Otogi-zōshi (お伽草紙) is a Japanese collection of short stories by Osamu Dazai. In this work, the author is giving the reader a reinterpretation of classic Japanese fairy tales such as Urashima Taro, Tanuki and the Rabbit, Tale of a man with a wen and the Tongue-cut Sparrow, and gives the characters a new dimension which go against the national spirit which the Imperial Japanese Government was trying to foster. The title itself is reference to Otogi-zōshi, a group of about 350 Japanese prose narratives, in which many of the stories Osamu Dazai has written of here appear.In this collection of fairy tales Osamu Dazai explores a number of themes which are recurrent in his work and which are likewise explored in his more famous works, such as No Longer Human and The Setting Sun. The themes explored include: the idea of not being understood, emotional deadness of male-female ties, suspicion that things will go wrong, acceptance of one's fate and resignation. Source: Wikipedia (en)