The Crab and the Monkey Coloring Pages

The Story of The Crab and the Monkey

"The Crab and the Monkey" is a story about a tricky monkey and a crab.
It is one of Japan's most famous old tales, right along with Momotaro and Hanasaka Jiisan.
It is a fun story where a chestnut, a bee, and a mortar work together to help the crab.
The friends who show up and the way the story ends can change depending on the region or picture book.

Summary (1) The Rice Ball and the Persimmon Seed

Long, long ago, a crab was walking with a rice ball and met a monkey holding a persimmon seed.
The monkey said, "If you plant this seed, you will get lots of persimmons!" and swapped it for the crab's rice ball.
The crab planted the seed in the garden and watered it while singing, "Sprout quickly, persimmon seed! If you don't, I will snip you with my claws!"
Then, a sprout came up, the tree grew fast, and it bore lots of persimmons.

Summary (2) The Mean Monkey

But the crab could not climb the tree, so it could not pick the fruit.
Then the monkey came along and climbed up, saying, "I will pick them for you!"
However, the monkey ate all the sweet red fruit himself and threw hard, green persimmons at the crab.
The crab got hurt.

Summary (3) The Friends' Plan

A chestnut, a bee, a mortar, and a kelp (some stories use cow dung) heard about this and came to help the crab.
Everyone hid inside the monkey's house and waited for him to come home.
When the monkey warmed his hands at the hearth, the chestnut popped and burned him.
When he tried to cool off at the water jar, the bee stung him. As he tried to run away, he slipped on the kelp, and the mortar came crashing down on him.
They say the monkey apologized to the crab and his friends and promised, "I will never be mean again!"

3 Coloring Pages

There are 3 coloring pages.
The 1st page shows a smiling crab holding up a persimmon.
The 2nd page shows the monkey up in the persimmon tree and the crab looking up at him.
The 3rd page is a detailed coloring page where the friends who help the crab gather inside a house with a hearth.
We also have coloring pages for Persimmon, Crab, and Chestnut.

Crabs are red, persimmons are orange

If you color the crab in red or orange, it will look super energetic!
Color the persimmon fruit orange, and color the stem and leaves green or dark brown.
If you use slightly different shades for the crab's red and the persimmon's orange, both will stand out nicely!

The monkey and the persimmon tree

Let's color the monkey's body brown, and its face and bottom pink or light red.
Color the trunk of the persimmon tree dark brown. For the leaves, try mixing green, yellow, and red to make autumn leaves!
For the fruit, try using different colors for the ripe red ones and the hard green ones.

The friends each have their own colors

Color the chestnut brown and its prickly shell yellow-green. Color the bee with yellow and black stripes, and color the mortar light brown while tracing the wood grain.
Kelp is dark green or dark brown.
Add some pink to everyone's cheeks so you can clearly see their smiling faces!

Inside the house

If you color the fire in the hearth orange and yellow, and the tatami mats light green or ocher, it will look just like an old-fashioned Japanese house!

On the 3rd page, start with the main character

On the 3rd page, color the crab in the middle first. Next, color your friends one by one: the chestnut, the bee, the mortar, and the kelp.
If each friend has a different color, your picture will show clearly where everyone is at a glance!
If you color the bee's wings light sky blue or leave them white, they will look clear and see-through.
Color the ash in the hearth light gray, and color the pothook and pot dark gray or brown.

A Popular Story in the Edo Period

In the Edo period, "The Crab and the Monkey" was written in picture books for children called "Akahon," and many people loved it.
Even back then, it was already a story where friends came to help the crab.

Persimmon: A Taste of Japanese Autumn

Persimmon is a fruit that has been grown in Japan for a very long time.
It is such a famous Japanese fruit that it is sometimes called "kaki" even in English.
If you peel a bitter persimmon and dry it, it becomes a sweet dried persimmon!

"Peaches and Chestnuts Take Three Years, Persimmons Take Eight"

There is a Japanese saying: "Peaches and chestnuts take three years, persimmons take eight."
It means that after you plant the seeds, it takes 3 years for peaches and chestnuts to grow fruit, and 8 years for persimmons.
The persimmon tree in the story grew in a flash, but in real life, it takes a really long time!

The Name of the Story

In some places, "The Crab and the Monkey" is known by names like "The Monkey and the Crab" or "The Crab's Revenge."
The word "Kassen" means a battle.
In many picture books today, the monkey says sorry, and they become friends again!