Hometown Rebuilding: Folktales from Japan

Hometown Rebuilding: Folktales from Japan (ふるさと再生 日本の昔ばなし, Furusato Saisei: Nippon no Mukashi Banashi) is a 258-episode Japanese anime television series that adapts various traditional stories from Japan. Each episode of this anime comprises three approximately seven-minute tales. Produced by the Tokyo-based animation company Tomason, it was aired by TV Tokyo from April 1, 2012, to March 26, 2017. The narration and all character voices are provided by veteran film actors Akira Emoto and Yoneko Matsukane. Voice actress and singer Shoko Nakagawa performed the initial opening and ending theme songs. Later, the opening and ending themes were replaced by songs written and performed by Tomoyuki Okura and Keisuke Yoshida from the vocal group INSPi, and Shindo Heart and Star Flower, respectively. A second 50-episode series, Hometown Visiting: Folktales from Japan (ふるさとめぐり 日本の昔ばなし, Furusato Meguri: Nippon no Mukashi Banashi), began airing on April 2, 2017, and concluded on March 25, 2018. Each episode comprises two approximately ten-minute tales. An English-subtitled version was simulcasted on the streaming service Crunchyroll, which describes the main plot as: "Like in any culture, Japanese kids grow up listening to the stories repeatedly told by their parents and grandparents. The boy born from a peach; the princess from the moon who is discovered inside a bamboo; the old man who can make a dead cherry tree blossom, etc. These short stories that teach kids to see both the dark and bright sides of life have passed traditional moral values from generation to generation."