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Tuttle is pleased to publish this new bilingual edition of A Treasury of Japanese Folktales. The stories and drawings in this book originally appeared in Old Tales of Japan. That book, originally published in 1953, remained in print for many years and was beloved by generations of children. This new edition features a Japanese text by Yumi Matsunari and Yumi Yamaguchi. We hope that this will help to introduce the book to a new generation of readers and serve as an inspiration for young learners of Japanese and English.

Comments about this book

The “Old Tales of Japan” translated by Mrs. Yasuda bring back many endearing memories of childhood to each and all of us in Japan. I hope that these tales we love may be shared and enjoyed by our little friends of other countries.

— Her Imperial Highness Princess Chichibu

Here are old Japanese tales translated and delightfully retold for English-speaking children by Mrs. Yasuda .... They will all find their way into the hearts of a new generation of children.

— Elizabeth Gray Vining, Former tutor to the Crown Prince of Japan

In these delightful folk stories as told by the gifted author Yuri Yasuda, there are revealed for our better understanding the old traditions and customs, the aspirations and innermost feelings of the Japanese.

— Dr. Francis B. Sayer, Former U. S. Undersecretary of State

These old tales of Japan, charmingly recounted, especially for children … are just as interesting and just as significant to grown ups .... I hope many children of other nations will read these well-told tales ....

— Mrs. Joseph C. Grew, Wife of former American Ambassador to Japan

These are charming tales, most skillfully rendered. I recommend them warmly to children of all ages and congratulate Mrs. Yasuda on her mastery of the English language, so gracefully displayed in this volume.

— Lady Gascoigne, Wife of former British Ambassador to Japan

When my niece, Mrs. Yasuda, told me of her plan to publish these stories, I was truly delighted, and encouraged her to complete the series. The book is fittingly illustrated by pictures destined to help the child grasp the true import of the stories.

— Count Makino, Former Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal to the Imperial Court of Japan

The tales told in this book … are now retold here by Mrs. Yasuda with exquisiteness .... They will be, I am sure, read by Western children with the same delight and thrill as by the children of this country.

— Shinzo Koizumi, Advisor for the Education of the Crown Prince of Japan

With her extraordinary command of English and great love of children, no one could have been better suited for the work than Mrs. Yasuda, and I know lovers of fairy tales all over the world … will welcome her contribution to their collection.

— Mrs. Takakichi Aso, Daughter of Mr. Shigeru Yoshida, former Prime Minister of Japan

Author’s preface

Children the world over love stories. In Japan too, countless children through the ages have lifted expectant faces to their elders to hear them tell of a boy born from a peach, or of a beautiful princess floating to the moon, or of a little sparrow, or of a cunning badger. In 1946, when I first chose to tell Japanese tales to children of foreign countries my sole desire was to help to form in a small way a rainbow of understanding between our children’s world to those of others. For I think fairy tales of all countries, though told in various ways, are always basically the same—-they differ only in customs and manners. I have retold these tales in my own way—just as they were told to me when I was a child—and I hope readers will be as happy as I was in the quaint land of old Japan.

It remains for me to express my gratitude to Josephine B. Vaughan and Dorothy W. Phillips for their kind help. Mrs. Vaughan has written several books on Japan. Both have great sympathy with the Japanese. Their revision has been invaluable to me. The faults that remain are my own.

— Yuri Yasuda