Japanese Folk Tale

Humorous Stories: Exaggerations 221
bamboo grass was slow, he decided to pour it from the jar. He not
only poured a lot, he missed his footing and fell from the cloud.
His field was flooded and turned into Lake Biwa. Gengoro turned
into a fish.
This may have come from the story about the wife from the
Sky World. One wonders why the name Gengoro was used. If it is
considered the name of the narrator, there might be some influence
from Omi in the title.
Further reference:
Huet, 180. A story about climbing a bean to the sky.
215. The Shrimp and the Big Bird
Long ago there was a huge bird. Everybody praised him because he
was so big. He became proud. He set out on a pleasure trip to various
countries. He got tired flying over the sea and settled onto a pile that
was sticking up out of the water. A voice said, "Who is that on my
whisker?" It came from an Ise shrimp. When the shrimp heard about
the big bird, he said, "There is not likely to be anyone as big as I." He
set out on a pleasure trip, too. Along the way he got tired and went
into a cave to rest. A voice said, "Who is that in my nostril?" When he
looked closely, he saw it was the snout of a great fish. It sneezed and
blew the shrimp to a cliff. When the shrimp struck the cliff, his back
was bent. That is why one should not be proud of himself.
Ehime, Kitauwa-gun
There has been an interest in a story explaining beginnings.
Aomori: Tekkiri 311, "The proud owl" (Ohho no jiman).
Niigata, Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 10 39, "The stork, the shrimp, and
the turtle" (Konotori to ebi to kame).
Nagano: Kitaazumi 2 179, "The origin of hachijo" (Hachijo no yurai).
They say the hachijo, the long white paper strip tied to the New
Year pine, is there because a great bird comes from Tenjiku to
catch men.
Yamanashi: Kai 71, "Seeing the world" (Sekai kenbutsu).
Shizuoka: Shizuoka 447, "Why the shrimp's back is bent" (Ebi no koshi
ga magatta wake).
Okayama, Mitsu-gun: MK I 9 29, 30, "Why the shrimp's back is bent"
(Ebi no koshi ga magatta wake) and "Comparing sizes" (Okii kurabe).
Two stories with the latter title.
Yamaguchi, Suo Oshima: Kosho 8 9, "Why the shrimp's back is bent"
(Ebi no koshi no magatta wake).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 86, "Why the shrimp's back is curved" (Ebi no
koshi wa naze marui).