Like in any culture, Japanese kids grow up listening to the stories repeatedly told by their parents and grandparents. The boy born from a peach; the princess from the moon who is discovered inside a bamboo; the old man who can make a dead cherry tree blossom, etc. These short stories that teach kids to see both the dark and bright sides of life have passed traditional moral values from generation to generation.
Each half-hour episode of Folktales from Japan consists of three self-contained stories, well-known and unknown, with a special focus on heartwarming stories that originate from Tohoku, the northern region heavily touched by the earthquake of 2011. May this program help cheer up earthquake victims and cast a light of hope for them?
Folktales from Japan has finished airing and it has 258 Episodes. It is also Known as: ふるさと再生 日本の昔ばなし, Hometown Rebuilding: Folktales from Japan
Genres: Fantasy , Japan , Adventure , Earth , Asia , Comedy , Juujin , Anthropomorphism , Past , Countryside , Historical , Kids
Try our anime quiz: Anime Characters Guessing Quiz/Game
Top 7 Anime Like Folktales from Japan (Furusato Saisei: Nippon no Mukashibanashi) [2024 List]
7. Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi.
Uta Koi tells the "super-liberal interpretation" of the Hyakuninisshu anthology compiled during Japan's Heian period of 100 romantic poems from 100 different poets such as The Tale of Genji's Murasaki Shikibu.
Utakoi has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 超訳百人一首 うた恋い。, Utakoi.
6. Kaguya-hime no Monogatari
Okina is a bamboo cutter in ancient rural Japan. One day in the forest, he finds a tiny baby in the folds of a bamboo shoot. He brings the creature home to his wife Ounaa and they decide to keep her and raise her as a princess. She is clearly not of this world. Kaguya grows at an unnatural rate, soon maturing into an uncommonly beautiful young woman. Since Okina has now also found a cache of gold and treasure in the forest, every suitor wants Kaguya. But this is not a fairy tale of courtship and marriage.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: かぐや姫の物語, Kaguyahime no Monogatari, Princess Kaguya Story
5. Rockman Hoshi ni Negai wo
"This Anime (Episode 2, to be exact), where Rockman travels from the Game-World to the real world, to learn some cultural differences about Japan, was intended to be a Special Episode for the original Mega Man Cartoon Series by Ruby-Spears, which aired around 1995 in the US.
As it seems, the special was finished before Ruby-Spears decided to redo their whole show with a completely new design, better suited for American audiences.
Thus, not fitting the new style anymore, it never was included in the series. Still, two more episodes about the same story were produced a bit later, this time under the main title "Rockman" (unlike Episode 2, where he's called Mega Man, even in the japanese dub).
It's unknown if these 3 Episodes ever saw an official release, until 2002, when Capcom of Japan decided to finally (re)release them on DVD for Rockman's 15th Anniversary (all featuring a Japanese and English dub, but no subs).
It's unknown if there are any more secret animated works of the original Rockman game-series."
MegaMan: Wishing upon a Star has finished airing and it has 3 Episodes. It is also Known as: ロックマン星に願いを, Rockman OAV
4. Grimm Masterpiece Theater
The series consists of mostly stand-alone episodes which retell different fairy or folk tales. Despite the title, they are not all based on fairy tales collected by the Grimm Brothers.
Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics has finished airing and it has 24 Episodes. It is also Known as: グリム名作劇場, Gurimu Meisaku Gekijou, Grimm's Fairy Tales
3. Kobutori (1929)
In Kobu-Tori, an old man with a lump growing on his face takes refuge in a hollow tree during a thunderstorm. When he awakens, he finds the forest populated by mythic creatures. He dances with the sprites and as a reward, the creatures remove his deformity. Back in the village, he tells another man who has a similar growth on his face. Will the creatures bestow the same boon upon this other man?
The Stolen Lump has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: 瘤取り, Kobu-tori, His Snatched Off Lump, The Stolen Lump (1929)
2. Binchou-tan
This is a story about a little girl who lives in an old house in the mountains. Her name is Bincho-tan. Each episode depicts a day in the life of Bincho-tan as she prepares her breakfast in the morning, goes to the forest to gather vegetables, does her household chores and rests at night after a day's work. She is surrounded by a group of close friends who add color to her ordinary yet simple life.
Binchou-tan has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: びんちょうタン, Binchotan
1. Yami Shibai
The mysterious, yellow-masked Storyteller is a man whose true name and origin are both unknown. He appears at dusk where children gather and recites sinister tales based on Japanese urban legends, to which his young audience eerily intakes. However, the Storyteller is no ordinary teller of tales. He incorporates a kamishibai, a traditional paper-scrolling device, to add visuals to his already demented narration.
A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller's audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words.
Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 闇芝居, Theater of Darkness
