There have been reports that anomalous behavior by animals is observable before a natural disaster, especially a big flood or an earthquake. Interestingly, we can also find such occurrences in old stories. In this study, I surveyed a total of 51 old stories related to natural disasters in Japan, and focused on animal stories, as well as stories about human sacrifice, related to floods or earthquakes. First, most of the stories related to disasters were concentrated in eastern Japan, especially in Fukushima Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture, and various kinds of animals played a role in both precipitating disasters and warning people about them. I found that the most appropriate response to natural disasters is to have humility to listen to the sounds of nature, including animals. Finally, through examination of these old stories, I found out about the bad tradition of sacrificing human to prevent and overcome natural disasters in Japan. This also teaches us that the Japanese people of old times always had a humble attitude in the face of nature.