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==Summary==
==Summary==
A melon comes washing down the stream until it is found by a human couple. They cut open the fruit and a girl appears out of it. They name her ''Urikohime'' (''uri'' means "melon" in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]).<ref>YAMAZATO, KATSUNORI. "A Note on Japanese Allusions in Gary Snyder's Poetry". In: ''Western American Literature'' 18, no. 2 (1983): 146. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43018817.</ref> They raise her and she becomes a beautiful young lady. One day, she is left alone at home and told to be careful of any stranger who comes knocking. Unfortunately, a [[youkai]] named [[Amanojaku]] sets its sights on the girl. The creature appears at her house and asks the girl to open. She open the door just a bit and the creature forces its entry in her house.<ref>Bonnin, Philippe. "L’Impossible clôture de la maison dans les contes japonais". In: ''Les Temps Modernes'' 2003/3 (n° 624), p. 41. DOI: 10.3917/ltm.624.0035</ref>
A melon comes washing down the stream until it is found by a human couple. They cut open the fruit and a girl appears out of it. They name her ''Urikohime'' (''uri'' means "melon" in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]).<ref>YAMAZATO, KATSUNORI. "A Note on Japanese Allusions in Gary Snyder's Poetry". In: ''Western American Literature'' 18, no. 2 (1983): 146. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43018817.</ref> They raise her and she becomes a beautiful young lady. One day, she is left alone at home and told to be careful of any stranger who comes knocking. Unfortunately, a [[youkai]] named [[Amanojaku]] sets its sights on the girl. The creature appears at her house and asks the girl to open. She opens the door just a bit and the creature forces its entry in her house.<ref>Bonnin, Philippe. "L’Impossible clôture de la maison dans les contes japonais". In: ''Les Temps Modernes'' 2003/3 (n° 624), p. 41. DOI: 10.3917/ltm.624.0035</ref>


In one version of the story, Amanojaku kills Urikohime and wears her skin.<ref>King, Emerald L.; Fraser, Lucy. "Girls in Lace Dresses: The Intersections of Gothic in Japanese Youth Fiction and Fashion". In: ''New Directions in Children's Gothic: Debatable Lands''. Edited by Anna Jackson. Routledge, 2017. pp. 107-108. {{ISBN|9780367346317}}.</ref> The creature replaces Urikohime as the couple's daughter, but its disguise is ruined when the girl, reincarnated as a little bird, reveals the deception and eventually regains her human form.<ref>Goldberg, Christine. "The Donkey Skin Folktale Cycle (AT 510B)". In: ''The Journal of American Folklore'' 110, no. 435 (1997): 37. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/541584.</ref>
In one version of the story, Amanojaku kills Urikohime and wears her skin.<ref>King, Emerald L.; Fraser, Lucy. "Girls in Lace Dresses: The Intersections of Gothic in Japanese Youth Fiction and Fashion". In: ''New Directions in Children's Gothic: Debatable Lands''. Edited by Anna Jackson. Routledge, 2017. pp. 107-108. {{ISBN|9780367346317}}.</ref> The creature replaces Urikohime as the couple's daughter, but its disguise is ruined when the girl, reincarnated as a little bird, reveals the deception and eventually regains her human form.<ref>Goldberg, Christine. "The Donkey Skin Folktale Cycle (AT 510B)". In: ''The Journal of American Folklore'' 110, no. 435 (1997): 37. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/541584.</ref>

Revision as of 01:37, 15 June 2021

Urikohime, Uriko-hime or Uriko Hime (English: Princess Melon[1] or Melon Princess) is a Japanese folktale about a girl that is born out of a melon, adopted by a family and replaced by a creature named Amanojaku.

Summary

A melon comes washing down the stream until it is found by a human couple. They cut open the fruit and a girl appears out of it. They name her Urikohime (uri means "melon" in Japanese).[2] They raise her and she becomes a beautiful young lady. One day, she is left alone at home and told to be careful of any stranger who comes knocking. Unfortunately, a youkai named Amanojaku sets its sights on the girl. The creature appears at her house and asks the girl to open. She opens the door just a bit and the creature forces its entry in her house.[3]

In one version of the story, Amanojaku kills Urikohime and wears her skin.[4] The creature replaces Urikohime as the couple's daughter, but its disguise is ruined when the girl, reincarnated as a little bird, reveals the deception and eventually regains her human form.[5]

In another account, Urikohime becomes known for her great weaving abilities. Due to this, she is betrothed to a lord or prince. Before she marries, Amanojaku kills her and wears her dress, or ties her to a persimmon tree. The false bride is taken to the wedding on a palanquin, but the ruse is discovered. In the version where she is tied up, Urikohime cries out to anyone to hear and is rescued. The creature is chased away.[6][7]

Variations

According to Japanese folklorist Keigo Seki's notations, several variations are recorded in Japanese compilations.[8]

According to Fanny Hagin Mayer, "most versions" of the story end on a tragic note, but all seem to indicate the great weaving skills of Urikohime.[9]

Analysis

Japanese scholarship argues for some relationship between this tale and Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 408, "The Three Citrons", since both tales involve a maiden born of a fruit and her replacement for a false bride (in the tale type) and for evil creature Amanojaku (in Japanese versions).[10] In fact, professor Hiroko Ikeda classified the story of Urikohime as type 408B in his Japanese catalogue.[11]

Attention has also been drawn to the motif of "The False Bride" that exists in both tales: in Urikohime, the youkai or ogress wears the skin of the slain girl.[12] Folklorist Christine Goldberg recognizes that this is the motif Disguised Flayer (motif K1941 in the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature). This disguise is also used by heroines in other folktales.[13]

Professor Fanny Hagin Mayer remarked on the characters of the elderly couple that adopts Urikohime, "perhaps the most popular of all characters in Japanese folk tale".[14] The elderly woman teaches her adopted daughter skills in weaving.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ YAMAZATO, KATSUNORI. "A Note on Japanese Allusions in Gary Snyder's Poetry". In: Western American Literature 18, no. 2 (1983): 146. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43018817.
  2. ^ YAMAZATO, KATSUNORI. "A Note on Japanese Allusions in Gary Snyder's Poetry". In: Western American Literature 18, no. 2 (1983): 146. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43018817.
  3. ^ Bonnin, Philippe. "L’Impossible clôture de la maison dans les contes japonais". In: Les Temps Modernes 2003/3 (n° 624), p. 41. DOI: 10.3917/ltm.624.0035
  4. ^ King, Emerald L.; Fraser, Lucy. "Girls in Lace Dresses: The Intersections of Gothic in Japanese Youth Fiction and Fashion". In: New Directions in Children's Gothic: Debatable Lands. Edited by Anna Jackson. Routledge, 2017. pp. 107-108. ISBN 9780367346317.
  5. ^ Goldberg, Christine. "The Donkey Skin Folktale Cycle (AT 510B)". In: The Journal of American Folklore 110, no. 435 (1997): 37. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/541584.
  6. ^ Eder, Matthias. "Reality in Japanese Folktales". In: Asian Folklore Studies 28, no. 1 (1969): 24. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/1177778.
  7. ^ Seki, Keigo. "Types of Japanese Folktales". In: Asian Folklore Studies 25 (1966): 84-85. Accessed June 15, 2021. doi:10.2307/1177478.
  8. ^ Seki, Keigo. "Types of Japanese Folktales". In: Asian Folklore Studies 25 (1966): 85. Accessed June 15, 2021. doi:10.2307/1177478.
  9. ^ Mayer, Fanny Hagin. "Religious Concepts in the Japanese Folk Tale". In: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1, no. 1 (1974): 78. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30234416.
  10. ^ Takagi Masafumi. "[シリーズ/比較民話(一)瓜子姫/三つのオレンジ]" [Series: Comparative Studies of the Folktale (1) Melon Princess/The Three Oranges]. In: The Seijo Bungei: the Seijo University arts and literature quarterly 222 (2013-03). p. 45-64.
  11. ^ Takagi Masafumi. "[シリーズ/比較民話(一)瓜子姫/三つのオレンジ]" [Series: Comparative Studies of the Folktale (1) Melon Princess/The Three Oranges]. In: The Seijo Bungei: the Seijo University arts and literature quarterly 222 (2013-03). p. 51.
  12. ^ Nakawaki Hatsue. "Japanese Heroine Tales and the Significance of Storytelling in Contemporary Society". In: Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations across Cultures. Edited by Mayako Murai and Luciana Cardi. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 2020. p. 165 (footnote nr. 22). ISBN 978-0-8143-4537-5.
  13. ^ Goldberg, Christine. "The Donkey Skin Folktale Cycle (AT 510B)". In: The Journal of American Folklore 110, no. 435 (1997): 36-37. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/541584.
  14. ^ Mayer, Fanny Hagin. "Character Portrayal in the Japanese Folk Tale". In: Anthropos 55, no. 5/6 (1960): 665-666. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40454420.
  15. ^ Mayer, Fanny Hagin. "Character Portrayal in the Japanese Folk Tale". In: Anthropos 55, no. 5/6 (1960): 666. Accessed June 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40454420.

Category:Japanese fairy tales Category:Japanese folklore

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