The Dancing Kettle and Other Japanese Folk Tales

by Yoshiko Uchida

Magic, make-believe, and superstitions characterize these fourteen stories representative of Japanese folklore

Genres: Japan, Short Stories, Fiction

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Yoshiko, born on November 24, 1921, was the second daughter of Japanese immigrant parents Takashi and Iku. Her father worked as a businessman for Mitsui and Company in San Francisco, and Iku wrote poetry, passing along her love of literature to her girls. Though the Great Depression raged, the Uchida family enjoyed comforts because of Takashi's well-paying job and their own frugality. Yoshiko loved to write, and her stories played out on pieces of brown wrapping paper. She also kept a journal to record her thoughts and events.

Enveloped in love and tradition at home, Yoshiko weathered the prejudice she sometimes faced. Many white students at University High School in Oakland didn't invite her to their parties and wouldn't socialize with her, deeming her a foreigner. Even while attending the University of California at Berkley, Yoshiko often faced the same dilemma of being ostracized. She found friendships with other Japanese American students and was preparing to graduate when Pearl Harbor was bombed, changing her life.

The United States government rounded up 120,000 people of Japanese descent and put them into camps. The Uchida family first resided in a horse stall at a racetrack in California, surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Though difficult to endure, the next move was worse. Almost 8,000 Japanese were sent to a relocation concentration camp called Topaz in the Utah desert. The detainees suffered from violent dust storms, scorpions, snakes, and exceedingly poor living conditions. Yoshiko taught second grade children there until she received a fellowship from Smith College to earn a master's degree in education.

Yoshiko and her sister both left the camp in May of 1943, with their parents gaining release later that year. Teaching for several years in a Quaker school outside of Philadelphia, Yoshiko decided to quit teaching and find work that allowed more time for writing. She moved to New York City and began as a secretary, penning stories in the evenings. Asked to contribute to a book about Japanese folk tales, Yoshiko discovered that though the book didn't come to be, with time she could create a full collection of folk tales. Writing a few pieces for adults, Yoshiko realized she was better suited for children's books.

A Ford Foundation fellowship sent her to Japan to research the culture and their stories. Spending two years, Yoshiko found her time to be healing as she learned about her own ancestry. The pain of the concentration camps lessened, and she began writing about the experiences in fictional books such as Journey to Topaz and Journey Home. Her career as an author soared as people regarded her as a pioneer in Japanese American children's literature. The author of almost forty works, including Japanese folk tales and stories of Japanese American children making their way in the world, Yoshiko traveled extensively, lectured, and wrote. After suffering from a stroke, Yoshiko passed away on June 25, 1992, in Berkeley, California.

Reviews

[Melissa Helton]

Published in 1949 with the purpose of bringing cultural awareness to American children. Considering the racism Japanese people suffered before, during, and after World War 2, this seems like it was a good endeavor. The stories were the right length to read one a night to my kids. The repetition of themes was a good way to show them the cultural vales of that time and place (ex: all the stores about childless couples shows us the social importance of having children, etc.)

[SouthWestZippy]

A collection of 14 Japanese folk tales. Some stories are better than others, but all were worth the read. I think my favorite story, that will stay with me, is "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow." It is a cruel story about a greedy woman with no happiness. I also enjoyed "The Princess and the Fisherman" and "The Wedding of the Mouse." This book was first published in 1949.

[Sav F]

This was quite a nice read, I enjoyed reading about the Japanese folk tales that this book had.

[Josie]

I only read two stories out of here before we had to return it to the library. They were fun stories with good morals, so maybe I'll pick the book up again some day to read to the kids when they are a little older and more interested.

[dogluvers867]

This is a great collection of Japanese folk-tales, and I love Yoshico Uchida's writing. I LOVE IT!

[Debbie]

Excited to find these fun children's stories in book form that were told to my daughters at bedtime by their Dad! Now they can pass them along to their children.

[Cynthia Langston]

I read this book in the fourth grade and I still remember the stories; some were haunting, others magical, and all ended with a moral.