Today’s post will be on Japanese folktales. Kiyohime (清姫) is one of the folktales that we will be looking at today. Kiyohime is a story about a fatal attraction between a priest and a woman. The story begins when a traveling priest stops by an inn that is owned by Kiyohime’s parents. Soon after the priest and Kiyohime engage in a torrid affair. One day the priest has a change of heart and decides not to meet Kiyohime anymore. Kiyohime becomes enraged by the priest’s betrayal and follows him to the river. When Kiyohime realizes that the priest is avoiding her, she jumps into the water and turns into a snake. The priest reaches land by a small boat and runs to the temple. He hides inside a bell to avoid Kiyohime. However, Kiyohime’s sense of smell is able to detect the priest inside the bell. She clangs the bell several times to push the priest out of the bell. When the priest doesn’t come out, she lets out a great torrent of fire that burns the bell and kills the priest.

One of the metaphors of this folktale is the serpent-like nature of Kiyohime. Originally Kiyohime is a beautiful human maiden, but when her anger consumes her, she becomes a serpent. The metaphor of the serpent is that when we allow our anger to cloud our minds we turn into vicious beasts.

There’s another folktale called the Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語) or “The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya”. Jiraiya is a hero who is able to use magic to morph into a toad. His archenemy is Orochimaru (大蛇丸). Orochimaru’s magic allows him to morph into a snake. Orochimaru was once a disciple of Jiraiya. One day, Orochimaru left his master to pursue his own fame. One day, Orochimaru battled against his former master to test his own strength. He used venom from his snake-like form to paralyze Jiraiya. Jiraiya was eventually saved by another disciple, but from then on, Orochimaru and Jiraiya became arch rivals.

In Japanese folklore, snakes have a bad reputation. For example, Kiyohime turns into a serpent and Orochimaru is the embodiment of a serpent through magic. The reason for why snakes are often the antagonists in Japanese folklore is because snakes pose as dangerous and sometimes deadly creatures. Like one of the stories in the Jiraiya Tale, some snakes possess a lethal venom that can harm humans.

Issun Bōshi (一寸法師) is a story about a little boy who was only about three centimeters tall. The child’s name was Issun Bōshi. Although Issun Bōshi loved his normal sized parents, he wanted to leave the sheltered life of his parents. To prepare for his journey, Issun Bōshi was given a sewing needle for a sword, a bowl for a boat and chopsticks for the oars. As Issun Bōshi sailed into the city, he saw a government posting for a job and signed up to get the job. He eventually got a job, but not the one that he wanted. Due to Issun Bōshi’s small height, he was ridiculed wherever he went. Issun Bōshi was assigned a menial job as the princess’s playmate. One day an ogre approached the princess and swallowed Issun Bōshi. Issun Bōshi pricked the ogre with his sewing needle and the orge spat Issun Bōshi and all the contents out of its stomach. One of the items in the Ogre’s stomach was a magical mallet. The princess used the mallet to increase Issun Bōshi’s height so that he was the height of a normal sized human. Issun Bōshi was married to the princess as a reward for his bravery. He lived happily ever after with the princess, and earned the respect of his peers.

There are several morals to this story. One of the main morals is that a person may have a handicap, but that handicap may prove to be beneficial in certain situations. Issun Bōshi’s handicap was his height, but it was his small height that allowed him to have the advantage over the ogre. The other moral is that if you perservere long enough, you will go on to succeed in life. In the beginning, Issun Bōshi was not taken seriously and laughed at by people who were taller than him. In the end, Issun Bōshi triumphed and even went on to marry the princess!