Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy-Tales B

Reading Notes B

For part B of the Japanese Fairy-Tales unit I found the most interesting story to be the story of Uraschimataro and the Turtle. In this story a talented young fisherman catches a sea turtle and after it begs for release he kindly places the turtle back in the sea. Years later, the fisherman was caught in the storm and almost dies when his boat is sunk but the turtle he once saved saves him. Instead of taking him home the turtle takes him to an underwater kingdom where he meets with a sea princess and stays with her for years without aging. When he decides to visit his parents he finds them dead as 300 years have passed and the years quickly catch up with him and he dies too. If I were to rewrite this story I may make the princess a mermaid since this story vaguely reminds me of The Little Mermaid. Also, I might go into more detail on where the young man originally lived and the changes that had occurred after 300 years. Maybe there would be cars or machines that he does not recognize and this could make him run back to the sea.

(Sea Turtle, photo credit to Carey de Concha at Wikipedia commons)

The other story I would consider rewriting is the story of Schippeitaro. In this story a young man is trying to prove that he is brave when he learns about a young woman doomed to be sacrificed to the cat demon of the mountain. When he hears of this he asks a prince to borrow his dog, Schippeitaro, and the dog kills the cat demon. If I were to rewrite the story I may make the dog the boys dog so that he gets to keep him in the end. Also, I may do a gender swap and try to make a young woman try to prove her bravery instead of a young man.

Bibliography

The Crimson Fairy Book, Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1903.