“Japanese Fairy Tales brings together a magnificent selection of stories from all parts of the Land of the Rising Sun. Drawing on a richly imaginative folk tradition, and set against the backdrop of Japan’s mythic past, the tales are suffused with the essence of this mythical land.

Combining the exoticism of the Orient with touch of the macabre, these are tales in which fantasy can unexpectedly shade into supernatural terror. The simple enchantment of The Sea King and the Magic Jewels is in stark contrast to the eeriness of The Peony Latner, in which the forbidden love of a samurai for a spirit courts the ultimate disaster.”