Otogizôshi: Texts, Translations and Studies
with additional information about Muromachi tales

a bibliography compiled by Roberta Strippoli (Stanford)
with Michael Watson (Meiji Gakuin)

  • Sections on this page: (1) Texts, (2) Translations, (3) Studies, (4) Alphabetical list by title (including links to illustrations, where available)
  • Unicode encoding used. Diacritics have been restored, but to facilitate display and searches the circumflex (ôû) is used in place of the still problematic macron ¯. 
  • JSTOR links given where possible for journal publications. Access through a participating institution. 
  • Links to relevant pages of American and European booksellers are given in case of recently published books--even when out of print (used copies may be available). Links to paperback editions given where possible. MN=Monumenta Nipponica.
  • For detailed information about this genre, see now: Kanda Tatsumi and Nishizawa Masashi,  Chûsei ôchô monogatari Otogi zôshi jiten& nbsp;中世王朝物語・御伽草子事典 (Tokyo: Benseishuppan, 2002). Abbreviated below as: Kanda and Nishizawa 2002.
    •

    (1) TEXTS

    A number of standard series contain volumes of otogizôshi. List of contents given where available, either through library catalogue links or on the otogi-j page here.

    30 tales in all are included the collections below: Akimichi -- Akiyo nagamonogatari -- Izumi Shikibu -- Issun bôshi -- Urashima Tarô -- Urihime monogatari -- Ogoze -- Onzôshi shimawatari -- Karaito sôshi -- Kumano gohonji no sôshi -- Ko-atsumori -- Kohata kitsune (Kowata kitsune) -- Komachi sôshi -- Saiki -- Sazareishi -- Saru Genji -- Sannin hôshi -- Shutten dôji -- Fukutomi chôja monogatari -- Nanakusa sôshi -- Nijôshikô -- Neko no sôshi -- Nosesaru hôshi -- Hachi kazuki -- Hamaide sôshi -- Hamaguri no sôshi -- Bunshô sôshi -- Buntengoku -- Monokusa Tarô -- Yokobue sôshi

    Otogizôshi, ed. Ichiko Teiji, NKBT vol. 38, Iwanami shoten, 1958. 28 tales.
    Otogizôshi, ed. Ôshima Tatehiko, NKBZ vol. 36, Shôgakukan, 1974, 534 pp. 26 tales. 
    Otogizôshi, ed. Ichiko Teiji, 2 vols, Iwanami bunko, Iwanami shoten, 1985-1986. 23 tales.
    Otogizôshishû, ed. Matsumoto Takanobu, SNKS vol. 34, Shinchôsha, 1980. 9 tales.
    note also: Otogizôshi, trans. into modern Japanese by Fukunaga Takehiko, Enchi Fumiko, Nagai Tatsuo, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro. Chikuma bunko 1991. 13 tales.

    Muromachi short fiction are not "otogizôshi" in the original sense but sometimes so described: . A standard short collection is Muromachi monogatarishû, ed. Ichiko Teiji (Iwanami 1989-), containing 20 tales: Aro monogatari -- Ashibiki -- Benkei monogatari -- Bishamon no honji -- Daikokumai -- Ibuki dôji -- Iwaya no sôshi -- -- Kari no sôshi -- Kazashi no himegimi -- Ko otoko no sôshi -- -- Kôya monogatari -- Mado no oshie -- Menoto no sôshi -- -- Morokado monogatari -- Saigyô -- Saru no sôshi -- Sasayakidake -- Shigure -- Tawara Toda monogatari -- Utatane no sôshi.

    See also
    Monogatari sôshishû, ed. Ôshima and Watari, SNKZ, Shôgakukan, 2002. [webcat][list] With modern Japanese translation: Bunshô sôshi - Chûshô hime honji - Chôhôji yomigaeri no sôshi - Hashidate no honji - Isozaki -Kumano honji emaki - Issun bôshi - Izumi Shikibu - Monogusa Tarô - Onzôshi shimawatari - Saru genji zôshi - Shuten dôji e - Urashima no Tarô

    Muromachi monogatarishû, ed. Nihon koten bungaku gakkai, 1990 [webcat]
    Muromachi monogatarishû, ed. Nakano Kôichi, 2 vols., 1987-91 [webcat]

    Japanese table of contents for Nara ehon kokusaikaigi, ed. Otogizôshi no sekai, 1982.

    (2) TRANSLATIONS

    Araki, James T. "Bunshô Sôshi: The tale of Bunshô the Saltmaker." MN 38.3 (1983): 223-249. [JSTOR]

    Childs, Margaret H. "Didacticism in Medieval Short Stories. Hatsuse Monogatari and Akimichi." MN42.3 (1987): 253-289. [JSTOR]

    Childs, Margaret H. Rethinking Sorrow: Revelatory Tales of Late Medieval Japan. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies The University of Michigan, 1991.

    Daniels, F.J. "Otogi-Zoosi -one story: Sazareisi." In Daniels, ed. Selections from Japanese Literature. London: Lund Humphries, 1958: 43-51.

    Dykstra, Yoshiko, and Yoko Kurata. [English annotated version of Yokobue]. Japanese Religions 26:2 (July 2001), pp. 117-129.

    Glassman, Hank. "The Tale of Mokuren: A Translation of Mokuren no sôshi" in Buddhist Literature 1 (1999), pp. 120-161.

    Humbert-Claude, Pierre. Nara ebon. Le livre à miniature japonaise, 1570-1730. Roma: IsMEO, 1955. [Not seen. Contents?]

    Kavanagh, Frederick. "An Errant Priest: Sasayaki Take." MN 51.2 (1996): 219-244. [JSTOR]

    Keene, Donald. "Sannin Hôshi: the three priests" Anthology of Japanese Literature. New York: Grove Press, 1955 [322-331].

    Kimbrough, Keller. Imagining Izumi Shikibu: Representations of a Heian Woman Poet in the Literature of Medieval Japan. PHD Dissertation,Yale University, 1999. [Including translations of Koshikibu, Koshikibu (beppon), Izumi Shikibu, and Kotohara.] [abstract | full-text at UMI]

    Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai."Otogizôshi." Introduction to Classic Japanese Literature, Tôkyô Kokusai Bunka Shinkôkai, 1948 [188-196].

    Kubota, Yoko. "Un itinerario nel fantastico: l'Onzôshi shimawatari." Il Giappone 25 (1985): 35-66. [Republished in Strippoli 2001]

    Kubota, Yoko. "Monokusa Tarô un otogizôshi sulla vita di un fannullone." Il Giappone 26 (1986): 23-47. [Republished in Strippoli 2001]

    Kubota, Yoko. "L'Izumi Shikibu: storia della passione tra un monaco e una yûjo." Il Giappone 30 (1991): 5-49.

    Letten, Linda Kay. "The Declining Status of Women in Early Medieval Japan: 'The Tale of Yokobue' and Heian Court Life." M.A. thesis, the University of Hawaii. [Yokobue sôshi]

    McCullough, Helen Craig. "Two Companion Booklets." In Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990, [495-509]. [Translations of Issunbôshi ("Little One-Inch") and Akimichi.]

    Mills, Douglas E. "The Tale of the Mouse. Nezumi no Sôshi." MN 34.2 (1979): 155-168. [JSTOR]

    Naumann, Nelly and Wolfram. "Büchlein zur Unterhaltsamen Gesellschaft." In Die Zauberschale: Erzählungen vom Leben japanischer Damen, Mönche, Herren und Knechte. Müchen, Wien: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1973. Republished München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1990. [German translations of Saru Genji sôshi (Das Büchlein vom Possenreisser-Genji), Neko no sôshi (Katzenbüchlein), Shûtendôji (Saufbrüderchen), pp. 303-337.]

    Orsi, Maria Teresa, "Il Jôruri jûni-dan-zôshi." Il Giappone 9 (1971): 99-156.

    Pigeot, Jacqueline. "Histoire de Yokobue." Bulletin de la Maison Franco-Japonaise 9.2 1972.

    Pigeot, J., Kosugi, K. Le chrysanthème solitaire (Hitomotogiku). Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des manuscrits, Division des manuscrits orientaux, 1984.

    Pigeot, Jacqueline, and Kosugi Keiko, Voyages en d'autres Mondes: Récits japonaise du xvieme siècle. Paris: Editions Philippe Picquier/Bibliotheque Nationale, 1993. *Annoted tr. of Urashima Tarô, Sumiyoshi no honji (extracts), Hôrai-san (extracts), Kibune, Tanabata. REV: Karen Brock, JJS 21.2 (1995), 529-33. // Royall Tyler, MN 49.2 (1994), 240-241.

    Putzar, Edward D. "The Tale of Monkey Genji. Sarugenji-zôshi." MN 18.1-4 (1963): 286-312. [JSTOR]

    Sano, Kazuhiko. "Drei Einsielder -Sannin Bôshi- Ein Otogi-Sôshi." MN 6 (1943): 330-354. [JSTOR]

    Sieffert, René. Histoire de demoiselle Jôruri. Paris: P.O.F., 1994.

    Sieffert, René. Histoire de Benkei. Paris: P.O.F., 1995. 95 p. [Benkei monogatari]

    Sieffert, René. Le Livre des contes. Paris: P.O.F., 1993. p. 96. [Urihime, Issunbôshi, Urashima Tarô, Karaito]

    Skord, Virginia."Monogusa Tarô: From Rags to Riches and beyond."MN 44.2 (1989): 171-198.  [JSTOR]

    Skord, Virginia. Tales of Tears and Laughter: Short Fiction of Medieval Japan. Honolulu: Hawaii University Press, 1991. [Otonashi sôshi; Neko no sôshi; Tokiwa no uba; Kagami otoko emaki; Utatane no sôshi; Ikago monogatari; Hioke no shôshi; Ko otoko no sôshi; Dôjôji monogatari; Fukutomi chôja monogatari; Menoto no sôshi; Monogusa Tarô; Oyô no ama]

    Steven, Chigusa. "Hachikazuki." MN 2.3 (1977): 303-331. [JSTOR]

    Strippoli, Roberta. La monaca tuttofare, la donna serpente, il demone beone. Racconti dal medioevo giapponese. Venice: Marsilio, 2001. [Annotated Italian translations of Monokusa Tarô, Onzôshi shimawatari, Fukutomizôshi, Shutendôji, Oyô no ama, Hachikazuki, Dôjôji engi, Hamaguri no sôshi, Kagami otoko emaki, Bunshô sôshi. First two items are reprints of translations by Yoko Kubota.]

    Takeuchi, Lone. "An Otogizôshi in Context: Saru no sôshi and the Hie-Enryaku-ji Religious Multiplex in the Late Sixteenth Century," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 23.1-2 (1996). [PDF]

    Umehara, Takeshi. Lotus and Other Tales of Medieval Japan. Transl. Paul McCarthy. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1996. [Free retellings of eight tales: Kubi, Haseo no koi, Oyô no ama, Fukutomi monogatari, Monogusa Tarô, Hasu, Kumano no honji, Sanshô daiyu.] (Originally published as: Chûsei shôsetsushû. Shinchôsha, 1993, reprinted Shinchô bunko, 1997)

    (3) STUDIES

    Araki, James T. "Otogi-zôshi and Nara-ehon: A Field of Study in Flux." MN 36.1 (1981): 1-20. [JSTOR]

    Childs, Margaret H. "Chigo Monogatari: Love stories or Buddhist Sermons?" MN 35.2 (1980): 127-151. [JSTOR]

    Childs, Margaret H. Religious Awakening Stories in Late Medieval Japan: the Dynamics of Didacticism, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1983.

    Childs, Margaret H. "Kyôgen-kigo: Love Stories as Buddhist Sermons." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 12.1 (1985): 91-104. [PDF]

    Childs, Margaret H. "The Influence of the Buddhist Practice of Sange on Literary Form: Revelatory Tales." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 14.1 (1987): 53-66. [PDF]

    Genenz, Kay J. Otogizôshi: Probleme der mittelalterlichen japanischen Kurzprosa unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer sprachlichen Merkmale und ihrer Bedeutung für die japanische Sprachgeschichte. MOAG. Vol. 80. Hamburg: Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens, 1979.

    Glassman, Hank. "The Religious Construction of Motherhood in Medieval Japan." Ph.D. Stanford University, 2001. [Full text available online in PDF format].
    *Includes discussion of Mokuren no sôshi (ch. 3), Kumano no honji (ch. 4), Chûjôhime (ch. 5) and other works.

    Ichiko, Teiji. "Otogi and Literature." Acta Asiatica 4 (1963): 32-42.

    Kavanagh, Frederick. Twenty Representative Muromachi Period Prose Narratives: An Analytic Study. PhD Dissertation, University of Hawaii, 1985.

    Kimbrough, Keller. Imagining Izumi Shikibu: Representations of a Heian Woman Poet in the Literature of Medieval Japan. PHD Dissertation,Yale University, 1999. [Including translations of Koshikibu, Koshikibu (beppon), Izumi Shikibu, and Kotohara.] [abstract | full-text at UMI]

    Letten, Linda Kay. "The Declining Status of Women in Early Medieval Japan: 'The Tale of Yokobue' and Heian Court Life." M.A. thesis, the University of Hawaii.

    Mills, Douglas E. "Medieval Japanese Tales, Part I." Folklore 83 (1972): 287-301.

    Mills, Douglas E. "Medieval Japanese Tales, Part II." Folklore 84 (1973): 58-74.

    Mulhern, Chieko I. "'Otogi-zôshi': Short Stories of the Muromachi Period." MN 29.2 (1974): 181-198. [JSTOR]

    Mulhern, Chieko I. "Cinderella and the Jesuits: An Otogizôshi Cycle as Christian Literature." MN 34.4 (1979): 409-447. [JSTOR]

    Mulhern, Chieko I. "Analysis of Cinderella Motifs, Italian and Japanese." Asian Folklore Studies 44.1, (1985): 1-37. [JSTOR]

    Nakagawa, Masako. "The Tale of Genji in Kachô Fugetsu, an Ôtogizôshi."Romanian Journal of Japanese Studies 1 (1999). [PDF]

    Pigeot, Jacqueline. "Du Mythe au Roman Populaire." Journal Asiatique 264 (1976): 117-174.

    Ruch, Barbara. Otogi bunko and Short Stories of the Muromachi Period. Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University, 1965.

    Ruch, Barbara. "Origins of the Companion Library: an Anthology of Medieval Japanese Stories." Journal of Asian Studies 30.3 (1971): 593-610. [JSTOR]

    Ruch, Barbara "Medieval Jongleurs and the Making of a National Literature." Hall & Toyoda eds. Japan in the Muromachi Age. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1977.

    Ruch, Barbara. "The Other Side of Culture in Medieval Japan." The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990 [Vol. 3, pp. 500-543].

    Skord, Virginia. The Comic Consciousness in Medieval Japanese Narrative: Otogizôshi for Commoners. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1987.

    Strippoli, Roberta. "Origine ed evoluzione degli otogizôshi, racconti brevi di epoca Muromachi." Rivista degli Studi Orientali 69.3-4 (1995) [1996].

    (4) Alphabetical list by title

    This is a checklist of Muromachi short fiction, including many unfamiliar works which are available either as illustrated manuscripts online or as electronic texts, or whose titles (at least) have been translated in the secondary literature. Please let me know of other translations--or translations of titles--that you know. <watson[at]k.meijigakuin.ac.jp>. For a fuller list of titles in Japanese gojûon order, see Professor S. Kikuchi's page [室 町物語（御伽草子）一覧] to which I am indebted.