pierre loti in madame chrysanthème, gilbert and sullivan in the mikado, and sir edwin arnold in seas and lands, gave us the impression that japan was a real fairyland in the far east. we were delighted with the prettiness and quaintness of that country, and still more with the prettiness and quaintness of the japanese people. we laughed at their topsy-turvy ways, regarded the japanese woman, in her rich-coloured kimono, as altogether charming and fascinating, and had a vague notion that the principal features of nippon were the tea-houses, cherry-blossom, and geisha. twenty years ago we did not take japan very seriously. we still listen to the melodious music of the mikado, but now we no longer regard japan as a sort of glorified willow-pattern plate. the land of the rising sun has become the land of the risen sun, for we have learnt that her quaintness and prettiness, her fairy-like manners and customs, were but the outer signs of a great and progressive nation. to-day we recognise japan as a power in the east, and her victory over the russian has made her army and navy famous throughout the world.
the japanese have always been an imitative nation, quick to absorb and utilise the religion, art, and social life of china, and, having set their own national seal upon what they have borrowed from the celestial kingdom, to look elsewhere for material that should strengthen and advance their position. this imitative quality is one of japan's most marked characteristics. she has ever been loath to impart information to others, but ready at all times to gain access to any form of knowledge likely to make for her advancement. in the fourteenth century kenko wrote in his tsure-dzure-gusa:[pg xii] "nothing opens one's eyes so much as travel, no matter where," and the twentieth-century japanese has put this excellent advice into practice. he has travelled far and wide, and has made good use of his varied observations. japan's power of imitation amounts to genius. east and west have contributed to her greatness, and it is a matter of surprise to many of us that a country so long isolated and for so many years bound by feudalism should, within a comparatively short space of time, master our western system of warfare, as well as many of our ethical and social ideas, and become a great world-power. but japan's success has not been due entirely to clever imitation, neither has her place among the foremost nations been accomplished with such meteor-like rapidity as some would have us suppose.
we hear a good deal about the new japan to-day, and are too prone to forget the significance of the old upon which the present régime has been founded. japan learnt from england, germany and america all the tactics of modern warfare. she established an efficient army and navy on western lines; but it must be remembered that japan's great heroes of to-day, togo and oyama, still have in their veins something of the old samurai spirit, still reflect through their modernity something of the meaning of bushido. the japanese character is still japanese and not western. her greatness is to be found in her patriotism, in her loyalty and whole-hearted love of her country. shintoism has taught her to revere the mighty dead; buddhism, besides adding to her religious ideals, has contributed to her literature and art, and christianity has had its effect in introducing all manner of beneficent social reforms.
there are many conflicting theories in regard to the racial origin of the japanese people, and we have no[pg xiii] definite knowledge on the subject. the first inhabitants of japan were probably the ainu, an aryan people who possibly came from north-eastern asia at a time when the distance separating the islands from the mainland was not so great as it is to-day. the ainu were followed by two distinct mongol invasions, and these invaders had no difficulty in subduing their predecessors; but in course of time the mongols were driven northward by malays from the philippines. "by the year a.d. 500 the ainu, the mongol, and the malay elements in the population had become one nation by much the same process as took place in england after the norman conquest. to the national characteristics it may be inferred that the ainu contributed the power of resistance, the mongol the intellectual qualities, and the malay that handiness and adaptability which are the heritage of sailor-men."[1] such authorities as baelz and rein are of the opinion that the japanese are mongols, and although they have intermarried with the ainu, "the two nations," writes professor b. h. chamberlain, "are as distinct as the whites and reds in north america." in spite of the fact that the ainu is looked down upon in japan, and regarded as a hairy aboriginal of interest to the anthropologist and the showman, a poor despised creature, who worships the bear as the emblem of strength and fierceness, he has, nevertheless, left his mark upon japan. fuji was possibly a corruption of huchi, or fuchi, the ainu goddess of fire, and there is no doubt that these aborigines originated a vast number of geographical names, particularly in the north of the main island, that are recognisable to this day. we can also trace ainu influence in regard to certain japanese superstitions, such as the belief in the kappa, or river monster.
[pg xiv]
the chinese called japan jih-pén, "the place the sun comes from," because the archipelago was situated on the east of their own kingdom, and our word japan and nippon are corruptions of jih-pén. marco polo called the country zipangu, and one ancient name describes it as "the-luxuriant-reed-plains-the-land-of-fresh -rice-ears-of-a-thousand-autumns-of-long-five-hundred-autumns." we are not surprised to find that such a very lengthy and descriptive title is not used by the japanese to-day; but it is of interest to know that the old word for japan, yamato, is still frequently employed, yamato damashii signifying "the spirit of unconquerable japan." then, again, we still hear japan referred to as the island of the dragon-fly. we are told in the old japanese chronicles that the emperor, in 630 b.c., ascended a hill called waki kamu no hatsuma, from which he was able to view the land on all sides. he was much impressed by the beauty of the country, and said that it resembled "a dragon-fly licking its hinder parts," and the island received the name of akitsu-shima ("island of the dragon-fly").
the kojiki, or "records of ancient matters," completed a.d. 712, deals with the early traditions of the japanese race, commencing with the myths, the basis of shintoism, and gradually becoming more historical until it terminates in a.d. 628. dr. w. g. aston writes in a history of japanese literature: "the kojiki, however valuable it may be for research into the mythology, the manners, the language, and the legends of early japan, is a very poor production, whether we consider it as literature or as a record of facts. as history it cannot be compared with the nihongi,[2] a contemporary work[pg xv] in chinese; while the language is a strange mixture of chinese and japanese, which there has been little attempt to endue with artistic quality. the circumstances under which it was composed are a partial explanation of the very curious style in which it is written. we are told that a man named yasumaro, learned in chinese, took it down from the lips of a certain hiyeda no are, who had such a wonderful memory that he 'could repeat with his mouth whatever was placed before his eyes, and record in his heart whatever struck his ears.'" it is possible that hiyeda no are was one of the kataribe or "reciters," whose duty it was to recite "ancient words" before the mikado at the court of nara on certain state occasions.
the kojiki and the nihongi are the sources from which we learn the early myths and legends of japan. in their pages we are introduced to izanagi and izanami, ama-terasu, susa-no-o, and numerous other divinities, and these august beings provide us with stories that are quaint, beautiful, quasi-humorous, and sometimes a little horrible. what could be more naïve than the love-making of izanagi and izanami, who conceived the idea of marrying each other after seeing the mating of two wagtails? in this ancient myth we trace the ascendency of the male over the female, an ascendency maintained in japan until recent times, fostered, no doubt, by kaibara's onna daigaku, "the greater learning for women." but in the protracted quarrel between the sun goddess and her brother, the impetuous male, the old chroniclers lay emphasis upon the villainy of susa-no-o; and ama-terasu, a curious mingling of the divine and the feminine, is portrayed as an ideal type of goddess. she is revealed preparing for warfare, making fortifications by stamping upon the ground, and she is also depicted[pg xvi] peeping out of her rock-cavern and gazing in the sacred mirror. ama-terasu is the central figure in japanese mythology, for it is from the sun goddess that the mikados are descended. in the cycle of legends known as the period of the gods, we are introduced to the sacred treasures, we discover the origin of the japanese dance, and in imagination wander through the high plain of heaven, set foot upon the floating bridge, enter the central land of reed-plains, peep into the land of yomi, and follow prince fire-fade into the palace of the sea king.
early heroes and warriors are always regarded as minor divinities, and the very nature of shintoism, associated with ancestor worship, has enriched those of japan with many a fascinating legend. for strength, skill, endurance, and a happy knack of overcoming all manner of difficulties by a subtle form of quick-witted enterprise, the japanese hero must necessarily take a high position among the famous warriors of other countries. there is something eminently chivalrous about the heroes of japan that calls for special notice. the most valiant men are those who champion the cause of the weak or redress evil and tyranny of every kind, and we trace in the japanese hero, who is very far from being a crude swashbuckler, these most excellent qualities. he is not always above criticism, and sometimes we find in him a touch of cunning, but such a characteristic is extremely rare, and very far from being a national trait. an innate love of poetry and the beautiful has had its refining influence upon the japanese hero, with the result that his strength is combined with gentleness.
benkei is one of the most lovable of japanese heroes. he possessed the strength of many men, his tact amounted to genius, his sense of humour was strongly[pg xvii] developed, and the most loving of japanese mothers could not have shown more gentleness when his master's wife gave birth to a child. when yoshitsune and benkei, at the head of the minamoto host, had finally vanquished the taira at the sea-fight of dan-no-ura, their success awakened the jealousy of the shogun, and the two great warriors were forced to fly the country. we follow them across the sea, over mountains, outwitting again and again their numerous enemies. at matsue a great army was sent out against these unfortunate warriors. camp-fires stretched in a glittering line about the last resting-place of yoshitsune and benkei. in an apartment were yoshitsune with his wife and little child. death stood in the room, too, and it was better that death should come at the order of yoshitsune than at the command of the enemy without the gate. his child was killed by an attendant, and, holding his beloved wife's head under his left arm, he plunged his sword deep into her throat. having accomplished these things, yoshitsune committed hara-kiri. benkei, however, faced the enemy. he stood with his great legs apart, his back pressed against a rock. when the dawn came he was still standing with his legs apart, a thousand arrows in that brave body of his. benkei was dead, but his was a death too strong to fall. the sun shone on a man who was a true hero, who had ever made good his words: "where my lord goes, to victory or to death, i shall follow him."
japan is a mountainous country, and in such countries we expect to find a race of hardy, brave men, and certainly the land of the rising sun has given us many a warrior worthy to rank with the knights of king arthur. more than one legend deals with the destruction of devils and goblins, and of the rescue of[pg xviii] maidens who had the misfortune to be their captives. one hero slays a great monster that crouched upon the roof of the emperor's palace, another despatches the goblin of oyeyama, another thrusts his sword through a gigantic spider, and another slays a serpent. all the japanese heroes, whatever enterprise they may be engaged in, reveal the spirit of high adventure, and that loyalty of purpose, that cool disregard for danger and death which are still characteristic of the japanese people to-day.
"the bamboo-cutter and the moon-maiden" (chapter iii) is adapted from a tenth-century story called taketori monogatari, and is the earliest example of the japanese romance. the author is unknown, but he must have had an intimate knowledge of court life in kyoto. all the characters in this very charming legend are japanese, but most of the incidents have been borrowed from china, a country so rich in picturesque fairy-lore. mr. f. v. dickins writes concerning the taketori monogatari: "the art and grace of the story of the lady kaguya are native, its unstrained pathos, its natural sweetness, are its own, and in simple charm and purity of thought and language it has no rival in the fiction of either the middle kingdom or of the dragon-fly land."
in studying japanese legend one is particularly struck by its universality and also by its very sharp contrasts. most nations have deified the sun and moon, the stars and mountains, and all the greatest works of nature; but the japanese have described the red blossoms of azaleas as the fires of the gods, and the white snow of fuji as the garments of divine beings. their legend, on the one hand at any rate, is essentially poetical, and those who worshipped mount fuji also had ghostly tales to tell about the smallest insect. too much stress[pg xix] cannot be laid upon japan's love of nature. the early myths recorded in the kojiki and nihongi are of considerable interest, but they cannot be compared with the later legends that have given souls to trees and flowers and butterflies, or with those pious traditions that have revealed so tenderly and yet so forcibly the divine significance of nature. the festival of the dead could only have originated among a people to whom the beautiful is the mainstay and joy of life, for that festival is nothing less than a call to the departed dead to return to their old earthly haunts in the summer-time, to cross green hills dotted with pine-trees, to wander down winding ways, by lake and seashore, to linger in old, well-loved gardens, and to pass into homes where, without being seen, they see so much. to the japanese mind, to those who still preserve the spirit of old yamato, the most glowing account of a buddhist paradise is not so fair as japan in the summer-time.
perhaps it is as well that japanese myth, legend, fairy tale, and folk-lore are not exclusively poetical, or we should be in danger of becoming satiated with too much sweetness. it may be that we admire the arches of a gothic cathedral none the less for having gazed upon the hideous gargoyles on the outside of the sacred edifice, and in the legends of japan we find many grotesques in sharp contrast with the traditions associated with the gentle and loving jizo. there is plenty of crude realism in japanese legend. we are repelled by the thunder god's favourite repast, amazed by the magical power of foxes and cats; and the story of "hoïchi-the-earless" and of the corpse-eating priest afford striking examples of the combination of the weird and the horrible. in one story we laugh over the antics of a performing kettle, and in another we are[pg xx] almost moved to tears when we read about a little japanese quilt that murmured: "elder brother probably is cold? nay, thou probably art cold?"
we have had numerous volumes of japanese fairy tales, but hitherto no book has appeared giving a comprehensive study of the myths and legends of a country so rich in quaint and beautiful traditions, and it is hoped that the present volume, the result of much pleasant labour, will be a real contribution to the subject. i have made no attempt to make a complete collection of japanese myths and legends because their number is legion; but i have endeavoured to make a judicious selection that shall at any rate be representative, and many of the stories contained in this volume will be new to the general reader.
lafcadio hearn wrote in one of his letters: "the fairy world seized my soul again, very softly and sweetly—as a child might a butterfly," and if we too would adopt a similar spirit, we shall journey to the land of the gods, where the great kobo daishi will write upon the sky and running water, upon our very hearts, something of the glamour and magic of old japan. with kobo daishi for guide we shall witness the coming of mount fuji, wander in the palace of the sea king and in the land of perpetual youth, watch the combats of mighty heroes, listen to the wisdom of saints, cross the celestial river on a bridge of birds, and when we are weary nestle in the long sleeve of the ever-smiling jizo.
f. hadland davis
[1] the full recognition of japan, by robert p. porter.
[2] chronicles of japan, completed a.d. 720, deals, in an interesting manner, with the myths, legends, poetry and history from the earliest times down to a.d. 697.
