Momotarō, the peach-born son

From the river to the island

An older woman washing clothes finds an enormous peach floating down the river. She takes it home to share with her husband. Before they can cut it, the fruit opens and a boy emerges. The couple raise him as their son and name him Momotarō, connecting him to the peach. In Ozaki's telling, the extraordinary arrival answers the couple's longing for a child.

When he grows strong, Momotarō asks to travel to the island of the oni, represented by Ozaki as devils who have carried off people and treasure. His parents prepare cakes for his provisions. On the road he meets a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. The dog and monkey ask to join, while the pheasant submits after a threat. Cakes accompany their recruitment, but fear and admiration also help secure it. He must also manage the friction between his companions; the expedition is a social arrangement rather than the achievement of an isolated strongman.

The party crosses the sea and reaches the island fortress. The companions contribute different abilities to the attack, including flight and climbing. Defeated, the oni surrender their wealth. Momotarō returns to his adoptive parents with the treasure and his companions. The journey that begins with leaving home thus ends by making the household prosperous.

Source: Japanese Fairy Tales · “Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach”

A particular modern-era telling

Ozaki explains that she adapted a modern Japanese version associated with Sadanami Sanjin and added descriptions or incidents for English-speaking children. Her narrative is therefore a witness to translation and literary selection. It is not an unmediated record of ancient Japanese belief. Even the food deserves care: the linked English text calls the provisions rice-cakes; familiar modern versions often name millet dumplings. We preserve the wording of this edition's description without treating it as the only form.

The attack is presented as a righteous expedition, and Ozaki explicitly invokes the emperor's authority. That rhetoric belongs to this version and its historical moment. A reader can notice cooperation and gratitude while also asking who is allowed to define the enemy. Neither question requires treating all Japanese storytelling, or all portrayals of oni, as a single viewpoint.

Source: Japanese Fairy Tales · Preface; “Momotaro” departure speech and return