Japanese Folk Tales: Mukashi-banashi, the Five Great Tales and Their Heroes
Japanese folk tales are mukashi-banashi (昔話), "tales of old times": oral stories with no author and no single text, which begin with the words "むかしむかし、あるところに" — "long, long ago, in a certain place." Within the genre there is its own canon — the "Five Great Tales" 五大昔話, which includes Momotaro and four other stories from school anthologies. Each tale has dozens of local variants.
"Fairy tale" in Japanese is not one word but three: 昔話, 民話 and お伽話 point to different origins of a story, though it may be retold in the very same words. Let's look at this difference, examine the character 昔, without which no opening formula is complete, and briefly go through the heroes who have separate pages on the site: Momotaro, Issunboshi, Urashima Taro, Kaguya-hime, Kintaro and the crane shapeshifter.
昔話, 民話 and お伽話 — Three Words for One Tale
昔話 (mukashi-banashi) is a strict term in folklore studies: stories without names or a precise setting, which begin with the opening "むかしむかし、あるところに" and end with a set closing formula like "めでたしめでたし" ("and they lived happily ever after"). The characters here are not individuals but roles: "the old man," "the old woman," and even the name Momotaro is simply "peach eldest son."
- 昔話 (mukashi-banashi) — the narrowest of the three words: this term was strictly defined by folklore studies.
- 民話 (minwa) — a broader word, "folk narrative": it includes mukashi-banashi, local legends, and tales about real events.
- お伽話 (otogi-banashi) — a story invented to entertain the listener; the word is connected to otogishu storytellers who entertained military commanders with conversation, and the meaning "fairy tale for children" became attached to it later.
Why the Opening Sounds the Same in Different Corners of the Country
The opening "むかしむかし、あるところに" names neither time, nor place, nor names — folklorists see this as a marker of the genre: the listener immediately understands that this will not be a historical account. The closing formulas are also set and vary by region: in Iwate, for example, a tale ends with the words "どんとはれ."
五大昔話 — Five Tales Every Japanese Schoolchild Knows
| Title | In Japanese | Plot in One Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Momotaro | 桃太郎 | a boy born from a peach defeats oni on an island with a dog, a monkey and a pheasant |
| "The Battle of the Monkey and the Crab" | 猿蟹合戦 | a cunning monkey deceives a crab, and his friends take revenge for him |
| "The Sparrow with the Cut Tongue" | 舌切り雀 | a kind old man visits a sparrow maimed by his wicked wife and receives a reward |
| "The Old Man Who Made the Trees Bloom" | 花咲か爺さん | a faithful dog helps a poor old man grow rich, while his envious neighbor ruins everything |
| Kachi-kachi Yama | かちかち山 | a rabbit punishes a wicked tanuki badger for killing an old woman |
This is the list given by Japanese reference works, though in popular collections Urashima Taro or Issunboshi are often placed alongside the "Five Great Tales."
Which Heroes of Japanese Folk Tales Are Covered Separately on the Site
- Momotaro (桃太郎) — a boy born from a peach, leading a troop of a dog, a monkey and a pheasant.
- Issunboshi (一寸法師) — a hero one sun tall, who defeats an oni with a needle instead of a sword.
- Urashima Taro (浦島太郎) — a fisherman who spent several years in an underwater palace, while on land he aged in a single moment.
- Kaguya-hime (かぐや姫) — the moon princess found in a bamboo stalk, who rejected every suitor in turn.
- Kintaro (金太郎) — a strong boy who wrestled bears in the Ashigara mountains.
- The Crane (鶴) — the heroine of "Tsuru no Ongaeshi," who repaid her rescuer with cloth woven from her own feathers.
Who Collected the Tales That Did Not Make It into School Anthologies
The folklorist Yanagita Kunio published "Tono Monogatari" in 1910 — a collection of legends from the Tono region, recorded from the words of the storyteller Sasaki Kizen. This is not mukashi-banashi in the pure sense, but a mixture of local legends about spirits, encounters with tengu and kappa: the book is considered the starting point of Japanese folklore studies as a separate discipline.
昔 — The Character That Begins Every Tale
昔 — значение: old times, the old days, formerly, once — онъёми: セキ、シャク — кунъёми: むかし — 8 штрих(ов). 昔 means "old times, the old days" — the very opening "once long ago" without which no Japanese tale is complete. It is also in 昔話 (mukashi-banashi) and 今昔 (konjaku) — "now and in olden times."
| Japanese | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 昔話 | mukashibanashi · mukashibanashi | Folk tale, a story of old times |
| 民話 | minwa · minwa | Folk narrative — a broader concept |
| お伽話 | otogibanashi · otogibanashi | A tale told to entertain the listener |
| むかしむかし、あるところに | mukashi mukashi, aru tokoro ni · mukashi mukashi, aru tokoro ni | "Long, long ago, in a certain place" — the opening of a tale |
| 五大昔話 | godai mukashibanashi · godai mukashibanashi | "Five Great Tales" — the school canon |
How 昔 Is Read Within Words and on Its Own
On its own and at the end of a word, 昔 is read むかし (mukashi): this is how one says "in olden times" or "once." In compound words the on readings セキ (seki) and シャク (shaku) are used — for example, 今昔 (konjaku) "the present and the past," where シャク is voiced. The word 昔話 is made up of exactly these two roots: 昔 "old times" plus 話 "story."
Write 昔 along the guides — the character of "old times" with which every mukashi-banashi begins.
FAQ
- What are Japanese mukashi-banashi folk tales?
- Mukashi-banashi (昔話) are oral stories with no author and no single canonical text: they begin with the opening "long, long ago, in a certain place," end with a set closing formula, and do without precise names and dates. They were retold from elders to children for centuries, so each tale has dozens of local variants.
- How does 民話 differ from 昔話?
- 民話 (minwa) is a broader concept: folk narrative in general, including mukashi-banashi, local legends and tales about real events. 昔話 is a form strictly defined by folklorists, with a fixed opening, closing and nameless characters like "the old man" and "the old woman."
- How many tales are in the "Five Great Tales"?
- Five: Momotaro, "The Battle of the Monkey and the Crab," "The Sparrow with the Cut Tongue," "The Old Man Who Made the Trees Bloom" and Kachi-kachi Yama. This is how Japanese reference works list them, though in popular collections Urashima Taro and Issunboshi are often placed alongside.
- Which heroes of Japanese folk tales are covered separately?
- Momotaro, Issunboshi, Urashima Taro, Kaguya-hime, Kintaro and the crane from "Tsuru no Ongaeshi" — each has a page with a breakdown of the name by characters, the plot and the history of the text.
- What do Yanagita Kunio and "Tono Monogatari" have to do with it?
- Yanagita Kunio published "Tono Monogatari" in 1910 — a collection of legends from the Tono region recorded from the words of the storyteller Sasaki Kizen. The book is considered the beginning of Japanese folklore studies as a science, though the stories of spirits and kappa collected in it are closer to local legends than to strict mukashi-banashi.
- How is the character 昔 from the word "tale" translated?
- 昔 means "old times, the old days": on its own it is read むかし (mukashi), and in compound words — セキ or シャク, as in 今昔 (konjaku) "the present and the past." Together with 話 "story" it forms 昔話 — "a story of old times."
Sources
Updated: 2026-09-15