Kasa Jizo (Paperback)

A heartwarming Japanese folktale for young readers, retold in English and Japanese.

On a snowy New Year's Eve, a poor but kind old man sets out to sell the straw hats he has woven, hoping to buy rice cakes for the holiday. When no one comes to buy them, he meets six cold stone Jizo statues by the roadside — and without a second thought, gives them his hats, even the one off his own head. That night, as the snow falls quietly outside, something unexpected stirs in the darkness...

Kasa Jizo is Book 5 in the Kogetsu Japanese Tales series, a bilingual picture book collection bringing beloved Japanese folktales to children ages 7–12 through gentle watercolor illustrations and side-by-side English and Japanese text.

雪の降る大晦日、貧しくも心やさしいおじいさんが、編んだ笠を売りにでかけます。お正月のお餅を買うために。誰も買いに来ない中、道ばたで雪をかぶった六つの地蔵様に出会い、迷わず自分の笠を、そして頭にかぶっていた手ぬぐいまでも差し出します。その夜、静かに雪が降る中、思いがけないことが起こり始めます……