In commonplace usage, they signify a certain set of well-known classic tales, with a vague distinction of whether they fit the rigorous definition of "folktale" or not among various types of folklore.
The admixed impostors are literate written pieces, dating back to the Muromachi period (14th–16th centuries) or even earlier times in the Middle Ages.
[2] A representative sampling of Japanese folklore would definitely include the quintessential Momotarō (Peach Boy), and perhaps other folktales listed among the so-called "five great fairy tales" (五大昔話, Go-dai Mukashi banashi):[3] the battle between The Crab and the Monkey, Shita-kiri Suzume (Tongue-cut sparrow), Hanasaka Jiisan (Flower-blooming old man), and Kachi-kachi Yama.
[4] During the Edo period these tales had been adapted by professional writers and woodblock-printed in a form a called kusazōshi (cf.
The text mentions, for example, the flame-proof "fire rat (火鼠, Hinezumi) (or salamander)'s fur robe," which attests to a considerable degree of book-knowledge and learning by its author.
Other examples of pseudo-folktales composed in the Middle Ages are the Uji Shūi Monogatari (13th century) that includes Kobutori Jīsan — the old man with the hump on his cheek — and Straw Millionaire.
This and the Konjaku Monogatarishū (12th century) contain a number of a type of tales called setsuwa, a generic term for narratives of various nature, anything from moralizing to comical.
From the Edo period, the term used was otokibanashi (お伽話), i.e., tales told by the otogii-shū, professional storytellers hired to entertain the daimyō lord at the bedside.
The familiar forms of stories are embellished works of literature by gesaku writers, or retooled for the kabuki theater performance, in the case of the bakeneko or monstrous cat.
The clay boat began to sink, so the tanuki tried to escape, but then the rabbit hit him in the head with an oar, knocking him out and making him drown.
The monkey stories of Japanese folklore have been influenced both by the Sanskrit epic Ramayana and the Chinese classic Journey to the West.
Indian materials were greatly modified and adapted in such a way as would appeal to the sensibilities of common people of Japan in general, transmitted through China and Korea.