Uriko-hime
Urikohime, Uriko-hime or Uriko Hime (うりこひめ; English: Princess Melon,[1] Melon Maid[2] or Melon Princess) is a dark Japanese folktale about a girl that is born out of a melon, adopted by a family and replaced by an evil creature named Amanojaku.
Summary
[edit]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 yōkai 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
[edit]Scholar Kunio Yanagita indicated alternate names to the tale: Urikohimeko, Urihime, Urihimeko.[8]
Distribution
[edit]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
[edit]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 her 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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Yamazato 1983, p. 146.
- ^ Kunio 1986, p. 5.
- ^ Bonnin 2003, p. 41
- ^ King & Fraser 2019, p. 107-108.
- ^ Goldberg 1997, p. 37
- ^ Eder 1969, p. 24.
- ^ Seki 1966, p. 84-85.
- ^ Kunio 1986, p. 5-8.
- ^ Seki 1966, p. 85.
- ^ Fujii 2013, p. 18
- ^ Kunio 1986, p. 6-8.
- ^ Hiroko Ikeda. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature. Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. p. 100.
- ^ Mayer 1974, p. 78.
- ^ Kunio 1986, p. 8.
- ^ Takagi 2013.
- ^ Takagi 2013, p. 51.
- ^ Hiroko Ikeda. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature. Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. p. 100.
- ^ Nakawaki 2020, p. 165 n.22.
- ^ Goldberg 1997, p. 36-37.
- ^ Mayer 1960, p. 665-666.
- ^ Mayer 1960, p. 666.
Bibliography
[edit]- 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). 13. Rissho University: 18–27. hdl:11266/5645. 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.
- 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). 222. Seijo University: 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
[edit]- 剣持 弘子 [Kendo, Hiroko].「瓜子姫」 —話型分析及び「三つのオレンジ」との関係— ("Urikohime": Analysis and Relation with "Three Oranges"). In: 『口承文芸研究』nr. 11 (March, 1988). pp. 45-57.