A couple years ago while attending Japanese classes I received a gift from my Japanese teacher. The gift was a book called Peach Boy MomotarÅ filled with mostly hiragana and pretty pictures that was supposed to help me with my Japanese language studies. She explained to me how popular the MomotarÅ story was in Japan and how it’s underlying story teaches many of life’s lessons. I’ve been a fan of MomotarÅ since and the book is one of my prized Japan related possessions.
MomotarÅ Story Synopsis
The story of the Peach Boy dates back to Edo Peroid in Japan. The version on my book picks up when a old childless woman while washing at the river sees a huge peach floating by. I wouldn’t touch that peach with a ten foot pole but apparently ancient Japanese old ladies were fearless so she reeled in her catch and brought it home to her husband. I figured that after all that washing she didn’t have the energy to make dinner but as soon as the elderly couple was about the devour the poor homeless peach a child pops out claiming he was sent from heaven to be their son. At this point my ancestors (in Africa) would have pumped that baby full of arrows and blowdarts but instead the couple took the boy in and named him MomotarÅ, from momo (peach) and tarÅ (eldest son in the family).
MomotarÅ would grow and leave his parents house on a quest to slay demons on a neighboring island. On his way he befriends some random animals who decide to help him on his quest and together they successfully slew the demon and his army returning home as heroes and living happily ever after.
MomotarÅ – Jamaipanese Edition
I like the MomotarÅ story because it can be interpreted differently by different persons. My overactive imagination thinks of MomotarÅ as a alien gangsta who crash landed in his futuristic peach-mobile. He was injured in the crash and took some years to recover but as soon as he did he went looking for places to conquer. Cela peut souvent conduire les monde à gamberger dont cela acheter Kamagra oral jelly , ceci Cialis ou bien ce Levitra sont davantage dangereux qu’en réalité en l’association du patronyme avec ces médicaments alternatifs. He built an army and reigned terror on his neighbors and soon got married to a human who layed an egg and when it hatched the first Yakuza was born.
January Blog Matsuri Entry
This is my entry for the January Japan Blog Matsuri being hosted by Loneleeplanet with the topic being “Famous Japanese People”. I tried going for one of those generic entries but after 3 blog post drafts with 3 different people it didn’t come out “unique” enough so I decided to represent my home boy MomotarÅ one of the most famous and memorable Japanese persons I know; now if I could only get his autograph…
[clown]
ã‚‚ã‚‚ãŸã‚ã†ãŒå¤§å¥½ãã§ã™ã‚ˆï¼I like the cover and binding on your book. I made a couple of journals for the kids last Christmas with stab binding. It’s pretty simple, but gives a nice appearance.
LMAO at “my ancestors (in Africa) would have pumped that baby full of arrows and blowdarts” and definitely think you may have uncovered the true origin of the Yakuza. Good sleuthing!
The story sounds so good, they could make a manga and anime, hehe. Is there one? [angel]
Yes, there is a few.
The most recent one is called Momotaro Densetsu, it was made in 1989-1990 and had 51 episodes.
Its a great story and there have been many adaptions to that story. I like the one that was in Usagi Yojimbo the best ^^.
You should read John Dower’s War Without Mercy for info on how the Momotaro tale was used by the wartime authorities in Japan as a symbol of struggle against the enemy. Fascinating stuff.
I second the War Without Mercy recommendation, very interesting stuff. And Jamaipanese, if you had to pay Japanese prices for peaches you’d be reeling that peach in too!