EP 228: The Sky Bridge Of Birds; Longka (Griffis)

Listen Here Watch Here The Sky Bridge Of Birds No bird is more common in Korea than the magpie. They are numbered by millions. Every day in the year, except the seventh day of the seventh month, the air is full of them. On that date, however, they have a standing engagement every year. They

EP 227: The Story of Princess Hase (中将姫) (Ozaki)

Listen Here Watch Here The Story Of Princess Hase A STORY OF OLD JAPAN Many, many years ago there lived in Nara, the ancient Capital of Japan, a wise State minister, by name Prince Toyonari Fujiwara. His wife was a noble, good, and beautiful woman called Princess Murasaki (Violet). They had been married by their

EP 211: The Shinansha (Ozaki)

Listen Here Watch Here THE “SHINANSHA”  OR THE SOUTH POINTING CARRIAGE The compass, with its needle always pointing to the North, is quite a common thing, and no one thinks that it is remarkable now, though when it was first invented it must have been a wonder. Now long ago in China, there was a

EP 190: The Farmer and The Badger (Ozaki)

Listen Here Watch Here THE FARMER AND THE BADGER Long, long ago, there lived an old farmer and his wife who had made their home in the mountains, far from any town. Their only neighbor was a bad and malicious badger. This badger used to come out every night and run across to the farmer’s

EP 175: My Lord Bag O’Rice (Ozaki 1908)

Listen Here Watch Here MY LORD BAG OF RICE Long, long ago there lived, in Japan a brave warrior known to all as Tawara Toda, or “My Lord Bag of Rice.” His true name was Fujiwara Hidesato, and there is a very interesting story of how he came to change his name. One day he

EP 159: The Meeting of the Star-Lovers (W.E. Griffis 1887)

Listen Here Watch Here THE MEETING OF THE STAR-LOVERS One of the greatest days in the calendar of old Japan was the seventh of July; or, as the Japanese people put it, “the seventh day of the seventh month.”  It was a vermilion day in the almanacs, to which every child looked forward with eyes

EP 132: The Tongue Cut Sparrow (Yei Theodora Ozaki 1908)

Listen Here Watch Here THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW Long, long ago in Japan there lived an old man and his wife. The old man was a good, kind-hearted, hard-working old fellow, but his wife was a regular cross-patch, who spoiled the happiness of her home by her scolding tongue. She was always grumbling about something from

EP 120: Yuki-Onna (Lafcadio Hearn 1904)

Listen Here Watch Here YUKI-ONNA In a village of Musashi Province, there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an old man; and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years. Every day they went together to a forest situated about five miles from their

EP 101: A Dead Secret

Listen Here A long time ago, in the province of Tamba, there lived a rich merchant named Inamuraya Gensuké. He had a daughter called O-Sono. As she was very clever and pretty, he thought it would be a pity to let her grow up with only such teaching as the country-teachers could give her: so

EP 83: The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy

By Yei Theodora Ozaki Long, long ago there lived in Kyoto a brave soldier named Kintoki. Now he fell in love with a beautiful lady and married her. Not long after this, through the malice of some of his friends, he fell into disgrace at Court and was dismissed.  This misfortune so preyed upon his