ABSTRACT
A festival in Momotaro’s honor is held yearly at Kurusu, on the Kiso River, the little village where the legendary Momotaro was brought up. Stories of Momotaro’s exploits are embedded in the heart of every Japanese boy, and his figure is always a conspicuous decoration in the annual Boy’s Festival celebration. The legend, in various forms, is known in most of the European countries, the South Pacific Islands, and was known among the tribes of North and South America. Tengu, the most popular of all supernatural beings, arc, according to legend, a class of goblins or gnomes that haunt high mountains and deep forests, and play many pranks. A samurai, Ishiwara Kanainosuke, angered by the child’s death, plunged into the river and fought with a kappa. Beckoning Cats are kept by merchants and tea-house and restaurant keepers as luck-bringers, and in the belief that they attract customers—and a Beckoning Cat usually has a place in the house-altar of the demimonde.
