Long, long ago there lived a kind and romantic fisherman called "Urashima Taro". One day ,when he took a walk along the beach, he saved a turtle which had been being tormented by the village children.
When several days had passed, he was fishing as usual. Then the turtle he had helped came to him from the sea.
"Mr. Fisherman. I am the turtle saved by you the other day. My princess told me to bring you to the Dragon Palace(Ryugujo) to thank you." said the turtle.
It took him on the back to the Dragon Palace under the sea.
It was a very wonderful palace where there were much beautiful coral all over the sea and many fish swimming. What is better, he met a beautiful princess(Otohime). He had never seen such a beautiful lady before.
"Mr.Urashima, please enjoy yourself here as long as you wish." said the princess.
He forgot the passing of time. The life there seemed to him a dream. After several years he remembered his old village and his old mother. It was time he had to come home. Parting with him, the princess gave him a little box as a souvenir.
"Mr. Urashima, this is a magic box called "Tamate-bako". When you are in trouble, you can open it."
When he came home on the turtle back again, he could not find his house and his old mother and he found his village had changed completely.
He was at a loss what to do. At last he opened the little box out of curiosity. When he opened it, a white smoke came out of it and he suddenly became an old man with long white beard.
While he was having a happy time under the sea, hundreds of years had passed on the earth.
He was not sure where he was now and whether it was a dream or not

Long,long ago, beyond the woods, through the forests and the pass, in the deep mountains of Japan, there lived a 'Aka-Oni',a red Ogre and 'Ao-Oni',a blue Ogre. The red Ogre liked human children very much and he was always thinking about how he could make friends with them everyday.
R.O: I'm a very kind and mild person. Why don't you come to play with me at my house? If so, I'll serve you nice sweets and tea or juice.
B.O: Hey,Aka-Oni. Do you want to make any friends with human children so much?
R.O: Oh, yes. I do want to make friends with them.
B.O: If so, well, I have a good idea. Come here. (He whispers.)
R.O: Yes?
B.O: So......
R.O: Yes.
B.O: Do like this.
R.O: Yes!
B.O: Like this.
R.O: Yes, yes. (He smiles.)
B.O: Do you understand? OKay,let's go to take a bath. (He also smiles.)
A few days later,the children were playing in the forest.
Children: Come to me for hide-and-seek, for hopscotch. Touch this finger if you want to join, and there are many things to play like juggling beanbags, cat's cradle and so on. Come on everybody. Let's play, shall we?(They are singing and dancing.)
B.O: Woo! Woo! Woo! Be quiet Kids! Move away! It is time I took an exercise. One, two, three, four. Woo! Woo! Woo! Five, six, seven, eight, Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!
Children: Help us!
R.O: Woo! Woo! Woo! Wild blue orge! Stop exercise at once, otherwise I'll do like this. (He beats.) One, two, three, four. Hit! Hit! Hit! Five, six, seven, eight, Hit! Hit! Hit!
B.O: Woo! I'm sorry. Strong red ogre. I'll never do it again. Forgive me.(He runs away.)
R.O: Feel safe, children. The bad ogre no more. He went far away, went far away.
Children: Thank you,Aka-Oni. You defeated the bad orge. You are strong and kind. Let's play Aka-Oni. Please be it in Hide-and-seek and say, "Are you Okay?" (They hide.)
R.O: Are you Okay?
Children: Yes, of course.
(They are playing and the first star appears in the sky.)
Children: The first star begins to shine. It is time we go home. Good night Aka-Oni. See you tomorrow. Good night, everybody. See you tomorrow.
R.O: Everybody went home, went home. I enjoyed it very much. Good night, children. See you tomorrow. Good night, everybody. See you tomorrow. (He waves his hands.)
Well, I wonder what the blue ogre is doing. I'll meet him. (He finds a letter on the ground.) Oh, my God. Here is a letter. (He reads it.)
Letter: Dear Aka-Oni,If it is known that you are a friend of bad blue ogre, children run away from you. So I'll never meet you. I'll go far away alone. I hope you'll get along with the children. Good-Bye.
R.O: Oh, he went away. Ao-Oni went away. He was a wonderful friend, but he went away, went away.
They never met each other again.

















出産祝い