"The Mirror of Matsuyama.” Japanese fairy tales, Teresa Peirce Williston, Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co, 1904, pp. 27-34.

Tale Summary

There once, a very long time ago, a man who lived in Matsuyama and had a lovely family with his wife and little daughter. One day, the emperor ordered the man to take a very long journey to far-off Tokio, and because it was so long ago that there were no railroads, the man had to walk the whole way and hated to be away from his family for so long. His wife and baby said goodbye to him and waited for three weeks for his return, counting down the days. When he finally returned, they were all happy to be reunited and he gave his daughter several toys to play with. He described how he went to the Feast of the Dead in Tokio, and the customs he participated in with lanterns and tiny boats. He gave his wife a gift he got there, a mirror, which she had never heard of before but all of the women in Tokio loved. She was happy to see such a beautiful, smiling woman in the reflection, and looked at it often until she decided she would rather enjoy other’s beauty, and to always smile to make others happy. She put the mirror away and only looked at it twice a year. The years passed and the daughter grew up to look exactly like her mother, and was as sweet and loving also. One day her mother became very ill and was dying, and called her to give her the mirror. In the reflection, the girl thought she saw her mother because they looked so alike. Before she died, the mother asked her to look into the mirror every morning and night and talk to her about her day, and always to do right so that she would smile at her. So, after her mother passed, the girl did exactly what she said and saw that the face of her mother was sad when she felt sad, and was happy when she felt happy. She loved to see her smiling mother, and so she was careful not to do anything unkind, and every day she grew more and more like her mother.