Sansho the Bailiff was written in 1915 by Dr. Ougai Mori, a
Japanese military doctor. He transformed Japanese folklore into literature. The
forty-page short story has become one of the most well-read books in Japanese
history. The original folklore tells the story of Anju and Zushiou,
who were members of the Japanese royal family. This tale has been
handed down from mouth to mouth for one thousand years.