also: おとぎぞうし
noun
fairy-tale book; illustrated storybook
Refers to a genre of short, illustrated prose narratives from the Muromachi period, often with folkloric or supernatural themes. Also used more broadly for similar story collections.
See also: お伽草子
「伽草子」は室町時代の短編物語集を指す。
"Otogi-zōshi" refers to collections of short stories from the Muromachi period.
この絵本はまるで伽草子のような雰囲気がある。
This picture book has an atmosphere just like an otogi-zōshi.
御伽話 is a more general term for fairy tales or folk tales, while 伽草子 specifically refers to the Muromachi-period storybook genre.
From 伽 (とぎ, 'attendant; entertaining storytelling') + 草子 (ぞうし, 'book; written work'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is associated with illustrated narrative books from the Muromachi period.