Konjaku Monogatarishū
Konjaku Monogatarishū (Anthology of Tales from the Past) is a large compilation of disputed authorship (many suggest that the compilation was assembled by a Buddhist monk) comprising tales in the setsuwa style. Konjaku Monogatarishū was composed in Japan during the late Heian period, though the exact date of completion is unknown. Konjaku Monogatarishū contains over one thousand tales, and the works draw their content largely from folklore— both Buddhist and secular— from India, China, and Japan. The stories assembled contain relatively few references to Shintoism and other non-Buddhist Japanese spirituality. The tales are not of great length, keeping with the style of setsuwa and its basis in oral tradition. The collection contains stories focusing on characters and happenings of many origins, including monks, peasantry, and nobility.