Mythology & Folklore

Sentaro's Journey The paper crane carried Sentaro over hills and mountains and rivers and oceans until he was finally dropped in the middle of a busy street with buildings taller than any he had every seen. Everything was shiny like metal, but not like any metal he had ever seen. He spun around, taking in his surroundings, and as far as he could see there were tall buildings and people and strange moving machines on wheels unlike he had ever seen. He stopped a person and demanded to know where he was. They gave him a strange look and told him he was in a place called “New York City”. He decided that this must have been the Land of Paradise the hermits had told him about. But strangely, no one was smiling, as he had assumed they would be. They looked rushed and unfriendly. But, he thought to himself, maybe that meant that everyone was content with their own lives enough that they didn’t want to concern themselves with other people’s lives. He began to walk down the street looki...

Notes on Aschenputtel: Before starting the story, I assume aschen = ash, ash = cinder, so it is the Grimm brothers version of Cinderella Not the traditional ugly stepsisters, as they were "beautiful and fair in appearance". The ugly stepsister trope seems to come from them being ugly at heart Why was her father just okay with all of this? They took away her bed and he didn't do anything about it She should use her bird-wishes to wish for some improvement in her home life. But maybe she is too good at heart to wish for things like that Seems like all the stuff with the lentils was overkill. The stepmother was going to say no from the beginning, so why even pretend to be considering it? Silk shoes instead of glass, when did that change in the story happen? Was the glass slipper image Disney's doing? A three day festival instead of just one night Now she has gold slippers, but still no glass slippers Grimm stories are much more grim (haha) than the fairy tales...

The Story of Princess Hase Interesting that they were okay with a daughter, when it would seem more likely they wanted a son to carry on the family name Also interesting that she is basically telling her daughter to forget her, and treat her fathers new wife as her mother A "model woman" is submissive and kind Sounds very Cinderella-esque, with a kind child and a wicked stepmother  So now that the stepmother has accidentally killed her own son, she will hate the princess even more What has made this girl so talented? Interesting that she got a military position as a woman The part about the servant being sent to kill her is very Snow White-esque Living in a cottage in the forest to stay safe is very Sleeping Beauty-esque  So the king did want a son anyway. Seems to me that a lieutenant in the military would make a very good queen Interesting use of the term "active life" Japanese Fairy Book - Ozaki Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theo...

The Man Who Did Not Wish To Die: Very serious subject matter for a fairy tale, life and death Elixir of Life sounds very similar to the Fountain of Youth This hermit life sounds very similar to the idea of nirvana in buddhism and living an ascetic life free of possessions and relationships Strange that they would still grant him eternal life after saying that his request was selfish Could be an interesting story about where the land of perpetual life is He says it is a country but unlike his own, could be the future/America/some other strange land Very psychological story, a very "the grass is always greener" story Sentaro is a very inconsistent man, never happy with what he has It was a dream? Paper Crane Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki  link to reading