“The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale”
34. Nukabuku, Komebuku
[Awabuku, Komebuku]
Once upon a time there were two sisters in a certain place. The older, Komebukuro, was the stepchild and the younger, Awabukuro, was the real daughter. The mother hated the older girl and constantly abused her. One day they were going to gather chestnuts with the village girls. The mother gave the older girl a bag with a rotten bottom and gave the younger daughter a new bag. Komebukuro did not fill her sack even by nightfall, so the rest left her and went home. She went down to a stream to drink because she was hungry. Then her real mother appeared as a white bird and gave her a silk dress to wear when she needed it, a hollyhock flute, and a new sack. The girl filled the sack with chestnuts and went home.
When the festival day came, the mother dressed her child in a beautiful dress to go, but she told the older girl she would have to spin three skeins of linen before she could go. Friends helped the older girl finish her task. She put on the dress the white bird had given her and played the flute as she went to the shrine. The mother and her child were watching the doll dance there. Komebukuro tossed the manju wrappings and bamboo bark at her sister and hit her cheek. The girl recognized her, but the mother would not believe the older sister had come because she had so much work to do.
The older girl went home first, hurriedly changed into her old clothes and waited for her mother and sister to return. The next day somebody from the neighboring village came to ask for the older girl as his bride, but the mother tried to persuade him to take her child. The girls got fixed up to be compared, but, of course, the older was lovelier and was chosen. The younger girl said she wanted to ride a splendid sedan chair and go off as a bride, too. Her mother dressed her up and set her on a hand cart and pulled it along, calling, “Anyone want a bride?” Her girl fell off the cart into a rice paddy and turned into a mudsnail, and the mother fell into the sluice and turned into a sluice clam.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 72, “The girl who became a mudsnail” (Tsubu ni natta aneko no hanashi). Example; Tsugaru k 21, 23. No titles; Nihon shū, jō 122, “Komebukuro, Awabukuro.”
Hachinohe: MK II 4 44, “Nukabukuro, Awabukuro.” Four stories.
Iwate: Kunohe 492, “Komeko, Nukako.”
Waga-gun: MK I 4 33, “Nukafuku, Akezara.” Tasks include gathering acorns, gathering invisible shellfish, breaking a branch with a sparrow on it, etc. Akezara turns into a mudsnail at the end.
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa-shu 23 “Nukabuku, Komebuku”; Shiwa 140, “Nukabukuro, Akezara.”
Isawa-gun: Kogane 70, “How the yamababa saved the girl” (Yamababa ga musume o sukuta hanashi).
Hienuki-gun: MK I 6 33, “Nukabukuro, Benizara.”
Kamihei-gun: Tōno 103 No. 118. No title.
Iwate-gun: Dai-ichi 31, “Komebuku, Awabuku.”
Akita, Kazuno-gun: Dai-ichi 40, “Komebuki, Awabuki.”
Fukushima, Futaba-gun: MK II 4 38, “Nukabukuro, Benizara.”
Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 27, 188, “The child by a former marriage and the stepchild” (Tsurego to mamako).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 66, 144, Notes 23 and 44. There are not two sisters in the latter. Its boundaries are clear.
Nagano: Shimominochi 196, “Nukaboko, Komeboko.”
Minamiazumi-gun: Dai-ichi 51, “Nuka, Kome.”
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 149, “Snow Maid and Crow Maid” (Yukimusume, Karasumusume).
Kazusa (Chiba): Minzokugaku IV 3 30, “The Kazusa Cinderella” (Kazusa no Shinderera no monogatari). The names are Kushime and Tokume.
Ibaraki, Inashiki-gun: Kōshō 8 8, “Awabukuro, Komebukuro.”
Shizuoka, Ogasa-gun: Shizuoka 406, “The stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Ibara-gun: Shizuoka 398, “The stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Shiga, Takashima-gun: MK I 10 47, “The stepchild and the real child” (Mamako to honko no hanashi). Two stories.
Nara, Soekami-gun: Yamato 298, “The selfheal flower” (Utsubogusa no hana). It tells the reason for the flower’s shape.
Hyōgo, Mikata-gun: MK II 7 38, “When the stepchild gathered chestnuts” (Mamako no kuri hiroi).
Tottori, Yazu-gun: MK I 10 35, “Nukabuku, Akezara.”
Okayama: Okayama bun II 2 60, “About the stepchild” (Mamako no hanashi).
Yamaguchi: Suō Ōshima 18, “Komebuku, Awabuku.”
Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: MK II 10 42, “Ofu and Hagesen” (Ofu to Hagesen).
Ikinoshima: Dai-ichi 82, “Chiyogoko.”
Kagoshima: MK I 6 29, “Abusing the stepchild” No. 2 (Mamako ijime).
Further reference:
Nihon mukashibanashi shū, ge 60, “Bajji and Konguji.” Helped by a Korean bird.
Huet 141.
Tabi to densetsu IV 6 8. An application of Freud.
35. Benizara, Kakezara
See previous entry, “Komebuku, Nukabuku.”
Iwate, Hienuki-gun: MK I 6 33, “Nukabukuro, Benizara.” These are the names of the two sisters.
Tokyo, Kitatama-gun: MK II 1 47, “Benizara, Kakezara.”
Shizuoka, Hamamatsu: Shizuoka 411, “Benizara, Kakezara.”
Ogasa-gun: Shizuoka 404, “The stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Wakayama: Kii 8 [missing page in the book].
Further reference:
Nihon mukashibanashi shū, ge 60.
Minakata zuihitsu 60-80.
Yūyō zasso zoku shū.
Nihon dōwa shū 134. The girl wearing a bowl.
Yearsley 213. A Magarashii tale.
36. Sara-Sara Yama
Once upon a time there were two sisters, the older a child by a former wife. The mother sent them to fetch water while their father was away. She gave the younger girl a good dipper so she could dip water quickly, but the older girl’s dipper was broken and she could not get any water. A feudal lord’s procession passed by and the feudal lord took a fancy to the older girl. He wanted to take her with him to his castle. The girl requested that he ask her mother, so one of his men went to the mother’s house. The mother said the younger one was nicer and begged them to take her instead. The man returned to the feudal lord with this message. The feudal lord decided to compare their intelligence to choose. He told the woman to prepare a tray with some salt, a dish, and a sprig of pine. She was to put the dish on the tray, the salt on the dish, and the pine on the salt. Then the two girls were to compose a poem about it. He would chose the one who did the best. The younger girl said:
On the tray is a dish; on the dish is salt; on the salt is some pine.
The older girl thought for some time and then said:
Oh, tray and dish, some snow has covered your mountain to nourish the roots of the pine!
With that, the older girl was placed into a sedan chair and carried back to the castle. The angry mother put her child into the lower part of a mortar and rolled it around until her eyes popped out and she turned into a mudsnail.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 105, “The girl who composed poems” (Uta yomi ane sa no hanashi).
Nagano: Chiisagata 227, “Oh, bowl” (Banzara ya).
Kitasaku-gun: MK I 12 34, “The girl and the mudsnail” (Musume to tanishi). Example.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: MK I 1 26, 2 27, “Sara-sara Yama.” Two stories with the same title.
Sado: Dai-ichi 50, “Sara-sara Yama”; Sadogashima 14, 15, “Sara-sara Yama.” Two stories with the same title. There is considerable design in the plot of the second. The girls were called Ohira and Otsubu. The tale is like the work of a professional.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 5 21, “Sara-sara Yama.”
Hyōgo, Mikata-gun: MK II 7 37, “The stepchild” (Mamako no hanashi).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 4, “Sara-sara Yama.”
Fukuoka, Onga-gun: Fukuoka 48, “The stepmother” (Mamahaha no hanashi).
Ōita, Hayami-gun, Kitsuki-machi: MK I 12 39, “Sara-sara Yama.”
Kumamoto, Aso-gun: MK I 6 31, “Sara-sara Yama.”
Tamana-gun: MK I 5 32, “Oh, tray and dish; oh, tray and dish” (Bonsara ya, bonsara ya).
Hōtaku-gun: MK II 6 22, “Tray and dish” (Bonsara).
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 113, “The mountain on the dish” (Sara sa no yama); Dai-ichi 83 “Sara-sara Yama.”
Kagoshima: Koshiki 91, “Sara-sara Yama.” No. 1.
Further reference:
Nihon dōwa shū 155.
Mukashibanashi kenkyū I 2 17. Poems in “Sara-sara Yama” in various regions.
37. The Old Woman Skin
The young wife of a certain wealthy man died and left an only daughter. The man married again and had many children by his next wife, but that woman hated the girl of the former wife. She told the nurse to get rid of her. The nurse gave the girl something called an old woman skin and told her to put it on when she was in danger. The girl put the old woman skin on and left home looking like an old woman. She wandered around here and there and finally became the water-carrier at the home of a gentleman. She always wore the skin except when she took a bath. The young master happened to see her once when the skin was off, and he suddenly became ill. The worried father asked a fortune teller to make a divination. The fortune teller said that there was somebody in the household that the young master liked. If he could meet her, he would recover. The master had each of the women, one after the other, take medicine to the young man, but he did not like any of them. At last it was the turn of the old woman who carried water. She said there was no point in going and tried to get out of it, but she was persuaded to go. When she arrived at the young man’s room, he immediately saw through her disguise. She took off the old woman skin and turned into a beautiful girl. She was taken as his bride, and they lived happy together.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 3 24, “The girl who went as a bride to the snake’s house” (Hebi no toko sa yome ni itta mukashi).
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 168, “The snake’s bride” No.1 (Hebi no yomego).
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 60, “The old woman skin” (Uba kawa). It is a part of a story about the snake son-in-law.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 209. Only a trace is present.
Fukushima: Iwaki 20, 111 “The old woman skin” (Baba kawa).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 117, “The old woman skin” (Babakkawa). Example; Kamuhara 178, “The frog skin” (Fuku no kawa). This is follows the snake son-in-law story.
Sado: Sado shū 220, “The frog’s gratitude” (Kaeru no ongaeshi); Dai-ni 48, “The frog’s bag” (Kaeru no danbukuro).
Ishikawa: Kaga 1, “The three sisters” (Sannin shimai). It is at the end of the monkey bridegroom story.
Nagano: Chiisagata 116, “The old woman skin” (Ubagara).
Kai (Yamanashi): Nihon zenkoku 66, “The house of the yamauba” (Yamauba no ie).
Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 204, “The frog mask” (Gäru men). She receives a frog mask on her way to become the snake’s bride.
Shizuoka, Ibara-gun: Shizuoka 424, “The snake’s marriage” (Hebi no konin banashi). A frog saved from being swallowed by a snake repays his debt of gratitude. He appeared in the disguise of an old woman and gave the girl a dirty towel.
Okayama: Mitsu 87, “The girl with the frog’s hood” (Kaeru no zukin musume).
Ōita, Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 37, “Gakkai Chōja.”
Bungo (Ōita): Minzokugaku V 10 86, “Ashi Chōja” (Asahi Chōja no hanashi). Here it is a cat skin.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 6 24, “The gratitude of the fox” (Kitsune no ongaeshi). The story of how a fox skin, a kind of invisible cloak, is given as thanks by a fox.
Further reference:
Nihon dōwa hyōgoku shū, ge 188.
Yearsley 101.
Kakisute 325.
Aira chihō no kenkyū II 352. From the Suwa Shrine in Kamii-mura, Kagoshima.
38. The Girl Who Tended Fires
This belongs to “The old woman skin” group.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 152, “A outline of the Deer Maid” (Shika musume no kōgai).
Ishikawa: Kaga 124, “The girl wrapped in tanned paper” (Shibugami ni tsutsumareta musume). This is added to a monkey bridegroom tale.
Shizuoka, Hamamatsu: Shizuoka 415, “Osan, Otomi, and Oichi” (Osan, Otomi, Oichi no hanashi). There were three girls. Otomi was the stepchild, and Osan and Oichi were the mother’s real children. While Otomi was digging in a large rice field, she got tired and thought of her dead mother. Kannon appeared, looking like her mother, and told her to dig around the roots of the pine tree. She found good things to eat when she dug. She enjoyed them while her sisters slept. Oichi had one eye, so she could not see, but Osan had three eyes and slept with one of them open, so she saw what happened. She told her mother. The angry woman struck Otomi with a hoe and the handle broke in half. Otomi had a revelation from a god telling her that if she planted the pieces in the garden, a gold tree would grow. The feudal lord heard of this and came to take Otomi as his bride.
This is a very different version or perhaps an old form.
39. Haibōtarō
This is about a boy, but it resembles “The girl who tended fires.” See entry for that story.
Once upon a time there was a man named Sanpachi who was the bath heater at the home of a warrior. Sanpachi was really a samurai, but circumstances made him become a bath heater.
One day the whole family set out to see the noh drama, leaving instructions for Sanpachi to have the bath heated by the time they returned in the evening. After they left, he heated the bath and got into it himself, dressed as a splendid samurai and went to the noh himself. There he joined in the festivities and performed a dance. He did so well that his master and everybody admired his dance. Sanpachi hurried home before the rest and dressed once more as the bath heater. He had the bath ready for the rest by the time they returned. When they got back, everybody was talking about how fine the unknown samurai’s dance was. The daughter of the family became ill the next day and refused to eat. Although a doctor was called, he could not cure her. A fortune teller was asked the cause of her illness. He said if a certain person there would bring her food she would eat, and if that person cared for her, she would recover. Everyone tried in turn until only Sanpachi, the bath heater was left. When he took food to her, she ate well, and she recovered as he cared for her.
Iwate: Esashi 46, “The girls who became rats” (Nezumi ni natta musume no hanashi).
Kamihei-gun: Rōō 223, “Kannojō, the flute player” (Fuefuki Kannojō). The composition can be considered a katarimono. Kikimimi 164, “The poem written on a fan” (Ōgi no uta).
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 60, “The old woman skin” (Uba kawa). This version is about a girl. Refer to “The old woman skin.”
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: MK I 3 32, “Sarujirō.”
Sado: Sadogashima 56, “Itonaga of Harima” (Harima no Itonaga). Quite a bit of embellishment has been added to this tale. It is evidently the work of a zatō.
Ishikawa: Kaga 34, “Haibo, the flute player” (Fuefuki Haibo). The beginning of the story is unusual.
Nagano, Kamiina-gun: Mukashibanashi 149, “Nonoya’s daughter” (Nonoya no musume).
Okayama, Okayama City suburbs: Dai-ni 81, “One mountain in nine” (Kokonotsu yama no hitotsu yama); Mitsu 68, “One mountain in nine” (Kokonotsu yama no hitotsu yama). The above item. Refer to the section about the tasks of the son-in-law.
Hiroshima, Hiba-gun: Geibi 34, “The girl without hands” No. 3 (Tenashi musume). The principal character is Gonsuke and the story is changed considerably.
Tokushima, Miyoshi-gun: MK II 11 47, “Haibōtarō.”
Fukuoka, Miyako-gun: Fukuoka 42, “The stepchild” (Mamako monogatari). It is not clear whether the principal character is a boy or a girl, but it seems like a girl.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 79, “The snake’s bride” No. 2 (Hebi yomeiri) and “The demon who carried off a child” (Kosari oni); (Old) Iki 94, “Sanpachi, the bath heater” (Furotaki Sanpachi). Example.
Kagoshima: Kikai 45, 47, 48. The first two are “Haibōtarō” and the last is “The son-in-law’s tasks” No. 1.
Okierabujima: Okinoerabu 15, “The cat’s face” (Neko no tsura). Refer to “Haibōtarō” and “The older sister a demon” on pages 155 and 219 of the same book.
Further reference:
Tōō ibun 67.
Refer to “The old woman skin,” “Gakkai Chōja,” and “The snake son-in-law” of Kitaamabe-gun, Ōita.
Eiji who built fires for Koshiba Chōja.
Nihon densetsu shū 189. Haibōtarō was the name of the dog used in destroying the monkey gods. The story is about the origin of Gikenzuka at Kōzenji in Akaho-mura, Kamiina-gun, Shinshū (Nagano).
40. When the Child Gathered Acorns
A stepmother gave her stepchild a sack with a torn bottom and her own child a good sack and sent them to gather chestnuts. Her child filled hers quickly and went home, but the stepchild could not fill hers. She began to cry as night came on, but she saw a light in the distance. She found an old woman spinning alone in a house. That was a demon’s house, but the girl got the old woman to let her stay. The old woman was afraid the demon would eat the girl, so she gave her a magic cloak and hat to make her invisible and hid her in a corner of the yard. When the demon came home, he said it smelled of a human, but he could not find the girl. The girl ran away while the old woman put the demon to bed. The feudal lord praised the girl because she had a magic cloak and hat, and he gave her a reward.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: MK I 11 27, “Miyoko and Yaeko” (Miyoko to Yaeko).
Fukushima: Iwaki 21, 111, “When the stepchild gathered chestnuts” (Mamako no kuri hiroi).
Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 28, “The stepchild” (Mamako banashi).
Nagano, Kamiina-gun: Minzokugaku I 4 276, “The real child and the stepchild” (Honko to mamako); Mukashibanashi 51, “The stepchild and the true child” (Mamako to honko). Example. Does not have the episode in which the girl becomes the wife of a chōja.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 14, “Awabuki, Komebuki.” It is the last part of the story “Awabuki, Komebuki.”
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 5 21, “The three charms” (San mai no ofuda). Two stories seem to have been carelessly combined.
Gunjō-gun: MK II 6 25, “When the stepchild gathered chestnuts” (Mamako no kurihiroi).
Shizuoka, Kamo-gun: Shizuoka 392, 394, “The stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi). The first story is like “Jizo Jodo.” It resembles the Kai version.
Abe-gun, Osada-mura: Shizuoka 400, “The stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi). Proceeds to the point when the real daughter follows the stepdaughter, picking up the chestnuts that fall out of the bottomless bag.
Suchi-gun, Shironishi-mura: Shizuoka 409, “The stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi). One was given a parched flour lunch and the other a pear lunch.
Osaka, Nakakawachi-gun: MK I 10 47, “The stepchild and the real child” (Mamako to honko no hanashi). Two stories.
Wakayama, Nishimuro-gun, Tanabe: Kyōdo ken III 3 47, “Joriki jōmon.” Words in a child’s game.
Arita-gun: Kii.
Ito-gun: MK I 12 21, “When the stepchild gathered acorns” (Mamako no shii hiroi); Kōshō 10 21, “Masako and Kiyoko” (Masako to Kiyoko).
Hyōgo, Mikata-gun: MK II 7 38, “When the stepchild gathered chestnuts” (Mamako no kuri hiroi). Two sisters went to gather chestnuts, but when night came, the stepchild stayed at a Jizō shrine. She received some beans and went home. When the younger sister tried to imitate her, she was eaten by demons. The younger girl shows some sympathy in the first part but not in the last.
Hiroshima City: Aki 49, “Otsuru, Okame”.
Tokushima, Myōsai-gun: MK I 3 35, 36, “Gathering acorns” (Shii hiroi) and “The demon” (Oni). The first is somewhat modified as a child’s story, but it is likely that this type of variant once existed. The second resembles “The ox-leader and the yamauba.”
Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 116, 131, “When the stepchild gathered acorns” (Mamako no kashi no mi hiroi) and “When the stepchild gathered chestnuts” (Mamako no kuri hiroi).
Fukuoka, Itoshima-gun: Fukuoka 52, “When the stepchild gathered acorns” (Mamako no shii hiroi). It goes like “Jizō Jōdo.” This could be an early form.
Ōita, Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 35, “When the stepchild gathered acorns” (Mamako no shii hiroi).
Hayami-gun: MK I 12 43, “When the stepchild gathered acorns” (Mamako no shii hiroi).
Kumamoto, Tamana-gun: MK I 5 33, “The bottomless bag” (Sokonashi bukuro).
Saga, Kanzaki-gun: Tabi kyō 1.*
Saga-gun: MK II 7 35, “The torn bag” (Hage bukuro). The story is about an old man and an old woman gathering acorns. Either this story was originally like “Monkey Jizō,” with the point about laughing or not laughing, or the stepchild theme has been forgotten.
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 61, “When the stepchild gathered acorns” (Mamako no shii hiroi).
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 5 39, “The deity and the riceball” (Kami sama to o-musubi). This about gathering firewood. The older girl went to the hills to gather wood and received a demon’s treasure. The younger tried to imitate her but failed.
Further reference:
Shizuoka-ken densetsu mukashibanashi shū 399, “Dipping water with a basket” (Mekago de mizu kumu hahashi). This episode is found in “The girl who built fires” and “The stepchild and the flute.” The relationship between these two stories can be seen here.
41. The Bottomless Bag
This belongs to the group about the stepchild gathering acorns. See entry for that story.
Saga, Saga-gun: MK II 7 35, “The torn bag” (Hōge bukuro).
Kumamoto, Tamana-gun: MK I 5 33, “The bottomless bag” (Sokonashi bukuro).
Kagoshima: MK I 6 29, “Abusing the stepchild” (Mamako ijime).
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi kenkyū I 10 12, Seki Keigo discusses this group in “Mamako no shii hiroi.”
42. Otsuki, Ohoshi
[or Ogin, Kogin]
This title has probably been used either because the story is like the Korean story in which the two climb to the Sky, or because it shows the connection with the escape to the Sky in “O Sun, the chain.”
It should be considered different from the Nukabuku story because of how the younger girl protects her stepsister. Besides, it is a well told story.
Once upon a time there were two girls called Orinko and Korinko in a certain family. Orinko was a child by an earlier marriage. The stepmother hated Orinko so much that when her father was away in Kyoto, she had a box made and ordered Orinko to be buried alive in the forest. The younger girl heard about that and secretly had holes made in the bottom of the box. She gave Orinko poppy seeds.
Orinko dropped the seeds a few at a time while she was being carried away in the box and buried. After there had been enough time for the poppies to sprout, Korinko followed their course into the forest, calling to her sister. She dug her sister out with the help of an old man who came along, and the two children were allowed to stay with him.
When the father finally came home, he was so grieved over the fact that both girls were gone that he lost his sight. He looked like a blind pilgrim as he wandered around, singing and searching for his daughters.
He came across them unexpectedly at a certain village. His eyes opened when Orinko called him with a voice full of yearning. The three went home together and lived a happy life.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 4 46, “Ogin, Kogin.” Here they are called Kariko and Uriko. Tsugaru m 47, 50, “Yurikohimeko” and “Chahinko and Chachirinko”; Tsugaru k 17. No title.
Iwate, Morioka: Susō I 130, “Chasenko, Chawanko.”
Waga-gun: MK I 3 24, “Otsuki, Ohoshi.”
Hienuki-gun: MK I 4 30, “Otsuki, Ohoshi”; MK I 8 44, “Otsuki, Ohoshi”; Kōshō 10 12, “Aranko, Ranko.”
Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 395, “Otsuki, Ohoshi”; Rōō 139, “The later story of Ashiko and Kayako” (Ashiko to Kayako no kodan); Rōō 149, “A stepchild called Chawanko” (Mamamusume Chawanko). No younger sister. She must build a fire below the kitchen hearth and dip water with a bamboo basket. An old woman came and showed her how, which makes this close to “The girl who build fires.”
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa 150, 201, “Otsuki, Ohoshi” and “The pitiful sisters” (Aware no shimai); Shiwa-shū 68, “Okichi, Otama.”
Isawa-gun, Mizuswa-machi: Kikimimi 400. A note; Isawa*; Kogane 75, “Otsuki, Ohoshi.”
Akita, Kazuno-gun: MK I 2 46, “Aranko, Koranko.”
Hiraga-gun: MK II 8 30, “Orinko, Korinko”. Example.
Miyagi, Shita-gun: MK I 12 21, “Otsuki, Ohoshi.”
Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 2 124, “Otsuki, Ohoshi.”
Fukushima: Iwaki 23, 26, 113, “Otsuki, Ohoshi” and “Ogin, Kogin.”
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 79, 191, 183, “Osugi, Otama” Nos. 1 and 2. The second is close to “Nukabuku” which shows their relationship. The third is a note.
Fukui, OnyG-gun: Kōshō 8 8, “Ogin, Kogin.”
Echizen (Fukui): Nihon zenkoku 174, “Ogin, Kogin.”
Ishikawa: Kaga 29, “Orin, Korin.”
Nagano: Shimominochi 197, “Ryūwakamaru and Sayohime” (Ryūwakamaru to Sayohime). It is composed like a romance. The younger sister’s wisdom saves her brother.
Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 247 “Faith in Kannon” (Kannon shinkō). About a brother and a sister. The brother was suspended from a tree but saved by forming a dog ladder.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 59, 214, “Fukuhara Chōja” and “The stepchild boiled in a kettle” (Mamako no kama yude). The first is like a katarimono.
Shizuoka, Abe-gun: Shizuoka 397, 400, 402, “Stepmother and stepchild stories” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 8 18, 19, “Ogin, Kogin” Nos. 1 and 2. They are two brief stories with only the part about being abandoned in the mountains.
Hiroshima, Hiba-gun: Geibi 30, “The girl without hands” No.1 (Tenashi musume). The girl’s name is Ogin, but the plot of story is that of “The girl without hands.”
Takata-gun: Aki 47 “Otsuruji, Otaraji.”
Hiroshima City: Aki 49 “Otsuru, Okame.”
Fukuoka, Kurate-gun: Fukuoka 81, “The stepmother” (Mamahaha). The older girl was called Haru and the younger, Aki.
43. The River That Rose Each Day
This is a story about stepchild abuse that belongs in the group with “Nukabuku, Komebuku,” “Otsuki, Ohoshi,” and others. Refer to them.
Could such a title belong to stories about abusing stepchildren?
Nagano: Chiisagata 225, “The river that rose each day” (Himasari gawa). Example. When the stepdaughter was abandoned in the river, the younger sister came every day with food for her and asked how far the river had reached. At last, the older girl was weakened in the water and died.
Further reference:
There is an old tale in Bulgaria called “How far has the river come.”
44. When the Stepchild Dug a Well
One of the stories about abusing a stepchild.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima I 5 75, “The hole at the side” (Yokoana). A stepchild who was put into a well was instructed by an old man in the neighborhood to put a piece of money into each bucket of dirt that was pulled up. The child dug a hole in the side in the meantime and escaped danger.
45. A Thousand Bundles of Thatch
Iwate, Kesen-gun: Tōō 145, “A thousand bundles of thatch” (Senba kaya no hanashi).
46. The Stepchild Flower
Nara: Yamato 298, “The selfheal flower” (Utsubogusa no hana).
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 99, “The stepchild flower” (Mamakobana). A legend about selfheal.
47. The Stepmother Ghost
The “Otsuki, Ohoshi” story as changed into an anecdote.
Shizuoka, Suchi-gun: Shizuoka 408. No title. An inquiry was made about a child who always dozed at school. It was found that the stepmother disguised herself as a ghost to abuse him.
48. The Stepchild and the Flute
After Osono’s mother died, a stepmother came bringing a child of her own. While Osono’s father was away in Kyoto, her stepmother made Osono fill a kettle of water with a bamboo basket and build a fire under it to heat it. When the water was boiling, the stepmother put a pole over the kettle and told Osono to cross it if she wanted to see her father. The stepmother shook the stick when Osono was midway across and dropped her into the boiling water. The father asked about the girl when he reached home, but his wife said she did not know about her. When he went out into the yard, a nightingale flew out of where the child was buried and sang, “I dipped the water a thousand times with the basket and at last I was boiled in the water and turned into this form.” The mother was frightened and tried to chase the bird away with a broom, but it continued to sing. The father found Osono’s bones in the yard. The stepmother was taken by the authoriies.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 16, 22, 48, “How the flea, the mosquito, and the louse were made” (Nomi to ka to shirami ga dekita hanashi). The same title on 19; “Senko, Manko” and “Sodome and the flint” (Sodome to kadoishi). The Sodome story is valuable because it falls between “Ogin, Kogin” and “The stepchild and the flute.” The younger sister rescued her stepsister who had been abandoned in the mountain, and they stayed at a she-demon’s house. She ordered them to dip water with a basket. A bird call told them how to do it. The she-demon tried to boil them alive, but she was the one who died. Their parents came looking for them.
This story is mixed up a bit, but the latter part is older than the stepmother story. Tsugaru k 19. No title.
Hachinohe: MK II 4 46, “The stepchild and the bird” (Mamako to tori).
Iwate, Hienuki-gun: Kōshō 10 12, “Aranko, Ranko” (Aranko to Ranko).
Akita, Hiraga-gun: MK II 8 30, “Orinko, Korinko”; MK II 10 22 “The three daughters” (Sannin musume).
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: TD IX 5 75, “Osono who turned into a nightingale” (Uguisu ni natta Osono). Example; Iwaki 25, 116, “The stepchild and the bird” (Mamako to tori).
Niigata, Kitauonuma-gun: Fushi 3 97, “Abusing the stepchild” (Mamako ijime). It is told as a true story.
Nagano, Shimominochi-gun: Shimominochi 196, “The three stepchildren” (Sannin mamako no hanashi).
Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 224, “The weak toy bow and arrow” (Hama yumi yowaki). A fragment.
Kamiina-gun: Mukashibanashi 64, 121, “I long for my father, hōyarehō” (Toto sama koishi ya hōyarehō) and “The three stepchildren” (Sannin mamako no hanashi).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 63, “The three flutes” (Sanbon no fue). The story is about the killing of three stepchildren. Three stalks of bamboo sprouted from their graves. They were cut and made into flutes. It is close to “Singing bones.” Zoku Kai 147, “The stepdaughter” (Mamamusume). A girl who was abandoned in the mountains wrote a note and asked a sparrow to take it to her uncle. He saved her. We can see by this its relationship to “Ogin, Kogin” and “Ash girl.”
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Dai-ni 51, “The chrysanthemum doll” (Kiku ningyō no hanashi). A girl was put into a box and abandoned. She wrote a note and asked a pigeon to take it to her father.
This type of story seems unique to Japan. In stories in which the stepchild is put into a kettle, as well, they often die and turn into a bamboo flute or sing with the voice of a nightingale. Shimotsuke 40, “The strange flute” (Fushigi na shakuhachi).
Gifu: Utsushibana 70, “The three stepchildren” (Sannin no mamako). A bamboo grew from the grave of children who had been killed. It cried “piihoroo” when the father was about to cut it.
Shizuoka: Shizuoka 395, 399, 403, 407, “Stories about stepmothers and stepchildren” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Hiroshima, Asa-gun: Aki 51, “Abusing the stepchild” (Mamako ijime).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 55, “The stepchild and the flute” (Mamako to fue).
Kagawa, Takamatsu: Dai-ni 52, “The bamboo flute” (Takebue).
Fukuoka, Ukiha-gun: Fukuoka 47, 48, “Stepmother hates me, chinchirorin” (Mamahaha urameshi chinchirorin), and “The stepmother” (Mamahaha no hanashi).
Itojima: Fukuoka 49, “Killing the stepchild” (Mamako koroshi no hanashi).
Ōita: Buzen.*
Kumamoto, Amakusa-gun: MK I 11 43, 12 22, “The stepchild and the flute” (Mamako to fue). Two stories with the same title. Kyōdo ken V 3 4, “Folk faith in Banshū” (Banshu nōshin tan) by Sasaki Kizen.
Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: MK II 10 40, “Going to Kyoto” (Kyō nobori). The flute sounded, “I want my father, chin-chirori.” It is evident that the phrase was emphasized when the tale was told.
Kagoshima: MK I 6 28, “Abusing the stepchild” No. 1 (Mamako ijime); Kikai 59, “The seven white birds” (Shichiwa no shiradori). This resembles a foreign story to a strange degree.
Part of “Ash girl” started from here.
Is the bamboo flute of a later date than the bird’s song?
Hearing a bird rather than the flute shows the influence of the Nukabuku story, and the motif of child being made to cross the kettle on two chopsticks seems derived from the she-demon tale.
Further reference:
Yearsley 47, 48.
Grimm’s stories about stepchildren.
49. The Father’s Gift
This belongs to stepchildren stories. The part about asking for a gift seems to be a recent innovation in stories about killing stepchildren.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 41, “The gold scissors and the little gold box” (Kin no hasami ni kin no tebako). A stepmother made the stepchild perform many difficult tasks, but an old woman next door kindly showed her how to do them. The fact that this assistance does not result in saving the child’s life is evidence for this being an old version. However, neither a bird nor a flute appears in the tale.
50. The Girl Without Hands
Once upon a time there was a girl named Oharu whose stepmother hated her bitterly. The woman considered all kinds of ways to deal with the child, and finally she told her husband that she could no longer live with such a clever girl as Oharu and she wanted to leave him. The man believed his wife and decided to kill Oharu. He told her he would take her to a festival and led her far back into the mountains. He cut off her hands and went home with her crying with pain. Oharu managed to live by eating fruit and grasses. One day a handsome youth found her and asked why she had been treated that way. He felt sorry for her and took her home on his horse. His mother took care of her as if she were her own child. After a while the young man married Oharu, but he had to go to Edo before her baby was born. When the baby, a fine boy, was born, his mother sent a courier to Edo to let her son know. The man stopped on his way for a drink of water at a certain house. It happened to be Oharu’s former home. When the stepmother heard about his errand and all about Oharu, she suddenly showed great hospitality. She made the man drunk and then exchanged the letter in his case for one that read, “A child like a demon or snake, something beyond describing, has been born.” At Edo the young husband wrote, “Even if it is a demon or a snake, take good care of it till I return.” The courier stopped at Oharu’s former home to rest on his way back. The stepmother exchanged his letter for one that read, “Drive her and the child out.” The mother was surprised over the letter and waited without showing it to Oharu. Days passed without the young master’s return, so finally the mother wept and showed the letter to Oharu. Oharu asked to have her baby tied onto her back, and she set out from the house with nowhere to go. As she walked around aimlessly, she became thirsty. She leaned over a stream to drink, but her baby started to slide off her back. She tried to check his fall although she had no hands. Strange to say, her hands grew out suddenly. In the meantime, the young father returned from Edo and found both Oharu and his baby gone. When he looked into matters, he suspected the courier. He examined the letter and saw that it had been substituted. His mother urged him to lose no time in setting out to look for Oharu. When he reached a shrine at the edge of a stream, he saw a beggar that looked like Oharu. He spoke to her and found it was she. He was delighted over how her hands had been restored. They went home together happy. The father and stepmother were punished for abusing Oharu. The local official had them put to the sword.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 4 46, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume). It is told as the origin of the nishiki tree.
Iwate, Hienuki-gun: MK I 5 25, “The favor bestowed by the thousand armed Kannon” (Senju Kannon no riyaku); MK I 8 40, “Oharu without hands” (Teboko Oharuko). Example. The original was clearly a katarimono.
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shu 96, “Chohenko, Chahenko.”
Waga-gun: MK I 3 21, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 191, “Osugi, Otama.”
Sado: Sadogashima 81, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 304, “Hinoya of Kyoto and Hinoya of Osaka” (Kyō no Hinoya to Osaka no Hinoya).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Zoku Hida 161, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume). No marriage and no child. Perhaps only a fragment is remembered. Hidabito V 5 20, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume).
Shizuoka, Kamo-gun, Inatori-machi: Shizuoka 390, “A stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Hyōgo, Hikami-gun: TD X 6 40, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume).
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: Dai-ichi 74, “Abusing a stepchild” (Mamako ijime); MK II 9 30, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume).
Fukuoka: Fukuoka 43, “A stepchild story about Omatsu” (Mamako no monogatari Omatsu no hanashi).
Nagasaki: Shimabara 43, “The stepdaughter without hands” (Tenashi mamamusume).
Kagoshima: Kikai 56, “The girl without hands” (Tenashi musume).
Further reference:
Yearsley 199. It is interesting that everything even to the substitution of the letter is found in foreign lands.
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