sleeve, sleeve.” When she went to the field and did as instructed, thousands
of cows behaved as she wished––they went out to the field in the morning
and went back to the barn at night.
“This is amazing!” the oni-father said after seeing how successfully the
girl did her job. Then the oni-father imposed the next task.
“Move 1,000 koku 17 of rice in the granary to another granary now.
Don’t leave one single grain.” The girl again waved the sleeve while saying
“sleeve, sleeve.” Thereupon, countless legions of ants came out and in only
two hours transported the grains of rice. Seeing this, the oni-father calcu-
lated the rice with a device he had on hand.
“one grain is missing,” he grumbled in a foul mood, “Find it!” The
expression on his face did not bode well for the girl, and a sense of dread
came over her.
“I will try to find it,” the girl managed to reply and started to look for it,
when she saw a back-bent ant tottering about with a grain. How happy she
was. She joyfully carried that grain to the oni-father.
But the oni-father said, “Lock her up,” and put her in the warehouse
fortified with iron boards. These centipedes were no ordinary centipedes;
they were one foot long and numbered 4,000 or 5,000. They gathered
around her with their mouths wide open to devour her. The girl almost
fainted with fear, but as she waved the sleeve saying “Amewakahiko’s
sleeve, sleeve,” the centipedes receded to the corners and did not come
y.
versity Librar
Senshū Uni
tesy of
rains for the maiden. Cour
rying g
he ants car
Figure 5.2. T
154
Part III: Women
near her. When the oni-father opened the door after seven days, the girl
came out safely.
The girl was then locked in the snakes’ den. But again as she waved the
sleeve, no snake approached her. After seven days she came out from the
den alive. The oni-father stood dumbfounded.
“You must indeed have been destined to become my son’s bride,” he
said at last. “You may now see him once a month.” But the girl misheard him.
“Did you say once a year?” she asked.
“As you wish, once a year it shall be,” he replied throwing a melon to
the ground. The melon hit the ground, smashed open, and became the
Milky Way. The girl became Vega and he Altair. They now meet each other
once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.
nOtes
1. See the introduction for a brief explanation of otogizōshi.
2. The picture scroll housed in the Berlin museum is printed in Shimada illustrations
plates no. 7–9, illustrations 9–13, 37–41, and 69–71 (written text). The annotated written
text is included in Matsumoto, Otogizōshi-shū 75–85. There are several picture scrolls very similar to Berlin’s picture scroll, such as those housed in the Suntory Museum in Tokyo titled
Amewakahiko monogatari emaki (Picture Scroll of Tale of Amewakahiko, seventeenth century) and Tanabata no sōshi (Tale of Star Festival, seventeenth century) in Senshū University Library in Tokyo. Ōtsuki, “‘Amewakahiko sōshi’ kaigaka no tenkai katei” 70–71.
3. Ishida Mizumaro notes that “according to one theory, a yojana is 14.4 kilometers”
(cited in Genshin 11).
4. The poem is Kokinshū or Kokin wakashū (A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern, 905) 4: 175: “Amanogawa / momiji o hashi ni / wataseba ya / tanabatatsume no / aki wo
shimo matsu” (It is for a bridge, of many-hued leaves to span, the heavenly stream, that the
Weaver Maid awaits, the arrival of autumn?) (Ozawa and Matsuda 91; McCullough, Kokin
Wakashū 48). While Izumo Asako, citing Katagiri Yōichi’s research on Kokinshūchū, writes that this edition of Kokinshū chū was not written by Fujiwara Tameie and hence cannot be definitely dated to the early Kamakura period, she says the Tale of Amewakahiko was strongly influenced by “Qian Luwei’s Tale” (Izumo 57). “Qian Luwei’s Tale” is printed in Satake,
Kokinshū chū 224–29, 455–57.
5. According to the legend, the Weaver, a daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, fell in
love with a cowherd(“ ‘Amewakamiko zō’ no hensen ni kansuru ichi kōsatsu” 17). and came
to neglect her weaving duties. This angered the Emperor, who separated the lovers, placed
them on different sides of the Milky Way (the “great river of heaven”), and allowed them to
meet only once a year, on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month.
6. Michael Como writes that the cult of the Weaver and the Cowherd is known to have
arrived in Japan by the reign of Emperor Tenmu (reigned 673–86) at the latest and that the
Weaver Maiden and the Cowherd festival is the best-documented cult in Nara Japan, with
clear roots in the Chinese festival calendar. Como 38–39, 110.
7. The Realm of the Four Guardian Kings ( Catur-maharaja-kayikah) is located above the
realm of humans but below the realm of Brahma. See Sadakata 56, 58.
Tale of Amewakahiko
155
8. Katsumata conjectures that the text that was written soon after the completion of
Kokinshū kanajo. Katsumata, “‘Amewakamiko zō’ no hensen ni kansuru ichi kōsatsu” 16.
9. Roger Thomas of Illinois State University suggests insightfully that the confusion
between “Amewakahiko” and “Amewakamiko” might have something to do with the fact
that the phonemes hi/bi and mi often appear interchanged in many classical works (e.g.,
sabishi vs. samishi and the like).
10. Izumo Asako uses the name Amewakahiko rather than Amewakamiko in her article.
11. Doi writes, “In Apuleius’s story, according to the oracle of Apollo at Miletus, he is a
son of Draco, a monster with wings of wind and feared by all gods” (166). I could not find
the words “a son of Draco” in Cupid and Psyche, but there is a description of Cupid as
“something cruel and fierce and serpentine;
That plagues the world as, borne aloft on wings,
With fire and steel it persecutes all things.” (Apuleius, Cupid and Psyche 47)
This description sounds like a dragon. In the notes, E. J. Kenney writes, “The allusive
description of Cupid as the monster exploits his attributes to make him sound like a fire-
breathing dragon; ambiguity was the stock-in-trade of oracles” (Apuleius, Cupid and Psyche
131).
12. on the forty-ninth day after one’s death, it is believed that the soul of the deceased
starts its new life on the other side of this life (or rebirth). Buddhist memorial services for
the intermediate existence between one’s death and rebirth are held every seven days until
the forty-ninth day.
13. “Hachikazuki” is often considered a Japanese Cinderella story. For an English transla-
tion, see Steven 315–31.
14. Ikeda-AaTh 411C, “Snake Paramour.” Also see Ikeda-AaTh 312B “Snake Husband
Killed.” See Ikeda, A Type And Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature 74–75, 103–4; Seki,
“Types of Japanese Folktales” 69–70. For an example story, see Dorson 117–18. Dorson
writes that “Thompson has the pertinent Motif T475.1, ‘Unknown paramour discovered by
string clue,’ with solely Japanese references” (117).
15. See, for example, Tokuda, Otogizōshi jiten 142.
&nb
sp; 16. The poem pivots on the phrases isa shira[zu] (I know not) and shirakumo (white clouds).
17. one koku is approximately 180 liters. one thousand koku are therefore about 180,000
liters, or 40,863 US gallons.
6
Blossom Princess ( Hanayo no hime)
Japanese Stepdaughter Story and Provincial Customs
likE Many oThEr sToriEs in This book, ThE TalE Hanayo no hime, or
Blossom Princess (ca. late sixteenth century or early seventeenth century),
belongs to otogizōshi. 1 Among around 400 otogizōshi, three stories— Blossom Princess, Hachikazuki (The Bowl Girl), and Ubakawa (The Bark Gown)2—can
be identified as Cinderella-type stories because they have suspected folklore
origins and abundant fairytale motifs (Mulhern, “Cinderella and the Jesuits”
409). In these three otogizōshi stories, the stepdaughter receives from Kannon
(Avalokiteśvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion) or yamauba (a mountain crone)
clothes or a bowl that hide the girl’s beauty until her true lover appears.
The Cinderella-type stories, particularly Blossom Princess, are known for their
strong association with folklore.3 This chapter highlights some of the note-
worthy folkloric elements, such as the legend of “obasute” (Deserted old
Woman) reflected in the figure of a yamauba. While examining the relation-
ship between the texts of Blossom Princess and three mukashibanashi (folktales),
namely “Ubakawa,” “Komebuku Awabuku” (The Komebuku and Awabuku
Sisters), and “obasute,” I will also look at Blossom Princess as a text replete
with contemporary customs and beliefs, especially in the area of Suruga
Province (present-day central Shizuoka prefecture). Notable contemporary
manners and customs, such as shūto-iri (literally, “entrance of the father-in-
law”) and female inheritance, are described well in Blossom Princess.
texts Of blOssOM PRincess
The number of extant Blossom Princess texts is fairly small (Matsumoto,
“Minkan setsuwa kei no Muromachi jidai monogatari” 8), and basically
Blossom Princess exists in a single version (Mulhern, “Cinderella and the
Jesuits” 447); four printed texts from woodblocks and two written copies
156
DOI: 10.7330/9781607324904.c006
Blossom Princess
157
exist (Inai 26–27). All four printed texts are from the same woodblocks,
and the text consists of three books. They are in the possession of the
Akagi Library ( MJMT 10: 515–55), the Tōhoku University affiliated library
(Shimazu, “Hanayo no hime”), the Tenri Library, and the Tōyō Library. One
of the two written copies exists in the Hiroshima University Japanese lit-
erature research room, and its content is almost identical to the woodblock
version ( MJMT 10: 515). The whereabouts of the other copy, formerly in
the possession of Takano Tatsuyuki, are not known (Inai 27).
Plot summary of blossom Princess
The heroine, Blossom Princess, is born in answer to her parents’ prayers to
Kannon. Her mother dies when she is nine years old. Moritaka, her father,
dotes on her and continues to pray for his wife’s happiness in the after-
life, but he remarries at the urging of his relatives. The stepmother hates
Blossom Princess because Moritaka pays attention only to his daughter.
While Blossom Princess’s father is away from home, the stepmother has a
samurai kidnap and abandon her on a remote mountain near Mt. Fuji. The
Moritaka household grieves the loss of Blossom Princess, but unbeknown
to the stepmother, Moritaka and the princess’s nurses are consoled when a
miko (diviner) predicts Blossom Princess’s safety.
In the meantime, on the mountain the princess meets a yamauba who
gives her a small bag of treasures and an ubakinu, or yamauba’s transforming
clothes, to make the wearer look old. The yamauba also gives directions to a
certain human habitation where she can work. While the princess works as
a hearth maid at the mansion of a chūnagon (middle councilor), Saishō, the
middle councilor’s youngest son, falls in love with her. Saishō soon takes
her to his nurse’s house, where he can see her at his ease. Realizing that the
son is visiting a woman, Saishō’s mother holds a “bride’s contest” so the
son will be embarrassed and leave Blossom Princess. But on the day of the
competition, the bag the yamauba has given to Blossom Princess produces
fine clothes for her to wear and other valuable treasures. Blossom Princess’s
beauty and gifts impress everyone at the contest. She is happily married to
Saishō and reunited with her father. In the meantime, the stepmother and
her nurse clandestinely leave Moritaka’s house for whereabouts unknown.
Saishō moves to Blossom Princess’s father’s estate to inherit the lordship
and manage the estate with Blossom Princess. The couple is blessed with
many children, and Blossom Princess’s father marries the middle council-
or’s niece and lives happily ever after.
of the Cinderella-type stories, Blossom Princess is by far the longest.
Unlike Hachikazuki, which includes many rhetorical descriptions of scenery
158
Part III: Women
and feelings, the elaborate plot of Blossom Princess makes the text long
(Matsumoto, “Minkan setsuwa kei no Muromachi jidai monogatari” 26).
The reader follows the story from two perspectives: one considers the hero-
ine and the other Moritaka’s household. The major plot tracks the events
surrounding Blossom Princess, and the reader is informed on a regular and
timely basis what is happening to Blossom Princess’s family and nurses
during her absence. It is “closest to the classical novel in its graceful fluid
style, characteristically Japanese in its vocabulary and imagery” (Mulhern,
“Cinderella and the Jesuits” 446).
YaMauba anD kannOn
one term requiring explanation that is “characteristically Japanese in its
vocabulary and imagery” is yamauba. The medieval Noh text aptly titled
Yamamba 4 describes yamamba ( yamauba) as “a female oni living in the mountains.”5 Even now, to many contemporary Japanese the word yamauba con-
jures up images of an ugly old woman who lives in the mountains and
devours humans. The witch in the Grimm Brothers’ Hansel and Gretel and
Baba Yaga of Russian folklore can be considered Western counterparts of
the yamauba figure. The Konjaku monogatarishū (Tales of Times Now Past; ca.
1120) depicts one such yamauba in the story titled “Sanseru onna minamiya-
mashina ni yuki oni ni aite nigetaru koto” (How a Woman with Child Went
to South Yamashina, Encountered an oni, and Escaped).6 A young preg-
nant woman secretly gives birth in the mountain hut of a seemingly kind
old woman, only to discover that she is actually an oni with plans to eat her
newborn baby. In Blossom Princess, the heroine is extremely frightened about
encountering the yamauba primarily because of the yamauba’s reputation for
eating people.
The image of the yamauba is complex. In stark contrast to the yam-
auba’s representation in the woman-with-child story, some tales represent
a yamauba as a nurturing character. orikuchi Shinobu writes that a yamaub
a
was originally a virgin offered to a mountain deity. The maiden nursed the
deity to health and later became his wife (orikuchi, “okina no hassei” 363).
The yamauba’s nurturing image is often associated with motherhood.7 Hori
Ichirō writes, “In the popular belief of rural areas, the mountain deity is
believed to be a goddess who gives birth to twelve children every year. She
is therefore called Mrs. Twelve ( Jūni-sama), and her twelve children symbol-
ize the twelve months of the year” (Hori 167). Indeed, in the fifteenth cen-
tury, the Zen priest Zuikei Shūhō (1391–1473) recounts in his diary titled
Gaun nikkenroku that a yamauba gave birth to four children: “The reason
Blossom Princess
159
why the summer of that year had lots of rain was because the yamauba
gave birth to four children, namely, Haruyoshi (Good Spring), Natsusame
(Summer Rain), Akiyoshi (Good Autumn), and Fuyusame (Winter Rain)”
(Tokyo Daigaku Shiryō Hensanjo 125). The year’s abundant rainfall, the
priest suggests, is the result of the yamauba’s multiple childbirths. The chil-
dren’s names seem to reflect an expression of reverence to a higher power
and hope for good seasonal weather to come.
An interesting parallel appears in a folktale that describes a yamauba
giving birth to a baby boy. In this story titled “Yamauba hōon” ( Yamauba’s
Gratitude), the yamauba comes to a married couple in a village and asks for
shelter while giving birth, which the sympathetic couple gives her (Miyazaki
428–30). After the safe birth of her baby, the yamauba asks the couple to
name the baby as well as her other nameless children. The couple feels
honored and names the first child Natsuyoshikō (Good Summer), the sec-
ond Akiyoshikō (Good Autumn), and the third one Fuyuyoshikō (Good
Winter)—names very similar to those in the Gaun nikkenroku. The yamauba
rewards the couple with two boxes—one that magically produces abundant
gold and one filled with yarn.8 Here, the yamauba as an oni-woman is clearly
a bringer of wealth. As Yoshida Atsuhiko points out, the roots of the
yamauba can be found in various female deities in Japanese myths, such as
Ōgetsuhime in Kojiki (Ancient Matters, 712) and Ukemochinokami in Nihon
shoki or Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan, 720), who produce food from differ-
Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan Page 24
