In this famous Japanese folktale, a childless couple’s prayers are answered when a giant peach splits open to reveal a baby boy. The boy grows up to be the strongest and wisest lad in the land and, at fifteen, decides to give his poor parents an easier life by traveling to an island off the Northeast coast of Japan, destroying a band of cannibalistic demons that are terrorizing the land, and bringing back their treasure. Along the way he gathers troupe of anthropomorphic animal friends who, in predictable folktale form, help him easily win the day.
There have been a number of English translations of this folktale. Our source is a popular version by Yei Theodora Ozaki contained in her book, Japanese Fairy Tales (1908).
Original Text / PDF / Audio (4,400 words)