Here is my current project- translating some classic Japanese children's tales into English. The first story I've chosen to translate is The Children and the Wind Spirit. Those who grew up in the western hemisphere will surely find this story interesting and unique. The first time I read it I was completely confused. I was so accustomed to the western fairy tale format that I couldn't comprehend this new structure. I was searching for the meaning, which is to say, I expected there to be a clear moral lesson that would be obvious to the reader. It's small cultural differences like these that can really throw me off balance-even more so than the bigger, more obvious differences. If you find yourself as befuddled as I was, check the note I've added at the end of the story.

I hope to add more folktales to this page soon, so check back for updates.

The Children and the Wind Spirit

Peach Boy

The Rolling Rice Ball

The Sparrow with the Split Tongue

The Children and the Wind Spirit

kodomo-tachi to kaze no kami

Long, long ago in a small village there lived a group of young children who spent their days together playing at the village shrine. One fine fall day, the children were gathered at the shrine when they began to daydream about the delicious autumn harvest. The children loved the chestnuts, nashi pears and fresh persimmons that could only be found in autumn. As the children thought about the comforting autumn foods, they grew more and more hungry.

Finally, one small child said: "I want to go someplace where the trees are heavy with chestnuts, nashi pears and persimmons. Is there such a place?"

Suddenly, a spirit in the form of a huge man appeared from nowhere. The children had never before seen such a large man! The man looked down at the children and said, "Yes, there is a place where the trees are heavy with chestnuts, nashi pears and persimmons. I have seen such a place."

"You have?" asked one child.

"Really?" asked another.

"If it is true that you know of such a place," said another child, "then I would like very much to go there"

"Me, too! Me, too!" all of the children cried out eagerly.

"Well..." The spirit thought for a moment. "If you really want to go there, then I suppose I could take you". The man's body began to change. His legs became a long tail of whispy cloud. The spirit was now half man, half cloud. He pulled the long tail forward and said to the children, " Climb onto my tail and I will carry you there".

The children did as the man suggested and climbed onto his long tail of cloud.

"Has everyone climbed on?"

"Yes, yes we have!" the children cried with excitement.

"Well, then, hang on tightly," the man said.

Whoosh! the wind spirit suddenly lifted up and began to fly. Soon he was soaring through the sky, with the children riding on his long cloud tail.

The children cried out in excitement and delight, "This is wonderful! This man must be the wind spirit!" The children were surprised and happy to learn that the magical man was actually a wind spirit. They were proud of themselves for having been clever enough to understand who the giant man really was. As they flew high up in the sky, they watched the beautiful valleys and rivers below. Soon they were so far from their village that it could no longer be seen.

After a little while, the wind spirit began to fly lower in the sky. "Aah," he said at last, "We're here!" He flew down low and landed in a lush green forest. The trees of the forest were heavy with chestnuts, nashi pears and persimmons.

"Look at all of this fruit!" one child cried.

"It's amazing!" cried another.

"We can eat as much as we want and still these trees will be covered with fruit!" said another.

"But wait," said the first child. "These branches are too high for us to reach. We can't get any of this fruit!"

"Don't worry," said the kind wind spirit, "I can help". He took a deep breath and blew his strong wind at the trees. The branches began to sway in the wind. Finally, the chestnuts, nashi pears and persimmons began to fall from the trees. They tumbled down and landed at the children's feet.

"Yay!" the children cried happily, "This will be a feast!" The children began to eat the chestnuts, nashi pears and fresh persimmons.

"This fruit is delicious!" they exclaimed. They stuffed the fruits into their mouths eagerly. The fall harvest was fresh and sweet and they ate quickly. Soon they had eaten enough.

"I'm already full!" said one child soon afterward. One by one, the other children agreed.

Eventually, all of the children had eaten until they were content. They spent the day running about and playing in the forest, stopping to eat the fruit whenever they liked. They were having so much fun that they didn't notice when it began to grow dark.

The wind spirit noticed that night was fast approaching. "Oh dear," he gasped, "I was having so much fun playing in the forest that I completely forgot!"

"Forgot what?" asked the children

But the wind spirit was too busy talking to himself to hear them.

"How careless of me," he groaned."I completely forgot about what I have to do today! I must hurry before it is dark!"

Whoosh! In a great gust of wind, the wind spirit flew off in a flash.

The children were left behind in the forest.

"I wonder where we are?" one child said. They suddenly realized that they were alone in a big, strange wilderness.

"How will we return home?" asked another. The children began to worry. They had no way to return home. Soon they grew frightened and began to cry. They cried and cried until the sun set. They didn't know what to do. They were so afraid! When night had fallen, they saw a lamp light off in the distance.

"There must be a house over there," they decided. The sight of the light gave them some hope. They stopped their crying and got on their feet. They headed off in the direction of the lamp light. If they could find the source of the light, they might find someone to help them find their way back home. They soon came upon a house and knocked on the door.

A huge woman came and answered the door. "My heavens!" the old lady said, "Where have you children come from at such an hour?" She looked carefully into the face of each and every child. She saw that they had been crying.

"We climbed onto the tail of a man we didn't know, and he flew us here" one child explained.

"But suddenly he flew away again and we were left in the forest," said another child.

"So we followed the light of your lamp and found your house," said another.

"Well, well, " The old lady said with surprise, "That man with the tail must have been my son. He is the South Wind Spirit. He can sometimes be a careless boy ."

"You...You're the mother of the South Wind Spirit?"

"Yes, I am the mother of the wind spirits," she said. "I have one other son who is here in my house now. I will ask him to carry you children back to your village." The huge old lady took the children into her home and gave them each a bowl of steamed rice and hot bean curd soup. The children were comforted by the hot meal. When they finished eating, the old lady called out, "North Wind, wake up from your sleep and come take these children back to their homes."

The North Wind Spirit heard his mother call out and awoke from his sleep. He trudged into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Very well," he said to the children, "Climb up onto my tail and hang on tightly". The children climbed onto his long tail of cloud and held on.

"Here we go," he said.

Whoosh! The cold north wind lifted them up into the sky. In a flash, the children found themselves back in their village.

Because the children hadn't returned home before dark, the people of the village were very worried. They were searching everywhere for the missing children and calling out their names. Suddenly a cold northern wind swept down upon the village and surprised the villagers. But when they saw that the children were being carried by the North Wind Spirit, the villagers cried out with glee. The children returned to their homes and told their parents what had happened to them. Each parent asked, "But where did the South Wind Spirit go?". But no one knew the answer. Where did that capricious South Wind go?

The Children and the Wind Spirit is a tale from rural Japan that was used to explain the natural phenomenon of the seasons. In autumn, the Japanese archipelago is typically lashed with typhoons which swoop up from the south. The story of the Wind Spirit explains that this southern wind is indeed powerful but also capricious. One never knows when it will come, and it is best not to trust it too much. Although it brings the fall harvest of persimmons, chestnuts and nashi pears, it also has the potential to be dangerous. We also see that the southern winds of the typhoons are soon followed by the colder northern winds that herald the coming of winter.