Curious Ordinary

In Japanese folklore it is believed that bodies of water often have a nushi, or guardian spirit, which can take various forms including dragons, snakes and many others. Joren Falls on the Izu Peninsula has a drop of 250 meters into a deep dark blue pool at the base and many visitors report feeling uneasy when viewing it.

In Japanese folklore there is a tale known as The Fox Barber. In a village in Tottori Prefecture there lived a fox named Oton who loved to bewitch people and shave their heads. The leader of the village called a meeting and offered a reward to anyone who was willing to try and defeat the mischievous fox once and for all.

The Butterfly Lovers is considered one of China’s four great folktales. Set in the Eastern Jin dynasty, it tells the tragic love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Zhu was the only daughter of a wealthy family. Despite living in a time when women were not allowed to study, she convinced her father to let her attend classes disguised as a man.

In Japanese folklore there is a common belief that most bodies of water contain a nushi, or guardian spirit. There is one particular tale about a man named Botaro, who was the son of farmers. Instead of helping on the farm, each day he chose to go fishing alone at a nearby pond which everyone thought was very strange behaviour.

In Japanese folklore there is a strange tale of a magical wooden doll in the likeness of a sumo wrestler. Long ago, five bandits stormed into a wealthy man's mansion. They tied up his family and demanded that he take them to where his riches were stored.

In Japanese folklore there are believed to be terrifying goblin-spiders. These yokai look exactly like regular spiders during the day but at night, when everyone is sleeping, they grow to an enormous size and develop supernatural powers. Goblin-spiders shapeshift and take on human form in order to do terrible things.

In Japanese folklore there is a tale of a kind-hearted young man called Gonzaburo, who was a beautiful flute player. He cared for his aging mother and would play the flute for her, which brought her much happiness.

In Japanese folklore there is a tale about a sister and brother and their encounter with a yama uba, a type of yokai sometimes translated as a mountain witch. One year their persimmon tree was full of ripe fruit so their mother suggested they take some to their grandmother who lived in the mountains.

Long ago in old Japan there was a temple in the remote countryside. The area was known for its prevalence of tanuki, a mischievous shapeshifting yokai. One evening a farmer was walking home and saw the local priest crouched down in pain.

In Japanese folklore there is a story of a man named Sentaro who did not want to die. He was quite a wealthy man and lived a life of luxury and idleness. However, he became quite preoccupied with the idea of dying, and after hearing old tales from China about a land where the elixir of life could be found,

In Japanese folklore there is a tale that explains why jellyfish have no bones. The story begins with the Dragon King who lives in his beautiful palace beneath the sea. Because he was lonely, he sent his fish retainers out to find him a dragon princess, which they did. The couple married and lived very happily for some time, until the princess became ill.

In China there is an ancient romantic folktale about Zhinu, a weaver girl and Niulang, a cowherd. Because theirs was a forbidden love, Zhinu was made to return to the heavens and they were separated by the stars that form the Milky Way. Once each year, on the seventh day of the seventh month,

In Japan there is a folktale about a cannibalistic hag who lived alone on the Adachi Plain. One story tells of a Buddhist monk who arrived at her lonely cottage late at night and asked if he could shelter there.  At first she said no, but he was able to finally persuade her to let him in. 

Bunbuku Chagama is a Japanese folktale in which a tanuki shapeshifts into a kettle and uses his talents to reward his owner. The story begins with a priest who bought an old tea kettle from a local store. He polished it up to use for the tea ceremony at his temple. One night while he was sleeping, the monks heard a lot of noise coming from his room and when they looked, they saw that the kettle had sprouted legs, a bushy tail and had the face of a tanuki.

In Japanese folklore there is a tale called ‘Kachi-kachi Yama’ which translates as fire-crackle mountain. Kachi kachi is onomatopoeia for the sound of crackling fire. The story is also more commonly known as ‘The Farmer and the Badger' however the ‘badger’ in this tale is actually a tanuki . 

In Japanese folklore there is a tale about a powerful mountain witch called Momiji. The name Momiji translates as maple leaves, and the story takes place during Autumn, when the leaves begin to fall. The tale begins with the samurai Koremochi who was given the task of hunting and killing oni (demons). He was travelling through the mountains with his retainers when they came across a leaf-viewing party.

One of the most famous Japanese ghost stories is Bancho Sarayashiki (The Dish Mansion at Bansho) which is the tale of Okiku. While there are many different versions of the story, they all centre around the death of a servant who returns as an onryo (vengeful ghost) to haunt those who mistreated and killed her.

In Japanese folklore suppon no yurei are the ghosts of soft shell turtles, who return to take revenge on those who have killed or eaten them. They appear with long legless bodies and faces with lips resembling a turtle. In one tale of a vengeful turtle ghost (also known as suppon on onryo) a man who owned a turtle restaurant slaughtered hundreds and thousands of turtles to serve his diners.

'Yotsuya Kaidan' is the story of the ghost of Oiwa. Also knowns as 'The Lantern Ghost, it is one of Japan's most famous ghost stories. It tells the story of the vengeful spirit of a young woman betrayed by her husband. In the beginning of the story Oiwa is married to a samurai named Iemon, but she was very unhappy because her husband was a liar and a thief.

In Japan there is a tale known as Towara Toda monogatari which tells the story of the hero Fujiwara no Hidesato. One day Hidesato decided to set off in search of adventure. He was heading towards Lake Biwa and on the path ahead of him near the lake, he saw a serpent-like creature blocking the path. Although he hesitated at first, he was a brave man and decided to carry on regardless.