The Crane's Return of a Favor Coloring Pages

The rescued crane comes to return the favor

"The Crane's Return of a Favor" is a Japanese folktale about a crane that comes to return a favor to a person who saved it from a trap.
It is a winter story set in the snow. It might make you feel a little lonely, but also very warm and kind inside.
Depending on the region, the person who saved the crane is a poor old couple or a young man. The story is told in many different ways.
A story called "The Crane Wife" is part of the same story family, too.

Summary (1) The crane on a snowy day

Long, long ago, a poor old man found a crane struggling in a trap in the snow.
He felt sorry for it and gently set it free.
The crane flew up into the sky happily and flew away.
That night, someone knocked on the door of the old couple's house.
When they opened the door, a beautiful girl was standing there. She said, "I am lost. Please let me stay for the night."

Summary (2) Please do not look inside

The girl stayed with them and lived as their daughter.
One day, she went into the weaving room and said, "I am going to weave some cloth. But please do not look inside the room while I am weaving."
The cloth she wove was so beautiful that it sold for a high price in town. Their lives became much easier.
However, every time she wove cloth, she became thinner and thinner.

Summary (3) The crane that flew away

The old woman got worried and finally peeked into the room.
Inside, a crane was pulling out its own feathers one by one and weaving them into the cloth.
The girl was really the crane that was saved that day!
The crane said, "Now that you have seen my true form, I can no longer stay here," and it flew away into the sky.

3 Coloring pages

There are 3 coloring pages.
The 1st page shows a crane standing tall and proud.
The 2nd page shows the crane flying away from the snowy field while the old man watches it go.
The 3rd page is a detailed coloring page that shows the crane weaving cloth behind a paper screen.
If you want to see a real crane, take a look at the Red-crowned Crane coloring page, too!

Leave the crane white

If you leave the crane's body as white paper, it will look super pretty!
The wing tips and neck are black, but if you color them with gray or dark blue instead of coloring them in solid, you can still see the feather lines.
Color the round spot on top of its head red.

Snowy days use blue and white

For the snowy field, leave most of it white and just add light sky blue where the shadows fall.
If you color the sky light gray or sky blue, it really feels like a snowy day.
The old man's straw raincoat and hat are ocher or light brown.

Inside the house uses warm colors

In the 3rd picture, color the hearth fire orange and yellow, and use brown around it to give it a warm feel.
If you make the night scene outside the window dark blue, the lights inside the house will really stand out.

The cloth being woven

The cloth the crane is weaving is the most important thing in this story.
Use shiny, sparkling colors like light pink, gold, or silver to make it a beautiful cloth like no other in the world!

Light through the paper screen

For the shoji screen in the 3rd picture, put on a light layer of light yellow so the light looks like it is shining through.
If you use a slightly brighter color just for the back room seen through the gap, your picture will feel like you are peeking inside!
Use calm colors like dark blue or brown for the old man's and old woman's kimonos.
Leave the fallen feathers white and just trace their edges with light gray to make them look soft and fluffy.

Stories where you "must not look"

Stories where someone asks you "please do not look," but you end up looking anyway, exist all over the world.
In Japanese folktales, "The Bush Warbler's Home" is also a similar story.
They are alike because when you break a promise, something very important goes away.

Cranes are a sign of long life

People say "the crane lives a thousand years, the turtle ten thousand years," so cranes are seen as lucky birds that bring long life.
Because of this, you often see them on New Year's decorations, kimono patterns, and gifts for happy occasions.
Folding a thousand paper cranes also comes from a wish to make your dreams come true.

A story that became a play

A play called "Yuzuru" (Twilight Crane) based on The Crane's Return of a Favor came out in 1949.
Later, it became an opera, and people still perform it today.

Cranes in Hokkaido during winter

Red-crowned cranes live in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, all year round.
In winter, two cranes stand facing each other on the snow. They show us their "courtship dance" by jumping and bowing.
The sight of cranes dancing in the pure white snow is as beautiful as a fairy tale world.
The red-crowned crane is also a Special Natural Monument of Japan.