Kunio Yanagita (http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/glossary/def_Y.html), a prominent literary person in Japan, reported a "folk story" like the following in his book published in 1930:
"Once upon a time there lived a good old man and his good old wife in a village. The old man lived on making wattle hats. He everyday made wattle hats and went out to a town to sell them.
One day just before the New-Year Day, the old men went to the town for selling wattle hats; but as it was the year end, nobody bought his goods.
Then he walked back home in a snowstorm. On his way back, he came by a strange plot where six stone images of Jizo, a guardian deity of children, were placed without a roof on them. Snow was falling fast and piling up thick on them.
So, he took out six wattle hats and put each one on each Jizo statute which looked like a standing but meditating monk.
Then he returned to his home and talked about the strange and poor Jizo statutes to his good old wife. And then, as the night came and they had nothing to do, they retired to rest.
But, behold, when a dawn of the New-Year Day was near, here came a line of sleds. It is the Jizo statutes that were driving the sleds with full of treasure on them.
They shouted, "Where is the good old man? Where is the good old woman?" Then, when they came to the house of the good old couple, they dumped all the treasure with a thud on snow at its door.
When the good old man and his good old wife opened the sliding door, they saw the six Jizo statutes coming back to the place where they came from."
* * *
(So, where are good girls? In New York, New Orleans, Atlanta or Mesopotamia?)
"THROUGH YOU I WILL BLESS ALL THE NATIONS"
"Once upon a time there lived a good old man and his good old wife in a village. The old man lived on making wattle hats. He everyday made wattle hats and went out to a town to sell them.
One day just before the New-Year Day, the old men went to the town for selling wattle hats; but as it was the year end, nobody bought his goods.
Then he walked back home in a snowstorm. On his way back, he came by a strange plot where six stone images of Jizo, a guardian deity of children, were placed without a roof on them. Snow was falling fast and piling up thick on them.
So, he took out six wattle hats and put each one on each Jizo statute which looked like a standing but meditating monk.
Then he returned to his home and talked about the strange and poor Jizo statutes to his good old wife. And then, as the night came and they had nothing to do, they retired to rest.
But, behold, when a dawn of the New-Year Day was near, here came a line of sleds. It is the Jizo statutes that were driving the sleds with full of treasure on them.
They shouted, "Where is the good old man? Where is the good old woman?" Then, when they came to the house of the good old couple, they dumped all the treasure with a thud on snow at its door.
When the good old man and his good old wife opened the sliding door, they saw the six Jizo statutes coming back to the place where they came from."
* * *
(So, where are good girls? In New York, New Orleans, Atlanta or Mesopotamia?)
"THROUGH YOU I WILL BLESS ALL THE NATIONS"