Uriko-hime

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Urikohime, Uriko-hime or Uriko Hime (うりこひめ; English: Princess Melon,[1] Melon Maid[2] 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).[1] 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]

Alternate names[]

Scholar Kunio Yanagita indicated alternate names to the tale: Urikohimeko, Urihime, Urihimeko.[8]

Distribution[]

According to Japanese folklorist Keigo Seki's notations, several variations are recorded in Japanese compilations.[9] Further studies show that the tale can be found all over the Japanese archipelago.[10][11] Hiroko Ikeda's index of Japanese tales lists 102 versions of the story.[12]

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.[13] Scholar Kunio Yanagita listed the tale Nishiki Chōja as one version of the story that contains a happy ending.[14]

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).[15] In fact, professor Hiroko Ikeda classified the story of Urikohime as type 408B in his Japanese catalogue.[16][17]

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.[18] 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.[19]

Professor Fanny Hagin Mayer remarked on the characters of the elderly couple that adopts Urikohime, which appear in several other Japanese folktales as a set.[20] The elderly woman teaches her adopted daughter skills in weaving.[21]

See also[]

  • Momotaro
  • The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Yamazato 1983, p. 146.
  2. ^ Kunio 1986, p. 5.
  3. ^ Bonnin 2003, p. 41
  4. ^ King & Fraser 2019, p. 107-108.
  5. ^ Goldberg 1997, p. 37
  6. ^ Eder 1969, p. 24.
  7. ^ Seki 1966, p. 84-85.
  8. ^ Kunio 1986, p. 5-8.
  9. ^ Seki 1966, p. 85.
  10. ^ Fujii 2013, p. 18
  11. ^ Kunio 1986, p. 6-8.
  12. ^ Hiroko Ikeda. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature. Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. p. 100.
  13. ^ Mayer 1974, p. 78.
  14. ^ Kunio 1986, p. 8.
  15. ^ Takagi 2013.
  16. ^ Takagi 2013, p. 51.
  17. ^ Hiroko Ikeda. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature. Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. p. 100.
  18. ^ Nakawaki 2020, p. 165 n.22.
  19. ^ Goldberg 1997, p. 36-37.
  20. ^ Mayer 1960, p. 665-666.
  21. ^ Mayer 1960, p. 666.

Bibliography[]

  • Bonnin, Philippe (2003). "L'Impossible clôture de la maison dans les contes japonais". Les Temps modernes (in French). 2003/3 (624): 35–53. doi:10.3917/ltm.624.0035. ISSN 0040-3075.
  • Eder, Matthias (1969). "Reality in Japanese Folktales". Asian Folklore Studies. 28 (1): 17–25. doi:10.2307/1177778. JSTOR 1177778.
  • Fujii Michiaki 藤井 倫明 (February 28, 2013). "Urikohime no tanjō - amanojaku no higeki -" 瓜子姫の誕生 －アマノジャクの悲劇－. Departmental Bulletin Paper (in Japanese). Rissho University. 13: 18–27. ISSN 1884-2968.
  • Goldberg, Christine (Winter 1997). "The Donkey Skin Folktale Cycle (AT 510B)". Journal of American Folklore. 110 (435): 28–46. doi:10.2307/541584. JSTOR 541584.
  • Kunio, Yanagita (1986). The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale. Translated by Mayer, Fanny Hagin. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-36812-X. OCLC 13124829.
  • King, Emerald L.; Fraser, Lucy (2019). "Girls in Lace Dresses: The Intersections of Gothic in Japanese Youth Fiction and Fashion". In Jackson, Anna (ed.). New directions in children's gothic: debatable lands. London: Routledge. pp. 102–118. ISBN 978-0-367-34631-7. OCLC 1099309931.
  • Mayer, Fanny Hagin (1960). "Character Portrayal in the Japanese Folk Tale". Anthropos. 55 (5/6): 665–670. ISSN 0257-9774. JSTOR 40454420.
  • Mayer, Fanny Hagin (1974). "Religious Concepts in the Japanese Folk Tale". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 1 (1): 73–101. doi:10.18874/jjrs.1.1.1974.73-101. ISSN 0304-1042. JSTOR 30234416.
  • Nakawaki, Hatsue (2020). "Japanese Heroine Tales and the Significance of Storytelling in Contemporary Society". In Murai, Mayako; Cardi, Luciana (eds.). Re-orienting the fairy tale: contemporary adaptations across cultures. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. pp. 139–168. ISBN 978-0-8143-4537-5. OCLC 1143644471.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Seki, Keigo (1966). "Types of Japanese Folktales". Asian Folklore Studies. 25 (1): 17–25. doi:10.2307/1177478. JSTOR 1177478.
  • Takagi Masafumi 高木 昌史 (March 2013). "Shirīzu/ hikaku minwa (ichi) urikohime/ mittsu no orenji" 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]. Seijō Bungei 成城文藝 (in Japanese). Seijo University. 222: 45–64. ISSN 0286-5718.
  • Yamazato, Katsunori (1983). "A Note on Japanese Allusions in Gary Snyder's Poetry". Western American Literature. 18 (2): 143–148. ISSN 0043-3462. JSTOR 43018817.

Further reading[]

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