MOMOTARU: The Little Peach Boy.
Todays post will be a well known folkstory from Japan, Momotaro: The little peach boy.
There are a few different visions of this story that vary slightly from one region to the next.
The first one is one of the more well know versions in modern time.
There is now a popular notion that Momotaro is a local hero of the Okayama Prefecture, however this claim is
relitivley new and was invented in the modern era, it is not accepted as fact in other rigions
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The tale of Momotaro has been handwritten and printed since the early Edo period leading into the Meiji era.
One significant change is that in most examples of Edo Period literature, Momotaro was not born from a peach, but born naturally
to the elderly couple who ate the peach and regained their youth. these subtypes are classed as kaishun-gata or "rejuvenation" type,
whereas the now conventional subtypes are termed kasei-gata "birth from the fruit" type.
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This is the offical Okayama version of the story.
Once upon a time there lived an old man an old woman in Okayama.
The old man went everyday into the mountains to cut wood, while his wife would go to the river to wash clothes.
One day, while the old woman was down at the river washing clothes, a big peach came floating down the river!
It looked so delicious, she decided to take it home for her and her husband to eat.
When the old man came back to their home, the old woman cut the peach open, and to their surprise, there was a small boy inside!
They decided to call him Momotaro, which means ‘peach boy’.
The old couple raised Momotaro to be big and strong.
One day, he decided to go and defeat the ogres living on Ogre Island that were pillaging the land.
The old woman fixed him some delicious millet dumplings, known as kibi-dango, for his long journey to the island.
On the way, a monkey, a dog, and a pheasant joined him, giving them a dumpling each in return for their help in fighting the ogres.
Once he reached Ogre Island, Momotaro and his companions found that the gate was locked to the Ogre’s fort.
The pheasant flew inside, and grabbed a key to let the others in. Once inside, they fought the evil ogres.
The pheasant pecked their eyes, the dog bit their legs and the monkey jumped on their backs, clawing at the beasts.
Finally, the ogres cried for mercy! They gave the strong Momotaro all of their treasure, and he returned to his village triumphantly.
Momotaro and the old couple lived happily ever after.
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This next version was popularized during the Meiji Period and was even printed in school textbooks back then.
Momotaro was born from a giant peach, which was found floating down a river by an old, childless woman who was washing clothes there.
The woman and her husband discovered the child when they tried to open the peach to eat it. The child explained that he had been bestowed by the Gods to be their son. The couple named him Momotaro, from momo (peach) and taro (eldest son in the family).
When he matured into adolescence, Momotaro left his parents to fight a band of Oni (demons or ogres) who marauded over their land, by seeking them out in the distant island where they dwelled (a place called Onigashima or "Demon Island"). On his way there, Momotaro met and befriended a talking dog, monkey and pheasant, who agreed to help him in his quest in exchange for a portion of his rations (kibi dango or "millet dumplings").
At the island, Momotaro and his animal friends managed to break in to the demons' fort and beat the band of demons forcing those who remained to surrendering.
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In an old version of the story written in 1753 , an old woman who did not have any children brings home a giant peach floating in the stream.
When the old woman ate a portion of the peach, she unexpectedly recovered her beauty and youth. Her husband was surprised to find a young, beautiful woman when he came back from work. He did not believe her when she explained that the magical peach restored her youth. He also ate a portion of the peach, and turned young too. A boy was born after they made passionate love that night. They named the boy ‘Taro’, which is a common name for the first sons in Japan.
There are a few variants to the story, depending on geographical area, Some say Momotaro floated by in a box, a white peach, or a red peach.
Stories from Shikoku and Chugoku region muddy the distinction with characters from other folk storys, in most versions a Monkey, dog and pheasant accompany Momotaro to the oni island in other versions he befrinds a bee ( hachi), a crab ( kani), a mill stone ( usu), a chestnut (kuri), and cow dung ( ushi no hun). In old days, all of these animals and objects were believed to possess spirits and could move by their own will.
The cow dung was sometimes given the honorific dono. This was to appease the cow dung spirit, so as it won’t move to be under you when you stumble or take a step.
There are different versions of Momotaro’s growth; one is that he grew up to meet the expectation of the old couple to a good man.
Another is that he grew up to be a strong but lazy person who just sleeps all day and does not do anything.
Today, Momotaro is one of the most well kown characters in Japan, as an ideal model for young kids for his kind-heartedness, bravery, power, and care for his parents.
In some tales Momotaro is still in his teens in other virsions he is an adult.. Grown up Momotaro goes on journey to defeat the demons (oni) when he hears about the demons of the Onigashima (oni island).
In most stories Momotaro volunteered to go help the people by fighting off the oni, but in other stories he was forced by the townspeopleor others to go on journey.
However, regardless of the variants, the ending of the story is always the same.
All the stories describe Momotaro defeating the Oni and living happily ever after with the old couple.
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the oral version of the story may have emerged during the Muromachi period (1392–1573), it may not have been set down in writing until the Edo period (1603–1867).
The oldest printed works of Momotaro known to have existed had been dated to the Genroku era (1688–1704) or possibly a little earlier.
In most of the Edo Period books, peach boy is not born from the peach but from the woman who consumes the peach and grows several years younger.
Momotaro is now heavily association with Okayama City or its prefecture, but this association was only created in the modern era.
Momotaro Statue in Okayama.
The publication of a book by Nanba Kinnosuke entitled Momotaro no Shijitsu (1930) for example helped the notion of Momotaro's origins in Okayama to gain wider familiarity.
Still, even as late as the antebellum period before World War II (1941–1945), Okayama was considered only the third contender behind two other regions known as Momotaro's homeland.
The demon island (Onigashima) from the story is sometimes associated with Megijima Island, an island in the Seto Inland Sea near Takamatsu, due to the vast manmade caves found there.
Iki Island oni statue
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One of the earlyist English translations was called (The Adventures of
Little Peachling") by A.B. Mitford's Tales of Old Japan in 1871. William
Elliot Griffis published a version in 1880, which remained obscure even
to researchers, even though English translations in the following
decades apparently borrowed from Griffis's phraseology and use of idiom,
sometimes even copying his text outright.
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An Anime version loosely based on the Momotaro story is currently airing called "Peach Boy Riverside" it is also a Manga.
My next few post will be Oni related..
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