Issun-bōshi

In the standard narrative found in Otogizōshi and later retellings, an otherwise childless old couple prays to the Sumiyoshi sanjin and are granted a child who measures one sun in height; this miraculous birth explains his exceptional size and provides his name, Issun-bōshi ("one-sun boy"). Scholars and summaries link the motif of the tiny child in part to older mythic small deities such as Sukuna-hikona, and the tale is attested in premodern illustrated otogizōshi collections and later popular editions. Versions and details vary between textual traditions and modern retellings.

Issun-bōshi is typically described as approximately one sun tall (about 3 cm / 1.2 in). Narrative descriptions emphasize his scale by listing the miniature items he uses—a rice-bowl as a boat, a chopstick as a paddle, a sewing needle as a sword, and straw as a scabbard—rather than elaborate bodily detail. In some variants of the tale, after acquiring a magic mallet (Uchide no kozuchi) obtained from a defeated oni, he uses it to enlarge his body to about six shaku (reported in some versions), enabling him to assume a more typical adult stature.

Issun-bōshi's primary 'powers' are human qualities emphasized by the tale: exceptional courage, resourcefulness, and tactical use of his small size. He leaves home to seek fortune in the capital, gains employment in a chancellor's house, and confronts an oni who has kidnapped a girl—entering the oni (in some tellings its stomach or eye) and stabbing it with his needle to force its surrender. In variants, the fleeing oni drops a magic mallet (Uchide no kozuchi) which Issun-bōshi picks up; some retellings say the mallet can enlarge him and conjure food and treasures, a claim present in those versions rather than a universal attribute.