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Wise Man of Japan

I ventured alone in my frail boat and fell asleep. The boat drifted east, to the shore of the sweetest spot in the world. In the bright morning light, I found myself in the shadow of Fusan, the Wonder Mountain, and I knew I had come to Horaizan, the Isle of the Blest....

Magpie of Heaven

The Weaving Maiden was such a dutiful worker, she would never leave her loom. Her father said, “You should go out and have some fun!” She said, “Sorrow, age-long sorrow, shall come upon the Weaving Maiden when she leaves her loom.” Her father put no...

Rai-Taro, Son of Thunder

In the cool of the evening, my father and I walked upon the ramparts of the Castle of Cloud as we often did. My father was a great and mighty god of Thunder and all the Elements. From the ramparts we viewed the doings of men upon the Land of Reed Plains. North and...

Song of the Ballad-Singer

Walking along the road, the wandering ballad-singer came upon a girl with a black bowl over her head. “Oh, girl with the black bowl over your head, why do you sit weeping by the roadside?” he asked. “I weep because the world is hard,” she said....

Generous Tailor

I told the goldsmith he shouldn’t do it! But he wouldn’t listen to me. He insisted on going back to the place where the little folk were dancing. We had found them once, and they sent us away with coal in our pockets. By morning, the coal had turned to...