mes
immemorial.
The god that appears in the tale is worshipped in the
Nakiri shrine and is called Iya-gongen. Every year in
September, a fes�val is held in this shrine to pray to thegod for safety on the ocean, and a huge straw sandal isthrown into the sea. The fes�val is called the Sandal
Throwing Fes�val.

hara-ami
Net for catching fish (mostly
sardines) from the boat

bote
A huge basket withbait for catching fish
26

27

How sericulture began

Part 2: Old stories from Kawasaki city

A tale from Asao ward

How sericulture beganAlong time ago there
lived in the villageof Okagami a family of
three people, father,mother and daughter. One day aroundthe end of autumn, the father went out
to work, and mother and daughter went
to plough the rice field with their horse.
When the father did not come home fora long time, the daughter said to thehorse: “If you go and look for father
and bring him home, I will be yourwife.”The next day the horse ran off throughfields and over hills searching for thefather and at the end of the third day hereturned with the father on his back.
The three were very happy until thedaughter confessed what she hadpromised. Then the father became
extremely angry and killed the horse

and threw his hide over a mulberry tree.
As he did this, a strong wind sprang up
suddenly and the skin wrapped itself
around the girl and she was whirled uphigh into the sky. The daughter wasgone and her mother and father became
terribly sad.
Some time later the daughter appeared
to the father in a dream and told him:
On the morning of the sixteenth day of
the third month you will find small
worms in the mortar that stands on thedoma, (the earthen work place inside afarm house). You must feed theseworms with the leaves of the mulberry
tree over which you threw the skin of
the horse. The worms will pupate andturn into cocoons. These you must sell
to make a living. Having said that, thegirl disappeared.
They did as she said, and when theysold the cocoons of the worms, they
were able to live happily. This was the
beginning of sericulture.
HAGISAKA Noboru, “Kawasaki Fairy Tales”, 1970

28

29

How sericulture began

Part 2: Old stories from Kawasaki city

From silkworm eggs to cocoons

The tale of the Golden Princess

To take care of silkworms un�l you get the raw silk

There is another tale about the origin of sericulture. A
long �me ago there lived in Tenjiku, as India was thencalled in Japan, a princess, called the Golden Princess.
The princess had a bad step-mother and had to suffer
four kinds of hardships, finally reaching Japan in a boat
made of mulberry wood. There the princess died, andfrom her remains emerged the silkworm. The princess
became the goddess of silkworms and thus started thecul�va�on of silkworms or sericulture.

thread from the cocoons, that is called sericulture.
Silkworms hatch from eggs and feed off mulberry leaves.
In their life �me they shed their skin four �mes, each�me growing larger. A�er shedding their skin for the last�me they use their thread to pupate and turn into achrysalis or cocoon.

The four carvings in the Kokagesan shrine(4) Before the insects can fly off, thecocoons have to be heated(1) Feeding on mulberry leaves(2) Sloughing off the skin 4 times(1) The princess is left in avalley of shishi (mythicalanimals, resembling lions).

(2) She is abandoned among hawks on a
mountain.

(3) She is left to float away in aboat.

(4) The princess is buried alive.

(3) Making cocoons3031How sericulture began

Part 2: Old stories from Kawasaki city

The festival of Kokagesan shrine
The Kokagesan shrine used to stand in the Tôkô-intemple area. Its fes�val was around the 23rd of Februaryor March and lasted two to three days. In the morningsome appointed people put up banners and lanterns infront of the shrine. People arriving for the fes�val
brought silk cocoons �ed to threads and hung them up.
They also brought red and white dumplings as offerings.
Food stalls were put up. Outside the immediate area
crowds of people gathered to get a look.

Statue of the Golden
Princess

Statue of the Bodhisattva Memyô

Festival of the Kokagesan shrine
At festival time banners and lanterns are displayed in Nihon Minkaen

The Golden Princess is an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Memyô.
3233How sericulture began

Part 2: Old stories from Kawasaki cityAmulet paper
Horse carrying mulberry leaves.

Votive paper

Hanging scroll
depicting the Golden Princess riding
in a boat.

Wooden board
used for printing
the papers.
Amulet paper
Woman carrying mulberryleaves and riding on a horse.

34

35

The Jizô who helped by leading the horsePart 2: Old stories from Kawasaki city

A tale from Takatsu ward

The Jizô who helped byleading the horseAlong time ago in thevillage of Kamisakunobe,
there lived a hardworking father
and his son. Because their rice
paddy was known for yielding
an especially tasty rice, a village
official wanted to get it for his
own, but the father and son did not want
to sell their precious field. It was theend of the month of May, and theofficial told them that they had to finish
the rice planting by June first. If they
could not do so, the field would betaken away from them. The father andson were greatly troubled by this,because to do the planting in so short atime seemed almost impossible to them.
The next morning the official lent thema horse that was very unruly and the son
36

who was leading it, could not control it.
He was almost crying with frustration
when a cute boy monk appeared andtook over leading the horse, whichbecame at once very docile and worked
so hard that the father and son could
soon finish preparing the field forplanting. They asked the young monk tostay, but he went away without saying aword.
The next morning the priest of theEnmei-ji Temple noticed that the Jizôstatue in the temple ground had muddy
feet. It was therefore understood thatthe helpful young monk had in reality
been this Jizô.
From that time on the village people
called that Jizô the Horse-leading-Jizô,or Hanatori Jizô. From horse breeding
regions like Iwate or Aomori, farmers
and horse breeders came to worship the
Jizô of the Enmei-ji Temple.
HAGISAKA Noburo et al., “Kawasaki Fairy Tales”, 1970
37

The Jizô who helped by leading the horsePart 2: Old stories from Kawasaki city

Preparing for the rice planting

Worshipping the JizôTo prepare for the plan�ng of the rice seedlings the field
has to be ploughed. Once the earth has been turned, thepaddy is flooded, and then the earth is broken down andsmoothed with a harrow. In former �mes a horse or ox
was used to pull the harrow. The animal was led by along rod that was fixed to the animal’s nose. Thus in
Japanese leading a horse is called hanatori or pulling thenose. This was usually done by young boys.

Jizô is a buddhist deity who was worshipped by people inneed. He would help people who were in difficul�es, oreven take on the hardship of people to make life easierfor them. He was a Bodhisa�va, or enlightened being,
who since olden �mes helped humans in the difficul�esthey encountered in their everyday lives. In the story he
is helping by leading the horse, but he also might help
with the rice plan�ng.

A field being preparedfor rice planting
Noborito in 1953. Herenobody is leading thehorse. The man behindthe horse uses a harrow.
(Kawasaki City
Museum collection)manga
A harrow, called
manga or maguwa
in Japanese

The Enmei-ji Temple

The Jizô of the Enmei-ji Temple
38

39

The crane’s gift of gratitudePart 3: Wellknown stories

A tale from Yamagata prefecture

The crane’s gift ofgratitudeAlong time ago there
lived a man called
Kinzô in Urushiyama in theprovince of Yamagata. One day Kinzô
rescued a crane, that was being
tormented by children. That same
evening, a beautiful girl came to his
house. This girl had injured her leg, andKinzô took care of the wound and let
the girl spend the night at his house.
The next day the girl said, that as athank-you-gift she would weave
something for Kinzô. She told him:
“Now you must not peek for sevendays”, and closed the doors to the roomand started weaving. Kinzô waited forquite some time, but when the girl went
40

on weaving without eating or drinking,he became concerned and opened thedoor. There he saw a crane, pulling out
one feather after the other and using
them in her weaving. When the cranerealised that Kinzô had seen her, shesaid in a sad voice: “Since you haveseen me in my true shape, I can nolonger stay here.” The crane had woven
a Mandala. She handed it to Kinzô anddisappeared. So the girl was the cranewhom he had helped.
Later Kinzô built a temple, and named
it Kinzô-ji or Kinzô’s temple. In thistemple the very special cloth-Mandalathat the crane had woven was kept. The
temple became known as the
Kakufuzan Chinzô-ji or Temple of theRare Crane Cloth.
YAMAJI Aiko, “It happened a long, long time ago - 100 stories from thehome of the Evening Crane (Yuzuru)”, 201141

The crane’s gift of gratitudePart 3: Wellknown stories

Weaving(a)Everybody probably has
heard of this story, but whatmakes this story special isthat it originated in and isconnected to a temple.
zaguri (reeling machine)
Weaving was tradi�onallywomen’s work, and as(b)
women spent many days
kowaku (reel)weaving, it was thought of
The reel is attached to the reelingas a sacred task.

machine by the detachable rod (a).
The rod is put through the hole in thereel (b) and fixed inside the reelingmachine. Then several threads fromthe silk cocoons are fixed as a strand
to the rod. By slowly turning thehandle, the silk threads are woundaround the reel.

Typical looms: the low type(jibata) with a strap to pull the
warp threads �ght and the tall
type (takabata). Both types
arrived from the con�nent (China),
where they had originated about
1500 years earlier. The low loom
used for weaving hemp came firstand was used in various places.
The crane in the illustra�on on thispage is using a low loom. Highlooms on the other hand wereused for silk weaving, which
ordinary people were not allowed
to do in the early days. They only
started using high looms fromabout 300 years ago.

kikkon …
patan …

hi (shuttle)
Inside the shuttle the weft (horizontal)
thread is tightly wound. The shuttle isthen passed over-and-under the warp
(vertical) threads of the loom, like inthe picture on p.43.

takabata
42

43

oboke
(hemp thread container)
The hemp fiber was torn
into narrow strips andtwisted into threads. Thiswas put into a tub-like
container, called oboke.

The Jizô and the bamboo hats

Part 3: Wellknown stories

A tale from Fukushima prefecture

The Jizô and the bamboo
hatsL

ong ago in a certain
place there lived apoor old man called
Rokubê and his wife.
Soon it would be the New Year, but
their rice box was completely empty
and they had nothing prepared. The old
man took some rough hemp cloth thatthe old woman had woven, and wasgoing into town to sell it. When hecame to the border of his village, six
Jizô statues were standing there almost
buried in the snow. The old man told
them: “When I come back, I will havesomething to cover you”, and turned to
go to town. But as it was very roughcloth the old man was selling, he had tosell it very cheaply.
With the money he could only buy five44

bamboo hats. When he came back, he
put them on five of the Jizô, but for thesixth he took off his own hat and put iton the Jizô’s head. At home he told hiswife immediately what he had done,
and the old woman praised him happily:“That was a good deed you did!” Andafter a very scanty supper the two oldpeople went to bed early.
In the night they were woken by anoise. It sounded like the voices of fiveor six people pulling a sled. The sledstopped in front of the house and they
heard heavy packages being unloaded.
When the noises subsided and they
opened the door, they saw the six Jizô,wearing their bamboo hats, going backto their places. In front of the housewere loads of rice bags, sticky ricecakes, rice wine, fish, clothes andmoney. From that time on the oldpeople live happily without any care.
INADA Kazuko et al.,“Children’s Stories from Japanese Fairy Tales vol.1”, 1995

45

The Jizô and the bamboo hats

Part 3: Wellknown stories

Vehicles for the transportation ofgoods

Winter clothes

To thank the kindhearted old man for his gi� ofprotec�ve hats the Jizô brought him a sled laden withwonderful things. Sleds with which to transport, forexample goods or wood, were pulled by men or horses
and came in different styles. Songs were o�en sungwhile pulling a sled.

When one has to go
through deep snow, like
Rokubê, kneehighboots, a cape and awide hat, all made fromstraw or bamboo, arevery necessary andhelpful.
Bamboo hat, cape (bandori or mino)
and boots

s?

Sled

ing

ring

Rice bales

hom

e b
re w

a

e
thes

ing

ul

We p

ara
oi y

Rice bales

sei!

Y

Among the things the Jizô brought were also rice bales.
The harvested rice was packed into straw containers so it
could be easily transported. The bales could also be
carried on the shoulders of people. The weight of one
bale differed according to the �mes, but usually one bale
was 60 kilograms.
46

wo

ing
e br

r

we a

♪ To w ubê’s housead.
ok♪ To R l a heavy lo

ful
nder

47

gift

the

s.

sure

rea
se t

The racoon dog and the spinning wheel

Part 4: Stories from School textbooks

A tale from Shizuoka prefecture

The racoon dog and thespinning wheelD

eep in themountains of Amagi
in the Izu peninsula, lived
a couple, who were
woodcutters. Every nighta racoon dog came to their hut and did
all kinds of mischief, so finally the man
set up a trap.
One night as the wife was working on
her spinning wheel, she noticed the eyesof the racoon dog peeping through ahole in the shoji paper. He was
mimicking the turning of the wheel.
Seeing this, the wife thought that wasvery cute. This behaviour of the animal
went on for several nights, but onenight the racoon dog was caught in the48

trap. The wife felt sorry for him and set
him free, and with many backward
looks he ran home into the woods.
After some time winter came and thecouple went down from the mountain to
their village, where they stayed until
spring when they returned to their workin the mountains. Opening the door totheir hut, the wife was much surprised
seeing many skeins of white thread
lying on the floor of the room. And thenshe suddenly heard the noise of aspinning wheel going kii karakara, kii
kurukuru. The wife looked quietly inthe next room and there the racoon dog
was sitting at the spinning wheel andwas skilfully spinning thread. When hesaw the woman, he jumped up with joy.
While she had been away, the racoon
dog had spun a lot of thread for her.
KISHI Nami, “Folktales from Izu”, 1957

49

The racoon dog and the spinning wheel

Part 4: Stories from School textbooks

People who live and work in themountains
Woodcu�ers used to cut trees in the mountains andbring them down. In this story the woodcu�er is also acharcoal maker, burning wood to make charcoal. In old�mes there were many people like that working in themountains. They also put up traps and caught animals.

A cotton striking bow (wata-uchi yumi)
An instrument for untangling the fibre

A cotton ginning machine(watakuriki)
The seeds are removed by rollers

torabasami a heavy steel trap,
literally Tiger Shears
A hole was dug in the ground, thetrap was put in and covered withleaves.
A spinning wheel (ito-guruma)

Making thread
Like foxes racoon dogs could bewitch people, but they
were also thought to be lovable animals.
Here the work of the wife is spinning co�on thread on
her wheel. In the co�on ginning machine the seeds were
removed, and the “co�on striking bow” was used tountangle the fibre. A�er that the le� hand took the raw
co�on and the right hand turned the spinning wheel,
and then the thread was rolled on a spindle. The racoon
dog learned all this by watching intently, but actually it isquite difficult to do for somebody who has not beentaught.
50

51

Afterword
In this book we introduce ten old
stories. Of course there aremany more stories like these inJapan. In many of these stories
we learn a lot about life in Japan
in former times. Maybe you canfind similar stories in your own
country and culture.

This book is an English translation of the catalogueof the special exhibition "Household things fromlong, long ago - Tales that tell of another life - "(2015.7.1 - 11.29).
All of the folk tools shown in this book are from the
Nihon Minkaen collection.
The photographs in this book belong to the Nihon
Minkaen, except where a different source is cited.
All illustrations in this book belong to the Nihon
Minkaen.
Unauthorized reproduction of both photographs andillustrations is prohibited.

The End52

53

Household things from long, long ago- Tales that tell of another life Japanese Version 2015
Writing and Editing OZAWA Hana
Published by Nihon Minkaen© Nihon Minkaen 2015
7-1-1 Masugata, Tama ward, Kawasaki city,
Kanagawa prefecture, 214-0032
Tel. 044-922-2181
English Version 2021
English Translation

TAMAMUSHI Renateɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
Zashiki-Warashiɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹThe Kappa, who lived at the bend of the riverɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹTheɹ tale of the fox who failed to bewitch someoneɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
The wife who did not eatɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
Dandarabôshiɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
How sericulture beganɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ The Jizô who helped by leading the horse ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
The crane’s gift of gratitudeɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
The Jizô and the bamboo hatsɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ The racoon dog and the spinning wheel ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɹɹ ɹ ɹ ɹ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ
Nihon Minkaenɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ ɾ56