The origin of comic story telling can be traced back to the tales included in "Taketori Monogatari" (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), "Konjaku Monogatari" (Tales of Now and Then), and "Uji Shui-shu" (Collection of Tales from Uji).
おもしろみのある話の源流は『竹取物語』、または『今昔物語』や『宇治拾遺集』に収められた説話にまでさかのぼる。