The very first part of my stay in Japan was with a family. By taking part in their everyday activities, I found that children were fascinated with the same things no matter the country. Insects, ghost stories, sports, and fairy tales all held their attention. Let’s talk about Japanese fairy tales a bit, and relevantly, the legend surrounding Mt. Fuji.
Here in America we have our slew of fairy tales: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Robin Hood – has the reader ever pondered about what kind of stories children around the world know and adore?
Most Japanese fairy tales deal with some sort of lesson that is played out between colorful characters and vibrant personalities. There is one, named “Issun Boshi – size of a finger”, where a young man who cannot grow taller than the size of a finger sets off on a journey to meet with an important person and prove himself. He befriends the princess of the kingdom. When the two of them are attacked by monsters while walking, none other than Issun Boshi saves the day with his toothpick size Katana. One of the monsters holds a mystical hammer which allows the young man to grow to full height, and with pompous and fanfare he and the princess marry.
In another, a man saves a swan with a broken wing and is surprised when a young woman appears suddenly at his door the next day. She stays and works with him for some time spinning beautiful fabric that the man sells at the market for a hefty profit. Her only request is that he does not peek in at her while she works. One day, he does just that and is surprised to see a swan sat at the spinning table in place of the girl. She flies away and is never seen again.
Knowing a few of these stories truly allowed me to relate to the many children I encountered during my stay. Calling a boy by the name “Kitaro,” another story, was often times enough to get a smile and a warm-hearted reception.
There is another side to Japanese fables. Many are rooted in ancient mythology.
Like many others who visit Japan, climbing Mount Fuji was high on my to-do list. So, when I finally arrived after 4 hours of train and bus travel, finding out the mythology behind Fuji was not so high on said list; I wanted to climb that mountain! In retrospect, however, I can remember a book that I flipped through in the book store on the 5th station halfway up the mountain, being the last accessible station by motor vehicle.
In actuality, there are many stories surrounding Mt. Fuji and its status as Japan’s tallest mountain. The one that I like the most, however, follows.
Back in the old days, Fuji was not the tallest mountain in Japan. The tallest was Yatsugatake, and it was a major point of contention between the god and goddess living on top of these mountains. The quarreling became so much that one day they prayed to the great Buddha to solve the problem. Buddha saw it as a complex problem and decided after much thought to lay a channel between the peaks of the two mountains. He then would pour water into the channel, and the mountain to which the water flowed would be the shorter of the two. Moments later, Fuji was decided as the shorter of the two. The goddess of Fuji, discontent with the verdict, waited until everyone was sleeping and then took a giant wooden staff and struck the peak of Yatsugatake, splitting the mountain into eight smaller peaks.
While this type of story is often above the heads of most Kindergarten students, it is still an important part of Japanese culture and provides a unique angle on storytelling.
Attached above is a photo that I took on the second to last station, right before the summit. Take a close look. Can you spot the goddess of Mt. Fuji?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Igneous Landscapes
Article 2 - Igneous Landscapes
The very first part of my stay in Japan was with a family. By taking part in their everyday activities, I found that children were fascinated with the same things no matter the country. Insects, ghost stories, sports, and fairy tales all held their attention. Let’s talk about Japanese fairy tales a bit, and relevantly, the legend surrounding Mt. Fuji.
Here in America we have our slew of fairy tales: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Robin Hood – has the reader ever pondered about what kind of stories children around the world know and adore?
Most Japanese fairy tales deal with some sort of lesson that is played out between colorful characters and vibrant personalities. There is one, named “Issun Boshi – size of a finger”, where a young man who cannot grow taller than the size of a finger sets off on a journey to meet with an important person and prove himself. He befriends the princess of the kingdom. When the two of them are attacked by monsters while walking, none other than Issun Boshi saves the day with his toothpick size Katana. One of the monsters holds a mystical hammer which allows the young man to grow to full height, and with pompous and fanfare he and the princess marry.
In another, a man saves a swan with a broken wing and is surprised when a young woman appears suddenly at his door the next day. She stays and works with him for some time spinning beautiful fabric that the man sells at the market for a hefty profit. Her only request is that he does not peek in at her while she works. One day, he does just that and is surprised to see a swan sat at the spinning table in place of the girl. She flies away and is never seen again.
Knowing a few of these stories truly allowed me to relate to the many children I encountered during my stay. Calling a boy by the name “Kitaro,” another story, was often times enough to get a smile and a warm-hearted reception.
There is another side to Japanese fables. Many are rooted in ancient mythology.
Like many others who visit Japan, climbing Mount Fuji was high on my to-do list. So, when I finally arrived after 4 hours of train and bus travel, finding out the mythology behind Fuji was not so high on said list; I wanted to climb that mountain! In retrospect, however, I can remember a book that I flipped through in the book store on the 5th station halfway up the mountain, being the last accessible station by motor vehicle.
In actuality, there are many stories surrounding Mt. Fuji and its status as Japan’s tallest mountain. The one that I like the most, however, follows.
Back in the old days, Fuji was not the tallest mountain in Japan. The tallest was Yatsugatake, and it was a major point of contention between the god and goddess living on top of these mountains. The quarreling became so much that one day they prayed to the great Buddha to solve the problem. Buddha saw it as a complex problem and decided after much thought to lay a channel between the peaks of the two mountains. He then would pour water into the channel, and the mountain to which the water flowed would be the shorter of the two. Moments later, Fuji was decided as the shorter of the two. The goddess of Fuji, discontent with the verdict, waited until everyone was sleeping and then took a giant wooden staff and struck the peak of Yatsugatake, splitting the mountain into eight smaller peaks.
While this type of story is often above the heads of most Kindergarten students, it is still an important part of Japanese culture and provides a unique angle on storytelling.
Attached above is a photo that I took on the second to last station, right before the summit. Take a close look. Can you spot the goddess of Mt. Fuji?
The very first part of my stay in Japan was with a family. By taking part in their everyday activities, I found that children were fascinated with the same things no matter the country. Insects, ghost stories, sports, and fairy tales all held their attention. Let’s talk about Japanese fairy tales a bit, and relevantly, the legend surrounding Mt. Fuji.
Here in America we have our slew of fairy tales: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Robin Hood – has the reader ever pondered about what kind of stories children around the world know and adore?
Most Japanese fairy tales deal with some sort of lesson that is played out between colorful characters and vibrant personalities. There is one, named “Issun Boshi – size of a finger”, where a young man who cannot grow taller than the size of a finger sets off on a journey to meet with an important person and prove himself. He befriends the princess of the kingdom. When the two of them are attacked by monsters while walking, none other than Issun Boshi saves the day with his toothpick size Katana. One of the monsters holds a mystical hammer which allows the young man to grow to full height, and with pompous and fanfare he and the princess marry.
In another, a man saves a swan with a broken wing and is surprised when a young woman appears suddenly at his door the next day. She stays and works with him for some time spinning beautiful fabric that the man sells at the market for a hefty profit. Her only request is that he does not peek in at her while she works. One day, he does just that and is surprised to see a swan sat at the spinning table in place of the girl. She flies away and is never seen again.
Knowing a few of these stories truly allowed me to relate to the many children I encountered during my stay. Calling a boy by the name “Kitaro,” another story, was often times enough to get a smile and a warm-hearted reception.
There is another side to Japanese fables. Many are rooted in ancient mythology.
Like many others who visit Japan, climbing Mount Fuji was high on my to-do list. So, when I finally arrived after 4 hours of train and bus travel, finding out the mythology behind Fuji was not so high on said list; I wanted to climb that mountain! In retrospect, however, I can remember a book that I flipped through in the book store on the 5th station halfway up the mountain, being the last accessible station by motor vehicle.
In actuality, there are many stories surrounding Mt. Fuji and its status as Japan’s tallest mountain. The one that I like the most, however, follows.
Back in the old days, Fuji was not the tallest mountain in Japan. The tallest was Yatsugatake, and it was a major point of contention between the god and goddess living on top of these mountains. The quarreling became so much that one day they prayed to the great Buddha to solve the problem. Buddha saw it as a complex problem and decided after much thought to lay a channel between the peaks of the two mountains. He then would pour water into the channel, and the mountain to which the water flowed would be the shorter of the two. Moments later, Fuji was decided as the shorter of the two. The goddess of Fuji, discontent with the verdict, waited until everyone was sleeping and then took a giant wooden staff and struck the peak of Yatsugatake, splitting the mountain into eight smaller peaks.
While this type of story is often above the heads of most Kindergarten students, it is still an important part of Japanese culture and provides a unique angle on storytelling.
Attached above is a photo that I took on the second to last station, right before the summit. Take a close look. Can you spot the goddess of Mt. Fuji?
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1 comment:
What a spectacular photograph!
It's almost as if you're flying on a boat over the clouds.
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