MYTHS & LEGENDS OF JAPAN - over 200 Myths, Legends and Tales from Ancient Nippon E-Book

Anon E. Mouse

• Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

In Seas and Lands, Sir Edwin Arnold gave us the impression that Japan was a real fairyland in the Far East. And he was correct. Herein you will find over 200 magical myths, legends, tales and fables of Japanese deities from the time before the world was brought into being. F. Hadland Davis has categorised these stories, tales and fables into 31 chapters which are accompanied by 32 glorious full-page colour plates by Evelyn Paul, quite unlike any others we have seen in children’s illustrated books. Herein are stories like: Ama-Terasu And Susa-No-O, The Divine Messengers, Yorimasa, The Goblin Of Oyeyama, The Triumph Of Momotaro, "My Lord Bag Of Rice", The Coming Of The Lady Kaguya, The Legend Of The Golden Lotus, How Tokutaro Was Deluded  By Foxes, The Significance Of Jizō, The Treasure Ship, Sentaro's Visit  To The Land Of Perpetual Youth, A Woman And The Bell Of Miidera, The Snow-Bride and, oh, so many more exquisite tales like these. Ama-terasu is the central figure in Japanese mythology, for it is from the Sun Goddess that the Mikados are descended, and it is here where this volume starts.  Early heroes and warriors are always regarded as minor divinities, and the very nature of Shintōism, associated with ancestor worship, has enriched those of Japan with many a fascinating legend. The Chinese called Japan Jih-pén, "the place the sun comes from," because the archipelago was situated on the east of their own kingdom, and our words Japan and Nippon are corruptions of Jih-pén. Marco Polo called the country Zipangu, and one ancient name describes it as "The-Luxuriant-Reed-Plains-the-land-of-Fresh-Rice-Ears-of-a-Thousand-Autumns-of-Long-Five-Hundred-Autumns." We are not surprised to find that such a very lengthy and descriptive title is not used by the Japanese to-day; but it is of interest to know that the old word for Japan, Yamato, is still frequently employed, Yamato Damashii signifying "The Spirit of Unconquerable Japan." Then, again, we still hear Japan referred to as The Island of the Dragon-fly. We are told in the old Japanese Chronicles that the Emperor, in 630 B.C., ascended a hill called Waki Kamu no Hatsuma, from which he was able to view the land on all sides. He was much impressed by the beauty of the country, and said that it resembled "a dragon-fly licking its hinder parts," and the Island received the name of Akitsu-Shima which translates as "Island of the Dragon-fly" - and so it has remained for millennia. To-day we hear a good deal about the New Japan, and we are too prone to forget the significance of the Old upon which modern Japan has been founded. This volume will give you an insight as to why modern Japan is like it is. So, we invite you to download and curl up with this unique sliver of Eastern culture not seen in print for over a century; and immerse yourself in the tales and fables of yesteryear for we are certain that once picked up, you won’t be able to put it down. ---------------------------- KEYWORDS/TAGS: fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, children’s stories, bygone era, fairydom, fairy land, classic stories, children’s bedtime stories, fables, Old world, japan, oriental, east, Japanese deities, Period Of The Gods, Izanagi, Izanami, Ama-Terasu, Susa-No-O, Serpent, Grandchild, Palace, Sea God, Hoderi, Hoori, Heroes, Warriors, Yorimasa, Benkei, Taira, Yoshitsune, Oyeyama, Raiko, Prince Yamato Take, Sacrifice, Ototachibana, Adventures, Momotaro, Triumph, Lord, Bag Of Rice, Bamboo-Cutter, Moon-Maiden, Lady Kaguya, Begging-Bowl, Lord Buddha, Jewel, Mount Horai, Flameproof, Fur Robe, Dragon's Head, Royal Hunt, Celestial, Robe of Feathers, Buddha, Golden Lotus, Crystal Of Buddha, Fox, Inari,

Leseprobe

Myths & Legends of Japan

Retold By

F. Hadland Davis

With Thirty-Two Full-Page Illustrations

By

Evelyn Paul

Orinally Published by

George G. Harrap & Company, London

[1912]

Resurrected by

Abela Publishing, London

[2018]

Myths and Legends of Japan

Typographical arrangement of this edition

© Abela Publishing 2018

This book may not be reproduced in its current format in any manner in any media, or transmitted by any means whatsoever, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, or mechanical ( including photocopy, file or video recording, internet web sites, blogs, wikis, or any other information storage and retrieval system) except as permitted by law without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Abela Publishing,

London

United Kingdom

2018

ISBN-13: 978-X-XXXXXX-XX-X

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[email protected]

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AbelaPublishing

Frontis: Raiko and the Enchanted Maiden.

Dedicated To

MY WIFE

Preface

In writing Myths and Legends of Japan I have been much indebted to numerous authorities on Japanese subjects, and most especially to Lafcadio Hearn, who first revealed to me the Land of the Gods. It is impossible to enumerate all the writers who have assisted me in preparing this volume. I have borrowed from their work as persistently as Japan has borrowed from other countries, and I sincerely hope that, like Japan herself, I have made good use of the material I have obtained from so many sources.

I am indebted to Professor Basil Hall Chamberlain for placing his work at my disposal, and I have found his encyclopædic volume, Things Japanese, his translation of the Kojiki, his Murray's Hand-book for Japan (in collaboration with W. B. Mason), and his Japanese Poetry, of great value. I thank the Executors of the late Dr. W. G. Aston for permission to quote from this learned authority's work. I have made use of his translation of the Nihongi (Transactions of the Japan Society, 1896) and have gathered much useful material from A History of Japanese Literature. I am indebted to Mr. F. Victor Dickins for allowing me to make use of his translation of the Taketori Monogatari and the Ho-jō-ki. My friend Mrs. C. M. Salwey has taken a sympathetic interest in my work, which has been invaluable to me. Her book, Fans of Japan, has supplied me with an exquisite legend, and many of her articles have yielded a rich harvest. I warmly thank Mr. Yone Noguchi for allowing me to quote from his poetry, and also Miss Clara A. Walsh for so kindly putting at my disposal her fascinating volume, The Master-Singers of Japan, published by Mr. John Murray in the "Wisdom of the East" series. My thanks are due to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin Company, for allowing me to quote from Lafcadio Hearn's Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan and The Japanese Letters of Lafcadio Hearn; to Messrs. George Allen & Sons, for giving me permission to quote from Sir F. T. Piggott's Garden of Japan; to the Editor of the Academy, for permitting me to reprint my article on "Japanese Poetry," and to Messrs. Cassell and Co. Ltd., for allowing me to reproduce "The Garden of Japan," which I originally contributed to Cassell's Magazine. The works of Dr. William Anderson, Sir Ernest Satow, Lord Redesdale, Madame Ozaki, Mr. R. Gordon Smith, Captain F. Brinkley, the late Rev. Arthur Lloyd, Mr. Henri L. Joly, Mr. K. Okakura, the Rev. W. E. Griffis, and others, have been of immense value to me, and in addition I very warmly thank all those writers I have left unnamed, through want of space, whose works have assisted me in the preparation of this volume.

Contents

Myths & Legends of Japan

Dedication

Preface

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Chapter I: The Period Of The Gods

In the Beginning

Izanagi and Izanami

Ama-terasu and Susa-no-o

Susa-no-o and the Serpent

The Divine Messengers

The Coming of the August Grandchild

In the Palace of the Sea God

Hoderi and Hoori Reconciled

Chapter II: Heroes And Warriors

Yorimasa

Yoshitsune and Benkei

Yoshitsune and the Taira

Yoshitsune and Benkei Fight

The Goblin of Oyeyama

Raiko Slays the Goblin

The Goblin Spider

Another Version

The Adventures of Prince Yamato Take

The Wooden Sword

The "Grass-Cleaving-Sword"

The Sacrifice of Ototachibana

The Slaying of the Serpent

The Adventures of Momotaro

The Triumph of Momotaro

"My Lord Bag of Rice"

Chapter III: The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon-Maiden

The Coming of the Lady Kaguya

The Wooing of the "Precious-Slender-Bamboo-of-the-Field-of-Autumn"

The Begging-bowl of the Lord Buddha

The Jewel-bearing Branch of Mount Horai

The Flameproof Fur-Robe

The Jewel in the Dragon's Head

The Royal Hunt

The Celestial Robe of Feathers

CHAPTER IV: BUDDHA LEGENDS

The Legend of the Golden Lotus

The Crystal of Buddha

CHAPTER V: FOX LEGENDS

Inari, the Fox God

Demoniacal Possession

The Death-Stone

How Tokutaro was Deluded by Foxes

A Fox's Gratitude

Inari Answers a Woman's Prayer

The Meanness of Raiko

CHAPTER VI: JIZŌ, THE GOD OF CHILDREN

The Significance of Jizō

At Jizō's Shrine

Jizō and Lafcadio Hearn

"The Dry Bed of the River of Souls"

The Legend of the Humming of the Sai-no-Kawara

The Cave of the Children's Ghosts

The Fountain of Jizō

How Jizō Remembered

CHAPTER VII: LEGEND IN JAPANESE ART

The Significance of Japanese Art

The Gods of Good Fortune

The Treasure Ship

The Miraculous in Japanese Art

Hokusai

Ghosts and Goblins

A Garden of Skulls

The Dream of Rose

A Kakemono Ghost

Kimi Finds Peace

Chapter VIII: The Star Lovers And The Robe Of Feathers

The Star Lovers

The Robe of Feathers

The Moon-Lady's Song

Chapter IX: Legends Of Mount Fuji

The Mountain of the Lotus and the Fan

The Deities of Fuji

Fuji, the Abode of the Elixir of Life

Sentaro's Visit to the Land of Perpetual Youth

The Goddess of Fuji

The Rip van Winkle of Old Japan

The Adventures of Visu

Visu's Return

Chapter X: Bells

The Bell of Enkakuji

The Return of Ono-no-Kimi

The Giant Priest

A Woman and the Bell of Miidera

Benkei and the Bell

Karma

A Bell and the Power of Karma

Chapter XI: Yuki-Onna, The Lady Of The Snow

Yuki'-Onna

The Snow-Bride

Kyuzaemon's Ghostly Visitor

Chapter XII: Flowers And Gardens

Japanese and English Gardens

The Love of Flowers, its Growth and Symbolism

Japanese Gardens

Nature in Miniature

The Pine-tree

A Great Nature-lover

The Festival of the Dead

The Japanese Flag and the Chrysanthemum

Lady White and Lady Yellow

"Chrysanthemum-Old-Man"

The Violet Well

The Ghost of the Lotus Lily

The Spirit of the Peony

Chapter XIII: Trees

Cherry and Plum

The Camellia

The Cryptomeria

A Pine-tree and the God of Roads

A Tree Spirit

The Miraculous Chestnut

The Silent Pine

Willow Wife

The Tree of the One-eyed Priest

The Burning of Three Dwarf Trees

Chapter XIV: Mirrors

The Significance of Japanese Mirrors

Hidari Jingorō

The Divine Mirror

The Soul of a Mirror

A Mirror and a Bell

The Mirror of Matsuyama

Chapter XV: Kwannon and Benten. Daikoku, Ebisu, and Hotei

Kwannon

Kwannon in Chinese Myth

An Incarnation of Kwannon

Kwannon the Mother

The "Thirty-three Places" Sacred to Kwannon

The "Hall of the Second Moon"

Kwannon and the Deer

Benten

Benten and the Dragon

Benten-of-the-Birth-Water

Daikoku

Daikoku's Rat

The Six Daikoku

Ebisu

Hotei

Chapter XVI: Dolls and Butterflies

The English and Japanese Doll

Live Dolls

A Doll's Last Resting-place

Butterflies

Butterflies of Good and Evil Omen

"The Flying Hairpin of Kochō"

The White Butterfly

Chapter XVII: Festivals

The New Year

The Boys' Festival

The Festival of the Dead

The Laughing Festival of Wasa

The Torii

"The Footstool of the King"

Chapter XVIII: The Peony Lantern

"Morning-Dew"

The Dead Return

A Spy

Yusai's Advice

The Mystery is Revealed

Holy Charms

The Betrayal

Chapter XIX: Kōbō Daishi, Nichiren, and Shōdō Shonin

The "Namudaishi"

"A Divine Prodigy"

Gohitsu-Oshō

Writing on Sky and Water

How Kōbō Daishi Painted the Ten

Kino Momoye and Onomo Toku

Kōbō Daishi's Return

The Death of Kōbō Daishi

A Miraculous Image

Nichiren

Shōdō Shonin

Chapter XX: Fans

The Significance of the Japanese Fan

The Love of Asagao

Chapter XXI: Thunder

Raiden

The Thunder Animal

The Thunder Bird and Thunder Woman

A Strange Belief

The Child of the Thunder God

Shokuro and the Thunder God

Chapter XXII: Animal Legends

Magical Animals

The Hare

The White Hare of Inaba

Kadzutoyo and the Badger

The Miraculous Tea-kettle

The Cat

The Vampire Cat

The Dog

Shippeitarō and the Phantom Cats

The Old Man Who Made the Trees to Blossom

The Jelly-fish and the Monkey

The Horse of Bronze

Chapter XXIII: Bird and Insect Legends

Birds

The Cock

How Yoritomo was Saved by Two Doves

The Hototogisu

The Tongue-cut Sparrow

A Noble Sacrifice

A Pair of Phoenix

Insects

Dragon-flies

Tama's Return

Sanemori and Shiwan

Fireflies

A Strange Dream

The Vengeance of Kanshiro

Chapter XXIV: Concerning Tea

Tea-drinking in England and Japan

Tea in China

Luwuh and the "Chaking"

The Japanese Tea Ceremony

The Passing of Rikiu

The Legend of the Tea-plant

Daruma

Chapter XXV: Legends Of The Weird

"Hōïchi-the-Earless"

The Corpse-eater

The Ghost Mother

The Futon of Tottori

The Return

A Test of Love

Chapter XXVI: Three Maidens

The Maiden of Unai

The Grave of the Maiden of Unai

The Maiden of Katsushika

The Maiden with the Wooden Bowl

Chapter XXVII: Legends Of The Sea

The Tide of the Returning Ghosts

Urashima

Urashima and the Tortoise

In the Sea King's Palace

The Home-coming of Urashima

The Land of the Morning Calm

The Tide Jewels

The Gift of the Dragon King

The Voyage

The Throwing of the Tide Jewels

Prince Ojin

The Slaughter of the Sea Serpent

The Spirit of the Sword

The Love of O Cho San

The Spirit of the Great Awabi

Chapter XXVIII: Superstitions

Japanese Superstition

Human Sacrifice

Classical Divination

Other Forms of Divination

Unlucky Years and Days

Children

Charms

The Beckoning Leaf

Bimbogami

Chapter XXIX: Supernatural Beings

The Kappa

The Kappa's Promise

The Tengu

Tobikawa Imitates a Tengu

The Adventures of Kiuchi Heizayemon

A Modern Belief in the Tengu

The Mountain Woman and the Mountain Man

Sennin

Sennin in Art

Miraculous Lights

A Globe of Fire

The Ghostly Wrestlers

Baku

The Shojō's White Saké

The Dragon

Chapter XXX: The Transformation of Issunboshi, And Kintaro, The Golden Boy

A Prayer to the Empress Jingo

"One-Inch Priest"

Issunboshi becomes a Page

An Encounter with Oni

The Magic Mallet

Kintaro, the Golden Boy

Animal Companions

A Famous Warrior

Chapter XXXI: Miscellaneous Legends

Kato Sayemon

How an Old Man lost his Wen

A Japanese Gulliver

The Jewel-tears of Samébito

A Note On Japanese Poetry

The Tanka and Hokku

The Hyaku-nin-isshiu

Love Poems

Nature Poems

Chōmei

Gods and Goddesses

Genealogy of the Age of the Gods

Glossary and Index

The Pronunciation of Japanese Names

List of Illustrations

Raiko and the Enchanted Maiden Frontispiece

Uzume awakens the Curiosity of Ama-terasu

Susa-no-o and Kushi-nada-hime

Hoori and the Sea God's Daughter

Yorimasa slays the Vampire

Yorimasa and Benkei attacked by a ghostly company of the Taira Clan

Raiko and the Enchanted Maiden

Raiko slays the Goblin of Oyeyama

Prince Yamato and Takeru

Momotaro and the Pheasant

Hidesato and the Centipede

The Moonfolk demand the Lady Kaguya

Buddha and the Dragon

The Mikado and the Jewel Maiden

Jizō

A Kakemono Ghost

Sengen, the Goddess of Mount Fuji

Visu on Mount Fuji-Yama

Kiyo and the Priest

Yuki-Onna, the Lady of the Snow

Shingé and Yoshisawa by the Violet Well

Matsu rescues Teoyo

Shinzaburō recognised Tsuyu and her maid Yoné

The Jelly-Fish and the Monkey

The Firefly Battle

Hōïchi-the-Earless

The Maiden of Unai

Urashima and the Sea King's Daughter

Tokoyo and the Sea Serpent

The Kappa and his Victim

Kato Sayemon in his Palace of the Shōgun Ashikaga

Tōtarō and Samébito

Introduction

Pierre Loti in Madame Chrysanthème, Gilbert and Sullivan in The Mikado, and Sir Edwin Arnold in Seas and Lands, gave us the impression that Japan was a real fairyland in the Far East. We were delighted with the prettiness and quaintness of that country, and still more with the prettiness and quaintness of the Japanese people. We laughed at their topsy-turvy ways, regarded the Japanese woman, in her rich-coloured kimono, as altogether charming and fascinating, and had a vague notion that the principal features of Nippon were the tea-houses, cherry-blossom, and geisha. Twenty years ago we did not take Japan very seriously. We still listen to the melodious music of The Mikado, but now we no longer regard Japan as a sort of glorified willow-pattern plate. The Land of the Rising Sun has become the Land of the Risen Sun, for we have learnt that her quaintness and prettiness, her fairy-like manners and customs, were but the outer signs of a great and progressive nation. To-day we recognise Japan as a power in the East, and her victory over the Russian has made her army and navy famous throughout the world.

The Japanese have always been an imitative nation, quick to absorb and utilise the religion, art, and social life of China, and, having set their own national seal upon what they have borrowed from the Celestial Kingdom, to look elsewhere for material that should strengthen and advance their position. This imitative quality is one of Japan's most marked characteristics. She has ever been loath to impart information to others, but ready at all times to gain access to any form of knowledge likely to make for her advancement. In the fourteenth century Kenkō wrote in his Tsure-dzure-gusa: "Nothing opens one's eyes so much as travel, no matter where," and the twentieth-century Japanese has put this excellent advice into practice. He has travelled far and wide, and has made good use of his varied observations. Japan's power of imitation amounts to genius. East and West have contributed to her greatness, and it is a matter of surprise to many of us that a country so long isolated and for so many years bound by feudalism should, within a comparatively short space of time, master our Western system of warfare, as well as many of our ethical and social ideas, and become a great world-power. But Japan's success has not been due entirely to clever imitation, neither has her place among the foremost nations been accomplished with such meteor-like rapidity as some would have us suppose.

We hear a good deal about the New Japan to-day, and are too prone to forget the significance of the Old upon which the present régime has been founded. Japan learnt from England, Germany and America all the tactics of modern warfare. She established an efficient army and navy on Western lines; but it must be remembered that Japan's great heroes of to-day, Togo and Oyama, still have in their veins something of the old samurai spirit, still reflect through their modernity something of the meaning of Bushido. The Japanese character is still Japanese and not Western. Her greatness is to be found in her patriotism, in her loyalty and whole-hearted love of her country. Shintōism has taught her to revere the mighty dead; Buddhism, besides adding to her religious ideals, has contributed to her literature and art, and Christianity has had its effect in introducing all manner of beneficent social reforms.

There are many conflicting theories in regard to the racial origin of the Japanese people, and we have no definite knowledge on the subject. The first inhabitants of Japan were probably the Ainu, an Aryan people who possibly came from North-Eastern Asia at a time when the distance separating the Islands from the mainland was not so great as it is to-day. The Ainu were followed by two distinct Mongol invasions, and these invaders had no difficulty in subduing their predecessors; but in course of time the Mongols were driven northward by Malays from the Philippines. "By the year A.D. 500 the Ainu, the Mongol, and the Malay elements in the population had become one nation by much the same process as took place in England after the Norman Conquest. To the national characteristics it may be inferred that the Ainu contributed the power of resistance, the Mongol the intellectual qualities, and the Malay that handiness and adaptability which are the heritage of sailor-men."[1] Such authorities as Baelz and Rein are of the opinion that the Japanese are Mongols, and although they have intermarried with the Ainu, "the two nations," writes Professor B. H. Chamberlain, "are as distinct as the whites and reds in North America." In spite of the fact that the Ainu is looked down upon in Japan, and regarded as a hairy aboriginal of interest to the anthropologist and the showman, a poor despised creature, who worships the bear as the emblem of strength and fierceness, he has, nevertheless, left his mark upon Japan. Fuji was possibly a corruption of Huchi, or Fuchi, the Ainu Goddess of Fire, and there is no doubt that these aborigines originated a vast number of geographical names, particularly in the north of the main island, that are recognisable to this day. We can also trace Ainu influence in regard to certain Japanese superstitions, such as the belief in the Kappa, or river monster.

The Chinese called Japan Jih-pén, "the place the sun comes from," because the archipelago was situated on the east of their own kingdom, and our word Japan and Nippon are corruptions of Jih-pén. Marco Polo called the country Zipangu, and one ancient name describes it as "The-Luxuriant-Reed-Plains-the-land-of-Fresh -Rice-Ears-of-a-Thousand-Autumns-of-Long-Five-Hundred-Autumns." We are not surprised to find that such a very lengthy and descriptive title is not used by the Japanese to-day; but it is of interest to know that the old word for Japan, Yamato, is still frequently employed, Yamato Damashii signifying "The Spirit of Unconquerable Japan." Then, again, we still hear Japan referred to as The Island of the Dragon-fly. We are told in the old Japanese Chronicles that the Emperor, in 630 B.C., ascended a hill called Waki Kamu no Hatsuma, from which he was able to view the land on all sides. He was much impressed by the beauty of the country, and said that it resembled "a dragon-fly licking its hinder parts," and the Island received the name of Akitsu-Shima ("Island of the Dragon-fly").

The Kojiki, or "Records of Ancient Matters," completed A.D. 712, deals with the early traditions of the Japanese race, commencing with the myths, the basis of Shintōism, and gradually becoming more historical until it terminates in A.D. 628. Dr. W. G. Aston writes in A History of Japanese Literature: "The Kojiki, however valuable it may be for research into the mythology, the manners, the language, and the legends of early Japan, is a very poor production, whether we consider it as literature or as a record of facts. As history it cannot be compared with the Nihongi,[2] a contemporary work in Chinese; while the language is a strange mixture of Chinese and Japanese, which there has been little attempt to endue with artistic quality. The circumstances under which it was composed are a partial explanation of the very curious style in which it is written. We are told that a man named Yasumaro, learned in Chinese, took it down from the lips of a certain Hiyeda no Are, who had such a wonderful memory that he 'could repeat with his mouth whatever was placed before his eyes, and record in his heart whatever struck his ears.'" It is possible that Hiyeda no Are was one of the Kataribe or "Reciters," whose duty it was to recite "ancient words" before the Mikado at the Court of Nara on certain State occasions.

The Kojiki and the Nihongi are the sources from which we learn the early myths and legends of Japan. In their pages we are introduced to Izanagi and Izanami, Ama-terasu, Susa-no-o, and numerous other divinities, and these august beings provide us with stories that are quaint, beautiful, quasi-humorous, and sometimes a little horrible. What could be more naïve than the love-making of Izanagi and Izanami, who conceived the idea of marrying each other after seeing the mating of two wagtails? In this ancient myth we trace the ascendency of the male over the female, an ascendency maintained in Japan until recent times, fostered, no doubt, by Kaibara's Onna Daigaku, "The Greater Learning for Women." But in the protracted quarrel between the Sun Goddess and her brother, the Impetuous Male, the old chroniclers lay emphasis upon the villainy of Susa-no-o; and Ama-terasu, a curious mingling of the divine and the feminine, is portrayed as an ideal type of Goddess. She is revealed preparing for warfare, making fortifications by stamping upon the ground, and she is also depicted peeping out of her rock-cavern and gazing in the Sacred Mirror. Ama-terasu is the central figure in Japanese mythology, for it is from the Sun Goddess that the Mikados are descended. In the cycle of legends known as the Period of the Gods, we are introduced to the Sacred Treasures, we discover the origin of the Japanese dance, and in imagination wander through the High Plain of Heaven, set foot upon the Floating Bridge, enter the Central Land of Reed-Plains, peep into the Land of Yomi, and follow Prince Fire-Fade into the Palace of the Sea King.

Early heroes and warriors are always regarded as minor divinities, and the very nature of Shintōism, associated with ancestor worship, has enriched those of Japan with many a fascinating legend. For strength, skill, endurance, and a happy knack of overcoming all manner of difficulties by a subtle form of quick-witted enterprise, the Japanese hero must necessarily take a high position among the famous warriors of other countries. There is something eminently chivalrous about the heroes of Japan that calls for special notice. The most valiant men are those who champion the cause of the weak or redress evil and tyranny of every kind, and we trace in the Japanese hero, who is very far from being a crude swashbuckler, these most excellent qualities. He is not always above criticism, and sometimes we find in him a touch of cunning, but such a characteristic is extremely rare, and very far from being a national trait. An innate love of poetry and the beautiful has had its refining influence upon the Japanese hero, with the result that his strength is combined with gentleness.

Benkei is one of the most lovable of Japanese heroes. He possessed the strength of many men, his tact amounted to genius, his sense of humour was strongly developed, and the most loving of Japanese mothers could not have shown more gentleness when his master's wife gave birth to a child. When Yoshitsune and Benkei, at the head of the Minamoto host, had finally vanquished the Taira at the sea-fight of Dan-no-ura, their success awakened the jealousy of the Shōgun, and the two great warriors were forced to fly the country. We follow them across the sea, over mountains, outwitting again and again their numerous enemies. At Matsue a great army was sent out against these unfortunate warriors. Camp-fires stretched in a glittering line about the last resting-place of Yoshitsune and Benkei. In an apartment were Yoshitsune with his wife and little child. Death stood in the room, too, and it was better that Death should come at the order of Yoshitsune than at the command of the enemy without the gate. His child was killed by an attendant, and, holding his beloved wife's head under his left arm, he plunged his sword deep into her throat. Having accomplished these things, Yoshitsune committed hara-kiri. Benkei, however, faced the enemy. He stood with his great legs apart, his back pressed against a rock. When the dawn came he was still standing with his legs apart, a thousand arrows in that brave body of his. Benkei was dead, but his was a death too strong to fall. The sun shone on a man who was a true hero, who had ever made good his words: "Where my lord goes, to victory or to death, I shall follow him."

Japan is a mountainous country, and in such countries we expect to find a race of hardy, brave men, and certainly the Land of the Rising Sun has given us many a warrior worthy to rank with the Knights of King Arthur. More than one legend deals with the destruction of devils and goblins, and of the rescue of maidens who had the misfortune to be their captives. One hero slays a great monster that crouched upon the roof of the Emperor's palace, another despatches the Goblin of Oyeyama, another thrusts his sword through a gigantic spider, and another slays a serpent. All the Japanese heroes, whatever enterprise they may be engaged in, reveal the spirit of high adventure, and that loyalty of purpose, that cool disregard for danger and death which are still characteristic of the Japanese people to-day.

"The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon-Maiden" (Chapter III) is adapted from a tenth-century story called Taketori Monogatari, and is the earliest example of the Japanese romance. The author is unknown, but he must have had an intimate knowledge of court life in Kyōto. All the characters in this very charming legend are Japanese, but most of the incidents have been borrowed from China, a country so rich in picturesque fairy-lore. Mr. F. V. Dickins writes concerning the Taketori Monogatari: "The art and grace of the story of the Lady Kaguya are native, its unstrained pathos, its natural sweetness, are its own, and in simple charm and purity of thought and language it has no rival in the fiction of either the Middle Kingdom or of the Dragon-fly Land."

In studying Japanese legend one is particularly struck by its universality and also by its very sharp contrasts. Most nations have deified the sun and moon, the stars and mountains, and all the greatest works of Nature; but the Japanese have described the red blossoms of azaleas as the fires of the Gods, and the white snow of Fuji as the garments of Divine Beings. Their legend, on the one hand at any rate, is essentially poetical, and those who worshipped Mount Fuji also had ghostly tales to tell about the smallest insect. Too much stress cannot be laid upon Japan's love of Nature. The early myths recorded in the Kojiki and Nihongi are of considerable interest, but they cannot be compared with the later legends that have given souls to trees and flowers and butterflies, or with those pious traditions that have revealed so tenderly and yet so forcibly the divine significance of Nature. The Festival of the Dead could only have originated among a people to whom the beautiful is the mainstay and joy of life, for that festival is nothing less than a call to the departed dead to return to their old earthly haunts in the summer-time, to cross green hills dotted with pine-trees, to wander down winding ways, by lake and seashore, to linger in old, well-loved gardens, and to pass into homes where, without being seen, they see so much. To the Japanese mind, to those who still preserve the spirit of Old Yamato, the most glowing account of a Buddhist Paradise is not so fair as Japan in the summer-time.

Perhaps it is as well that Japanese myth, legend, fairy tale, and folk-lore are not exclusively poetical, or we should be in danger of becoming satiated with too much sweetness. It may be that we admire the arches of a Gothic cathedral none the less for having gazed upon the hideous gargoyles on the outside of the sacred edifice, and in the legends of Japan we find many grotesques in sharp contrast with the traditions associated with the gentle and loving Jizō. There is plenty of crude realism in Japanese legend. We are repelled by the Thunder God's favourite repast, amazed by the magical power of foxes and cats; and the story of "Hōïchi-the-Earless" and of the corpse-eating priest afford striking examples of the combination of the weird and the horrible. In one story we laugh over the antics of a performing kettle, and in another we are almost moved to tears when we read about a little Japanese quilt that murmured: "Elder Brother probably is cold? Nay, thou probably art cold?"

We have had numerous volumes of Japanese fairy tales, but hitherto no book has appeared giving a comprehensive study of the myths and legends of a country so rich in quaint and beautiful traditions, and it is hoped that the present volume, the result of much pleasant labour, will be a real contribution to the subject. I have made no attempt to make a complete collection of Japanese myths and legends because their number is legion; but I have endeavoured to make a judicious selection that shall at any rate be representative, and many of the stories contained in this volume will be new to the general reader.

Lafcadio Hearn wrote in one of his letters: "The fairy world seized my soul again, very softly and sweetly—as a child might a butterfly," and if we too would adopt a similar spirit, we shall journey to the Land of the Gods, where the great Kōbō Daishi will write upon the sky and running water, upon our very hearts, something of the glamour and magic of Old Japan. With Kōbō Daishi for guide we shall witness the coming of Mount Fuji, wander in the Palace of the Sea King and in the Land of Perpetual Youth, watch the combats of mighty heroes, listen to the wisdom of saints, cross the Celestial River on a bridge of birds, and when we are weary nestle in the long sleeve of the ever-smiling Jizō.

F. HADLAND DAVIS

Footnotes

[1]The Full Recognition of Japan, by Robert P. Porter.

[2]Chronicles of Japan, completed A.D. 720, deals, in an interesting manner, with the myths, legends, poetry and history from the earliest times down to A.D. 697.

Chapter I: The Period Of The Gods

In the Beginning

We are told that in the very beginning "Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and Yo not yet divided." This reminds us of other cosmogony stories. The In and Yo, corresponding to the Chinese Yang and Yin, were the male and female principles. It was more convenient for the old Japanese writers to imagine the coming into being of creation in terms not very remote from their own manner of birth. In Polynesian mythology we find pretty much the same conception, where Rangi and Papa represented Heaven and Earth, and further parallels may be found in Egyptian and other cosmogony stories. In nearly all we find the male and female principles taking a prominent, and after all very rational, place. We are told in the Nihongi that these male and female principles "formed a chaotic mass like an egg which was of obscurely defined limits and contained germs." Eventually this egg was quickened into life, and the purer and clearer part was drawn out and formed Heaven, while the heavier element settled down and became Earth, which was "compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water." A mysterious form resembling a reed-shoot suddenly appeared between Heaven and Earth, and as suddenly became transformed into a God called Kuni-toko-tachi, ("Land-eternal-stand-of-august-thing"). We may pass over the other divine births until we come to the important deities known as Izanagi and Izanami ("Male-who-invites" and "Female-who-invites"). About these beings has been woven an entrancing myth.

Izanagi and Izanami

Izanagi and Izanami stood on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and looked down into the abyss. They inquired of each other if there were a country far, far below the great Floating Bridge. They were determined to find out. In order to do so they thrust down a jewel-spear, and found the ocean. Raising the spear a little, water dripped from it, coagulated, and became the island of Onogoro-jima ("Spontaneously-congeal-island").

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollst?ndigen Ausgabe!