We can't know where we're going without knowing where we've been. Similarly, we cannot study another culture without studying what shaped it in the first place. Cultures are built on myths and stories that explain how things came to be and why the culture functions like it does. Many myths give explanations about the belief systems of a culture and you can even find stories that give explanations about the land that a culture exists in. For instance, in the Philippines there is a myth that explains the creation of Mount Mayon, or, in Ancient Greece, there was a myth that told of the creation of the Greek gods. Myths shape a culture and can even carry over into the modern day with some fairly relevant context. To fully understand a culture, it is important to see where it came from and to study what was passed down as history for years.
All that being said, I think it would be very interesting to take a look at and unpack several myths from Japan. Some of them have carried over to modern time and, as a whole, they can give a clearer picture of the culture. So let's unpack these one at a time, and let's start with a simple yet interesting story.
The Legend of Princess Kaguya
Once upon a time in ancient Japan, when the people were wise and Mount Fuji was white as fresh fallen snow, there lived a poor bamboo cutter and his wife. They lived at the edge of the forest and, even though they had lived long lives, they had no child to care for them in their old age. But, despite this, the bamboo cutter lived a happy life. Everyday the old man would take up his axe and walk deep into the forest to find the lushest bamboo stalks and his wife would clean their humble home to make it cozy.
On one particular day, the bamboo cutter once again ventured into the woods for a day's work. With one swing of his axe, a bamboo stalk would come crashing to the ground. The old man worked quickly and was soon deeply focused on his task. After hours of work, the bamboo cutter chopped his axe into a seemingly normal stalk of bamboo, but it was far from it. After the majority of it fell to the ground, the leftover stump began to glow with a strange light, glorious and dazzling to behold. The stump split its sides and unfurled like a newly grown flower. The old man cautiously approached the open stump and looked inside only to see two shiny eyes peeping back at him.
Startled but not altogether terrified, the old man looked closer. The sparkling eyes belonged to a little girl no bigger than the man's hand. She sat there looking at the old man with the most innocent face he had ever seen, and without a moment's hesitation the bamboo cutter held out his hand towards the little child. Picking up her voluminous kimono and flowing black hair, the little girl leaped from the bamboo stump into the man's hand where she landed as light as a feather.
The old bamboo cutter took the little girl home and presented her to his wife, who became instantly infatuated with her. They decided to keep her as their own and raise her as a daughter; they were determined to give her the best life possible and they gave her the name Kaguya. From that day forward the bamboo cutter and his wife were far happier than they had ever been in the past; they finally had an adoring young daughter to care for and to love and someone to care for them in the years to come. In addition, they were no longer poor, for now every time that the bamboo cutter went into the forest and set about his work, a gold nugget fell from each bamboo stalk that he cut. Using their newfound wealth, the old man and his wife built a fine home for Kaguya and gave her all the splendor of a princess.
The years rolled by, the bamboo grew tall, the birds sang of beauty and love, and Princess Kaguya grew into a fine young woman. She was the picture of flawless beauty, with skin white as a moonbeam and hair black as the evening. Far and wide her beauty was renowned, and eager young men traveled from the ends of the earth to seek the fair princess' hand in marriage. But the princess had no interest in any of the young men that came to call; without even meeting the men she would send them away or send them on quests that they never returned from. One such suitor was the emperor of Japan himself; he too sought to woo the elusive young beauty but he was also turned way. But upon seeing how sad the young king was, Princess Kaguya pitied him and they became close friends.
When her mother asked the princess why she continually turned away handsome rich suitors, Kaguya revealed her true origin.
Princess Kaguya was the true princess of the moon, sent down to earth for unknown reasons. She was fated to live on earth until an appointed time, a time that was quickly approaching. With in the next full moon, Princess Kaguya would return to her home and rule there with no memory of her life on earth; this included her adoptive parents and her friendship with the emperor.
Upon hearing this news, the poor emperor was grief-stricken and was determined to keep Kaguya safe from the "moon people" any way he could. He set guards around her home and vowed that she would remain on earth.
But all his efforts were in vain, for when the "moon people" came down to fetch their princess, they temporarily blinded all the emperor's men and landed in the house without ever touching the ground. Princess Kaguya, though saddened by her imminent departure left a small gift for her friend the emperor, the elixir of youth in a bottle. She then drew around herself a cape of feathers that made her forget all her love for humans and their world and was then swept away back to the moon.
The emperor could not be comforted and upon finding Kaguya's gift he ordered that it be burned on the top of the highest mountain since life without Kaguya was meaningless to him. The bottle of elixir was taken to the top of a snow-piqued mountain and burned, and from then on the mountain was called Fuji after the burning that happened upon it.That was a really long story. Not all of them with be that long. But I just think that it is so interesting how traces of this myth can still be seen today and that Japan's most recognizable landmark is tied to Princess Kaguya of the moon. This story is still popular in modern media; a movie based on the myth was recently made by Studio Ghibli, the same animation company that made Spirited Away.
Photo Credit: SlashFlim
Princess Kaguya Movie
Sources Cited: Overly Sarcastic Productions
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