Classic Stories from Japan

Twenty-eight entertaining tales from Japanese folklore are featured here, and everything comes with a magical twist. Monkeys, badgers and other meddlesome creatures abound, as well as fortune tellers, malevolent spirits and mysterious paintings. A man who ardently desires eternal life is taught a lesson. A couple fall in love and find each other across the centuries. More unexpected time-slips happen in `Urashima Taro`, where a young fisherman ends up married to a princess and lives undersea for centuries. Spirits are all around us: in `The Laughing Dumpling`, an elderly woman outwits a demon with a taste for her cooking. Ghostly hauntings are visited on those who have done wrong, and famous tales like `The Marvellous Tea Kettle` and `The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child` (which inspired Studio Ghibli`s Princess Kaguya) remind us that the boundary between the magical and the everyday is only too fragile. Part of the Macmillan Collector`s Library, a series of stunning pocket-sized classics. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.