Books- Pomona's Ancient Cosmology site includes an article by Mitch Stoltz on Ancient Japanese Culture and Cosmology. It includes a brief account of the Shinto creation story. (Broken Link 2/14/02)
- The Kojiki and the Nihongi, both completed in the early 8th century C.E., are the earliest written histories of Japan. Their early sections contain a wealth of myth and legend, and of the two, the Kojiki contains more mythic material. Mire Uno translates sections of that work relating to Miyazaki Prefecture in Myth and Legends in Miyazaki: Kojiki. Included within the translations here are also illustrations and a nice family tree of the older deities. This page is part of a larger site dealing with other Myths and Legends in Miyazaki.
- Paul Brians et al. present another excerpt from their book Reading About the World, Volume 1 discussing the Japanese Creation Myth - Tales from the Kojiki. The Kojiki was complied in 712 CE by O No Yasumaro.
- Kimiyo Tanaka's intro page tells briefly of the creation of Japan and, more germain to the rest of her site, the haiku.
- A brief telling of the Myth of Munakata-Taisha
- Ayacko Adachi retells a handful of Japanese Myths.
- Myriam Dantois has nearly a dozen Japanese Old Tales on her site, written in Japanese, as well as translated into French, Spanish, and English.
- The Astronomy in Japan page contains, among other things, details of a few legends and mythic starlore.
- Ancient World presents five brief tales from Japanese Myth.
- While geared for use in role-playing games (Torg, Shadowrun), Japanese Legendary Lives by Gen-ichi Nishio, contains legitimate descriptions of legendary creatures.
East Asian
Japanese
Korean
- Special thanks to Nancy Lee for suggesting many of the Korean legends links.
- Myths and Legends of Ancient Korea translated by Richard Rutt and Peter Lee.
- The SsangYong motor company presents this summary of The SsangYong Legend - the legend of the twin dragons. (Eratic link 7/31/01)
- Hwan-ung begins a new nation as a bear and a tiger ask him for advice on how to become human in Korea in the eye of the Tiger - which tells the legend of the founding of Korea as a preface to a site dealing with Korean history.
- Kidsight's Folk Tale Corner tells an illustrated version of The Story of Tan-gun.
- Jeon Hong Kyu retells The T'angun Legend and Ancient Choson, a talee of the founding of Korea, as part a project at Sogang University.
- As part of the same project, Song Ju Yeon retells The Founding Myth of Koguryo.
- Kim Mae Sook retells The Tale of Sim Chung - a story of piety and fidelity along with a brief sojurn under the Southern Sea.
- This page on Korean Astrology begins by telling the legend of how the Korean zodiac came into being.
- Sugano explains the nature of Tokkaebi, i.e. Korean "gremlins". This page is also available in Japanese.
- Haemin Dennis Park tells the story of Hok-boo-ri Grandpa, The Old Man With A Wen. He also encounters do-ggae-bis (tokkaebis).
- Carsten Jorgenson has compiled a great deal of information on The Hwarang Warriors a group of Korean knights who were both legendary and historical.
- A class at UIUC put together a collection of Fairytales from east Asia - primarily from Korea, but with a couple from Japan and one from Taiwan.
- Dr. Jason Joh presents his Home Page of Korean Folktales which includes his essay on Korean folklore as well as his translations of several tales.
- Eyoungsoo Park retells the folktale of the brothers Nolboo and Hungboo.
- Heinz Insu Fenkl introduces with comentary the tale of Shimchong, The Blind Man's Daughter, a story of virtue and sacrifice of a daughter for her father.
- KT Net's Korean Faith page includes the story of Princess Pari, as well as a general discussion of faiths native to Korea and the somewhat more recently imported religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
- Suzanne Crowder Han retells four folktales on this site about Hangul / Literature - Hangul is the Korean alphabet.
Tibetan
- This excerpt from an article by H. Wenzel in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland tells A Jataka-Tale from the Tibetan. Jataka are fables concerning former lives of the Buddha.
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Chinese
- Chinavista's The China Experience includes a description of Chinese Myths and Fantasies from a historical perspective, brief retellings of over a dozen Selected Mythical Stories as well as descrpitions of some Deities Worshipped by Farmers.
- U. C. Computer (Shanghai) maintains a large collection of Chinese Historic Legends & Tales including how Pan Gu created the world, how Nv Wa patched up the sky, as well as tales of historical figures such as Emperors and Confusius.
- Princeton ninth graders have researched Chinese Creation Myths. (Broken Link 2/14/02)
- The Taoist Restoration Society is primarily a religious site, but does include a few essays about the legends associated with some Taoist deities as well as many illustrations of Taoist deities particularly in the Taoism Explained and Introduction sections.
- Tao Resource, a related commercial site, describes the deities of The Taoist Pantheon in paragraph long descriptions, sometimes including brief allusions to associated legends.
- The life of Buddhist monk Xuan Zang (602-664 C.E.) is the basis for the story The Journey to the West, also known as The Monkey King. This site contains an episode from the novel illustrated with Chinese paintings.
- Galen Jang's China: Journey of the Mind features an English translation of Pu Sung-lin's Liao Tsai Chi Yi, a 17th century collection of tales. (Broken Link 2/14/02)
- Jason Enterprise tells of the Nian as a monster in Myths and Legends of the Chinese New Year.
East Asian - General
- A. G. Bell Elementary has collected a number of links to Fairy/Folk Tales from the Pacific Rim, including tales from East Asia and Southeast Asia.
- Joo-Young You presents an essay entitled Foundation and Creation Myths in Korea and Japan: Patterns & Connections and compares the tales within Kojiki and Nihon shoki with those found in Samguk yusa and Samguk sagi.
