Uriko-hime

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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.

Contents

Summary

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

Scholar Kunio Yanagita indicated alternate names to the tale: Urikohimeko, Urihime, Urihimeko. [8]

Distribution

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

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

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References

  1. 1 2 Yamazato 1983 , p. 146.
  2. Kunio 1986 , p. 5.
  3. Bonnin 2003 , p. 41
  4. King & Fraser 2019 , p. 107-108.
  5. Goldberg 1997 , p. 37
  6. Eder 1969 , p. 24.
  7. Seki 1966 , p. 84-85.
  8. Kunio 1986 , p. 5-8.
  9. Seki 1966 , p. 85.
  10. Fujii 2013 , p. 18
  11. Kunio 1986 , p. 6-8.
  12. Hiroko Ikeda. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature . Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. p. 100.
  13. Mayer 1974 , p. 78.
  14. Kunio 1986 , p. 8.
  15. Takagi 2013.
  16. Takagi 2013 , p. 51.
  17. Hiroko Ikeda. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature . Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. p. 100.
  18. Nakawaki 2020 , p. 165 n.22.
  19. Goldberg 1997 , p. 36-37.
  20. Mayer 1960 , p. 665-666.
  21. Mayer 1960 , p. 666.

Bibliography

Further reading