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The Haunted Flute and Other Japanese Stories
A collection of traditional Japanese folktales, including "The Magic Teakettle," "Urashima," "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow," and "Momotaro, Son of the Peach"
104 pages, Hardcover
First published February 22, 1995
15 people want to read
About the author
Warwick Goble
86 books2 followersWarwick Goble (1862-1943) was an illustrator, specializing in fairy tales, children's books, and science fiction and fantasy stories.
He is perhaps most well-known for his illustrations in the first publication of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and his illustrations for Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies.
He is perhaps most well-known for his illustrations in the first publication of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and his illustrations for Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 2, 2015
I thought from the beginning that something was funny about this collection, because it has an illustrator credit on the cover and title page, but no author or editor credit. Only in the copyright information is an editor, Nina Rosenstein, named; no author appears there. After a little poking around, I discovered that this book contains a selection of abridged stories from Grace James's 1923 Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales; a facsimile edition was reprinted in 1979 as Japanese Fairy Tales.
The Haunted Flute contains sixteen stories; the James book, thirty. They appear in a different order, and a few have been retitled—for instance, the titular "haunted flute" is just "The Flute" in the James book. Every story I checked has been abridged. This is probably because this edition is meant for children; when this book was published in 1995, Derrydale Books was a Random House children's imprint. (Perhaps it still is, but I have not been able to verify Derrydale's continued existence.)
The abridging I noticed was rather well done, preserving the feel while making the stories easy to read. In at least one case, it provides context. In one story, James writes, "Then he dressed himself in coarse white raiment, with a great rice-straw hat that shadowed his face, and thus he set forth upon a pilgrimage to all the holy places of Japan"; Rosenstein abridges this to "Then he dressed himself in the clothing of mourning and set out on a pilgrimage to the holy places of Japan." That might be useful for a reader who doesn't know the significance of white clothing in Japanese ghost stories.
There is a distinct difference in the styles. This paragraph is from "The Good Thunder" in Grace James's Japanese Fairy Tales:
"In the cool of the evening Rai-den and Rai-Taro walked upon the ramparts of the Castle of the Cloud, and from the ramparts they viewed the doings of men upon the Land of Reed Plains. North and South and East and West they looked. Often they laughed—oh, very often; sometimes they sighed. Sometimes Rai-Taro leaned far over the castle walls to see the children that went to and fro upon earth."
In "Son of the Thunder God" in the uncredited , the same paragraph reads:
"In the cool of the evening Rai-den and Rai-Taro would look down from the Castle of Cloud and study the humans upon the earth below."
I found Grace James's writing more fun to read, although it took a little more effort.
Warwick Goble was a famous illustrator, and it's worth looking at this edition just to see the pictures. The page size of this book is a little bigger than in the James book, but the art does not (to my eye) look as sharp and colorful as that of the 1979 edition of Japanese Fairy Tales.
With The Haunted Flute, publisher Derrydale Books seems to be deliberately erasing Grace James. It removes James's book dedication and cultural note, replacing them with an unsigned introduction. The new introduction is well-written, but it provides no historical or cultural context and feels more like an outline of the book with a dash of marketing ("Your spine may tingle"!).
This isn't a terrible edition, and it might be better for a child or someone who wants an easier read. I prefer the details of the James book, though, and I had no issues finding an affordable copy of Japanese Fairy Tales on AbeBooks.
What troubles me most is that the original author is given short shrift in The Haunted Flute, with all credit going to the illustrator. If the abridged edition had mentioned Grace James anywhere in the book, I would feel much better about it.
The Haunted Flute contains sixteen stories; the James book, thirty. They appear in a different order, and a few have been retitled—for instance, the titular "haunted flute" is just "The Flute" in the James book. Every story I checked has been abridged. This is probably because this edition is meant for children; when this book was published in 1995, Derrydale Books was a Random House children's imprint. (Perhaps it still is, but I have not been able to verify Derrydale's continued existence.)
The abridging I noticed was rather well done, preserving the feel while making the stories easy to read. In at least one case, it provides context. In one story, James writes, "Then he dressed himself in coarse white raiment, with a great rice-straw hat that shadowed his face, and thus he set forth upon a pilgrimage to all the holy places of Japan"; Rosenstein abridges this to "Then he dressed himself in the clothing of mourning and set out on a pilgrimage to the holy places of Japan." That might be useful for a reader who doesn't know the significance of white clothing in Japanese ghost stories.
There is a distinct difference in the styles. This paragraph is from "The Good Thunder" in Grace James's Japanese Fairy Tales:
"In the cool of the evening Rai-den and Rai-Taro walked upon the ramparts of the Castle of the Cloud, and from the ramparts they viewed the doings of men upon the Land of Reed Plains. North and South and East and West they looked. Often they laughed—oh, very often; sometimes they sighed. Sometimes Rai-Taro leaned far over the castle walls to see the children that went to and fro upon earth."
In "Son of the Thunder God" in the uncredited , the same paragraph reads:
"In the cool of the evening Rai-den and Rai-Taro would look down from the Castle of Cloud and study the humans upon the earth below."
I found Grace James's writing more fun to read, although it took a little more effort.
Warwick Goble was a famous illustrator, and it's worth looking at this edition just to see the pictures. The page size of this book is a little bigger than in the James book, but the art does not (to my eye) look as sharp and colorful as that of the 1979 edition of Japanese Fairy Tales.
With The Haunted Flute, publisher Derrydale Books seems to be deliberately erasing Grace James. It removes James's book dedication and cultural note, replacing them with an unsigned introduction. The new introduction is well-written, but it provides no historical or cultural context and feels more like an outline of the book with a dash of marketing ("Your spine may tingle"!).
This isn't a terrible edition, and it might be better for a child or someone who wants an easier read. I prefer the details of the James book, though, and I had no issues finding an affordable copy of Japanese Fairy Tales on AbeBooks.
What troubles me most is that the original author is given short shrift in The Haunted Flute, with all credit going to the illustrator. If the abridged edition had mentioned Grace James anywhere in the book, I would feel much better about it.
November 23, 2025
3.25 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌘
🧠 My thoughts
In general, this anthology was nice to read before bed. The artwork was really great, I think it might be the selling point for me. There were a few interesting stories. However, some of the stories had repeated themes. My favorite stories were Reflections, The Magic Teakettle, and Who Shall Mary the Rat’s Daughter.
The Haunted Flute
A typical Asian folk tale about a stepmother and stepdaughter. It was sad, haunting, and it had a good introduction.
The Jellyfish Takes a Journey
A tale that tried to emphasize the importance of education. However, I didn’t understand the significance of it in the story’s context, so it failed to deliver. Although the story was quite interesting, it could have been better than this.
The Son of the Thunder God
A touching tale about the Thunder God’s Son, who wanted to have a mortal experience. I didn’t agree with everything he said he learned from the mortals, though.
Reflections
To be fair, this story was smart and creative. It was about the way we perceive things. But I couldn't avoid feeling bad because the tone sounded misogynistic.
The Magic Teakettle
Another sad story, maybe with the meaning that not all strange things were devilish and worthless. If you treated them right, they might be good companions in life.
Haka-Saka-Jiji
A tale that was very similar to the ones in many cultures about one who would be rewarded for being kind and nice.
The Cold Lady
A common folk tale about keeping promises with the deities. For some reason, reading this made me feel like the story hinted at the relationship between an Asian man and a Western woman (fair skin was considered beautiful). His obsession with her being White made me uneasy.
Who Shall Mary the Rat’s Daughter
A funny tale of trying to find the best thing in the world, but of course, there’s no such thing. It depends on the perspective. Sometimes, the best thing is right in front of our eyes.
Urashima
The saddest and most unfair story. How come the kindness was repaid by an unfortunate fate? Maybe the moral of this story was not to be blinded by riches, but he didn’t even ask to be brought there.
The Sword of Idé
A story about loyalty suits the spirit of the samurai, very Japanese.
The Tounge-cut Sparrow
A tale about greed and kindness, very similar to other tales around the world, with the same idea.
Momotaro, Son of the Peach
I wasn't sure what to think about this one, very basic and plain.
👍 What I like
- Interesting stories
👎 What I don't like
- Some stories can be problematic and plain
🌕🌕🌕🌘
🧠 My thoughts
In general, this anthology was nice to read before bed. The artwork was really great, I think it might be the selling point for me. There were a few interesting stories. However, some of the stories had repeated themes. My favorite stories were Reflections, The Magic Teakettle, and Who Shall Mary the Rat’s Daughter.
The Haunted Flute
A typical Asian folk tale about a stepmother and stepdaughter. It was sad, haunting, and it had a good introduction.
The Jellyfish Takes a Journey
A tale that tried to emphasize the importance of education. However, I didn’t understand the significance of it in the story’s context, so it failed to deliver. Although the story was quite interesting, it could have been better than this.
The Son of the Thunder God
A touching tale about the Thunder God’s Son, who wanted to have a mortal experience. I didn’t agree with everything he said he learned from the mortals, though.
Reflections
To be fair, this story was smart and creative. It was about the way we perceive things. But I couldn't avoid feeling bad because the tone sounded misogynistic.
The Magic Teakettle
Another sad story, maybe with the meaning that not all strange things were devilish and worthless. If you treated them right, they might be good companions in life.
Haka-Saka-Jiji
A tale that was very similar to the ones in many cultures about one who would be rewarded for being kind and nice.
The Cold Lady
A common folk tale about keeping promises with the deities. For some reason, reading this made me feel like the story hinted at the relationship between an Asian man and a Western woman (fair skin was considered beautiful). His obsession with her being White made me uneasy.
Who Shall Mary the Rat’s Daughter
A funny tale of trying to find the best thing in the world, but of course, there’s no such thing. It depends on the perspective. Sometimes, the best thing is right in front of our eyes.
Urashima
The saddest and most unfair story. How come the kindness was repaid by an unfortunate fate? Maybe the moral of this story was not to be blinded by riches, but he didn’t even ask to be brought there.
The Sword of Idé
A story about loyalty suits the spirit of the samurai, very Japanese.
The Tounge-cut Sparrow
A tale about greed and kindness, very similar to other tales around the world, with the same idea.
Momotaro, Son of the Peach
I wasn't sure what to think about this one, very basic and plain.
👍 What I like
- Interesting stories
👎 What I don't like
- Some stories can be problematic and plain
November 14, 2025
Enjoyable Ancient Folk Tales
May 23, 2016
I forgot how I came upon this book, but remember it being gratis. So, being a fan of Japanese films that deal with folklore/horror I was eager to read. I don't recall disliking a single story in it, but there may have been one. I just viewed this book as a pleasant peek into a culture of stories, that while I may recognize from movies and film, can further appreciate by seeing more of their origins.
If I read it again, I'll update.
If I read it again, I'll update.
June 14, 2014
Some very nice pictures in this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews