The Crab and the Monkey

Hiding within the Tatami room is the さるかに合戦, the story of ‘The Crab and the Monkey’.

The crab went out looking for food for his family.

By a small river he found a large onigiri rice ball.

On his way home with the rice ball, the crab met the monkey, who had also gone looking for food.

The cunning monkey had found nothing but a persimmon seed, and offered a trade with the crab.
‘If you give trade your rice ball with me, you can plant this seed and grow a lot of delicious persimmon fruit.’

When the crab got home, he explained to his hungry children that he had no food, but they could grow a persimmon tree.

Together they worked hard to water and grow the tree until it grew tall and bore plenty of persimmon fruit.

But the crab could not reach the fruit in the tree. Then the monkey came by and offered to climb the tree for him to collect the fruit. When the monkey was at the top, it began eating all of the persimmon fruit, and when the crab complained, the monkey threw down a hard, unripe fruit that hit the crab.

Badly injured, a bee came across the baby crabs crying for their father. Hearing the story of what happened, the bee decided to help punish the monkey.

Hearing the story from the bee, a piece of kelp and an Usu, a large heavy mortar, decided to help punish the monkey, too.

Together, they made their way to the monkey’s in the mountains. On the way, they met a chestnut and, hearing the story, the chestnut decided to join them.

They hid in the monkey’s house and waited for him to return home. The chestnut hid in the ash of the hearth, the kelp of the floor, the mortar on the roof, and the bee in the water pail.

When the monkey returned home, he tried to warm by the hearth but was struck by the chestnut and burnt himself. The monkey tried to cool himself with the water pail but was stung by the bee. The monkey then tried to run from the house but slipped on the kelp and the mortar fell from the roof, crushing the monkey.

Can you find all the pieces of the story?
For the original Japanese folktale, please search The Crab and the Monkey (さるかに合戦, "Monkey-Crab Battle").

Momoneko

Hiding within the waters of the onsen is 桃猫, the story of Momoneko the ‘Peach Cat’.

One day, an elderly couple found a giant peach floating down the river. They took it home and when they cut it open to eat, they discovered a kitten inside, and decided to raise him as their son.

Momoneko, the peach cat, was sent by the Gods. When he was only five, he was able to cut a large tree down with only an old knife.

The land was frequently plundered by ogres. When Momoneko grew up, he decided to travel to Onigashima, the island of the ogres, to face them. For his travels, his mother gave him some millet dumplings.

On the way, Momoneko met a talking dog, monkey and pheasant, who all agreed to join Momoneko in exchange for a millet dumpling.

When they reached the island, Momoneko and his companions entered the fort. The four, strengthened by the millet dumplings, fought like one hundred again the ogres.

The ogres, beaten and drowned, gave in and their chief begged for Momoneko to stop. Momoneko and his companions returned home with the ogre chief captive and all the treasure the ogres had plundered.

Can you find all the pieces of the story?
For the original Japanese folktale, please search Momotarō (桃太郎, "Peach Boy").