Issunboshi

Long long time ago, an old man and his wife lived in a village, but with no children . They prayed to God, saying "Please give us a baby. Even if it were a tiny baby, we would be very happy."
Their prayer got answered one day as a they were blessed with a tiny baby from somewhere. Because the baby boy was so tiny with the size of a finger thumb, the couple named him Issun-boshi (One-Inch Boy).
As he grew old, one day the boy wanted to go to the capital and work there. So he asked his parents to make arrangements for his journey. The couple prepared a wooden bowl for a boat and a chopstick as an oar to down a river. Plus, his father gave him a sword made out of a needle.
Thus, he arrived at the capital and visited one magnificent house for a job. He was hired as a bodyguard for the princess of the house.
One day, they paid a visit to a temple. On the way home, they came across two ogres, who wanted the princess. Despite of the courageous fight with his needle sword, he was whole swallowed by one of the ogres It was so dark inside the ogre's stomach, but Issun-boshi swung the needle stinging sword. Eventually that made the ogre vomit up Issun-boshi. The two ogres ran away.
The princess and Issun-boshi found what the ogres left behind. It was what's called "Uchide-no-kozuchi," the mallet of luck. If you shake it, your wish will come true. So Issun-boshi asked the princess to shake the mallet, saying "I want to grow taller." At last, he became a tall and handsome young man.
At long last, the young man Issun-boshi married the princess, then working hard. The two lived happily ever afterwards.