Momotaro
MatthewOutland
momotaro and whether he was justified in taking some of the treasure,
when his claim to fame was killing OGRES?
Rosh
> why is there such SERIOUS INTELLECTUAL DEBATE about the motives of
> momotaro and whether he was justified in taking some of the treasure,
> when his claim to fame was killing OGRES?
Well, like any other old Otogi stories, one can
see lots of hidden insinuations there. For example,
as a start, why Momo(peach) should give a birth. ;)
Have you ever read Otogi-zoushi by Dazai?
Eric Takabayashi
For one, because it could be based on some historical truth, not
involving monsters and animal sidekicks, but foreigners or pirates, and
other real humans. Okayama Prefecture next to me is one origin of the
Momotaro story. Just last weekend there was an hour long show featuring
the pirates of the Seto Inland Sea also on the border. Far from being
portrayed as evil despite their violent ways, one pirate leader was
credited with creating the "Bible" of Japanese shipbuilding, as well as
being marveled for his knowledge and execution of sea borne military
tactics, able to resist or repel the advances of famous military leaders
who later united Japan.
Haluk
"Eric Takabayashi" <eta...@yahoo.co.jp>, haber iletisinde ?unlar?
yazd?:3F55F3DA...@yahoo.co.jp...
A cute japanese woman explained me once that those monsters could have been
Vikings, with their war helmets, blond hair and red faces (sun burnt).
Eric Takabayashi
The foreigners I heard Momotaro raided were Koreans. Hard habit to break,
apparently.
Haluk
> ...
> The foreigners I heard Momotaro raided were Koreans. Hard habit to break,
> apparently.
>
South Koreans or North? :)
John Yamamoto-Wilson
> Far from being
> portrayed as evil despite their violent ways, one pirate leader was
> credited with creating the "Bible" of Japanese shipbuilding, as well as
> being marveled for his knowledge and execution of sea borne military
> tactics, able to resist or repel the advances of famous military leaders
> who later united Japan.
Pirate is as pirate does. We (=the English) have a pirate who defeated the
Spanish Armada and changed the course of history. His name was Francis
Drake. Whether he's a pirate or a hero depends on which country you were
born and grew up in (a bit like "terrorists" and "freedom fighters" these
days).
As for Momotaro, some versions stress that the dog, the pheasant and the
monkey would normally fight, but Momotaro united them in a cause. That
*could* be a fictionalising of some historical event, in which warring
factions were united under a strong leader to defeat a common enemy. I don't
know that there's any *evidence* for that interpretation - but what the
heck? - that's never stopped anyone from posting on Usenet before!
Eric Takabayashi
Don't remember. That version had the oni of course, on some island.
MatthewOutland
hee hee. didn't even think about the peach thing
>
> Have you ever read Otogi-zoushi by Dazai?
Don't think so. Is that the one about the priest and mice?
Louise Bremner
> > > why is there such SERIOUS INTELLECTUAL DEBATE about the motives of
> > > momotaro and whether he was justified in taking some of the treasure,
> > > when his claim to fame was killing OGRES?
> >
> > For one, because it could be based on some historical truth, not
> > involving monsters and animal sidekicks, but foreigners or pirates, and
> > other real humans. Okayama Prefecture next to me is one origin of the
> > Momotaro story. Just last weekend there was an hour long show featuring
> > the pirates of the Seto Inland Sea also on the border. Far from being
> > portrayed as evil despite their violent ways, one pirate leader was
> > credited with creating the "Bible" of Japanese shipbuilding, as well as
> > being marveled for his knowledge and execution of sea borne military
> > tactics, able to resist or repel the advances of famous military leaders
> > who later united Japan.
> >
>
> A cute japanese woman explained me once that those monsters could have been
> Vikings, with their war helmets, blond hair and red faces (sun burnt).
That's an imaginative interpretation.... It's known that the Vikings did
indeed travel vast distances when they went a-viking, but did they ever
get as far as the Pacific? (Let along far enough into it to get to
Japan?)
________________________________________________________________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!
Rosh
>
>
Too straight for a teen ager, wasn't it? ;)
> >
> > Have you ever read Otogi-zoushi by Dazai?
>
>
> Don't think so. Is that the one about the priest and mice?
No. It gives you some alternative interpretations of
Japanese famous fairly tales.
Dethlar2004: Blaq Action Hero
" Louise Bremner" <dame_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1g0r4bn.tgvem0o02qklN%dame_...@yahoo.com...
Yeah, they only got as far as Africa where they got their tails kicked by
Sidney Poitier and The Mare of Steel.
(100pts to the person that gets that ref without looking in the IMDB)
Haluk Skywalker
yazdı news:Q0bMb.1433$dl4...@news1.dion.ne.jp...
Damn! How did you read this message? My newsreader does not display
one-month-old messages but you can reply to a message that is like 6 months
old...
Dethlar2004: Blaq Action Hero
"Haluk Skywalker" <yokoo...@spam.net> wrote in message
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dion.jp has incredible retention for text messages.