The teacher, Patrick Healy, travelled around the world, talked with people in different places, and collected around half thousand myths, legends, and folktales and their several alternative versions. His opinion and comments (directly or indirectly) are inevitable.

This book is the eighth volume of his work, 21 Japanese Tales, in his words. He retold the stories with his own opinion and approach to them. Patrick is an Australian writer who has an abiding interest in the folklore of different cultures. He has lived and worked in Hong Kong for over twenty-five years as a high school teacher. Patrick has travelled extensively throughout Asia and spoke both Cantonese and Mandarin fluently.