Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales Part B

In Part B of the Japanese Fairy Tale series a lot of the stories involve the main character cooperating with another individual to overcome an obstacle or defeat an enemy.

Uraschimataro and the Turtle

• a good family raises a good boy who grows up by the sea and becomes a very talented swimmer and sailor
• the boy saves a turtle who one day returns him the favor of saving his life when he happens upon a rough sea and nearly drowns
• I like the motif of a good character saving an animal and then receiving the animal's help in his time of need
• the turtle brings the boy to an underground palace where he meets the princess of the sea who falls in love with him
• he stays with her under the water and never grows old, but starts to long to see his parents
• he decides to visit them and the princess gives him a box but says he will never see her again should he open the box while he is away
• it may be a good story idea to have a magical character give someone a present and a challenge; to say that they may have something so long as they refrain from doing something else
• the boy goes home to find our a lot of time has passed since he has been gone and his parents have passed away
• it would be fun to add some sort of time-warp element to a story

Uraschimataro riding his Turtle. Found on flickr.

The Crab and the Monkey

• the crab and the monkey is the story of a kind and generous crab dealing with a rude and selfish monkey
• the monkey takes advantage of the crabs kindness and her weaknesses, such as not being able to reach high to get food from trees
• every time the monkey comes around he takes advantage of the crab and badly injures her
• she is nursed back to health by her friends in the community and they work together to punish the monkey and ultimately kill him
• each friend uses their unique set of abilities to contribute to the plan of taking down the monkey
• a story gains a lot of depth when several characters with unique traits add their strengths together to accomplish a task
• this story focuses on the importance of being a kind person and forming a strong bond with others in your community. Good people are attracted to other good people and will always help each other in their time of need.

Bibliography
Japanese Fairy Tales by Andrew Lang