The typical characters are drawn from Japanese society of the time — nobility, warriors, monks, scholars, doctors, peasant farmers, fishermen, merchants, prostitutes, bandits, beggars, widows.
Several theories of authorship have been put forward: one argues that the compiler was Minamoto no Takakuni, author of Uji Dainagon Monogatari; another suggests the Buddhist monk Tobane Sōjō, and a third one proposes a Buddhist monk living somewhere in the vicinity of Kyoto or Nara during the late Heian period.
Designated as a National Treasure in 1996, it was assembled by a Shinto priest named Tsuretane Suzuka in the Kamakura period (1185–1333).
To be able to implement such a paradigm, the authorship would have utilized pre-conceived common traits which were attributable to specific animals.
The types of tales in Konjaku which include the use of anthropomorphic animals can be broadly classified into categories, in which a particular moral is accentuated.
Modern writers have adapted tales from the Konjaku Monogatarishū: a famous example is Akutagawa Ryūnosuke's In a Grove (well known in the West from Kurosawa's film Rashomon).
Other authors who have written stories based on tales from the Konjaku include Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Hori Tatsuo.
The religious aspect is important in leading the reader into a deeper understanding of Buddhism and what it means to the Japanese people.
A cryptic line in Akutagawa's classic short story "Rashōmon" says 「旧記の記者の語を借りれば、『頭身の毛も太る』ように感じたのである。」 (To borrow a phrase from the writers of the chronicles of old, he felt as if 'even the hairs on his head and body had grown thick'.)
This is a reference to a line from the Konjaku Monogatarishū, the last part figuratively meaning that he was scared; he felt as if his hair was standing on end.