I've recently been told that I don't know enough about mukashi banashi, or Japanese folk tales, the kinds of stories that every Japanese person knows since childhood. And without knowing these most basic of cultural references, I'm basically a cultural moron. So last night I rented and watched some animated versions of children's classics from the 1970s. The collection I watched included Momotaro, one of the most popular stories in Japan. It's a story about a boy who is born out of a giant peach and is raised by an old childless couple. He is super strong and brave, and he goes off and fights some demons that have been terrorizing the villages of Japan. (The cartoon made the demons look way too wimpy.) Anyway, in an odd coincidence, I just found out that the Japan Postal Service started selling stamps last Friday featuring heroes and heroines from this animated series . I am going to have to rush out and get some before they are sold out.