Week 7: Famous Last Words and Youtube Tech Tip

Jet Lag is Coming, by Fit Across Cultures

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I think my best writing for this class this week has definitely been in my frame-tale story that I am doing for the final project. I had to really give it my all to make the story pan out the way it does: Alice Liddell winds up getting segued into being a Snow-white type character, which brings that story line into the loop. I was able to use the character of Duke to keep track of the real world happenings of the story while using Alice’s perspective to bring a sense of the supernatural and psychedelic to the story. This turned out for the best I think, because I was able to concisely outline Alice’s experiences under the wicked Queen who envies her beauty (she is called the Duchess in this story because there will be a queen later on in future parts of the frame-tale).

My classes this week were fairly regular. However, I experienced some major trip-lag around Monday because I had gotten back at around 8am in the morning from visiting my original hometown. So I was extremely exhausted on Monday, and I was glad we had a snowday. I’m not sure if I would have been able to perform very well in my afternoon and evening classes if school hadn’t been canceled. So thank goodness it was! My organic chemistry lab was definitely going to be a disaster, because there’s so much work that goes into just preparing for it. I had only gotten a portion of what needed to be done for the preparations, so that snow day was a true god-send.

Overall, very busy week with all the catching up that my vacation trip required me to do, and I’m still feeling it! But I’ll make it through. Hopefully I’ll be able to work ahead in this class this week so I don’t have to stress out like I did this week.

Here's something to brighten your day, if you're a person who works with media: 

For when someone posts a compressed image/uses Windows XP to save a jpeg...

Essay: The "Bad Guys" Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Emperor Antoku's Grandmother rescuing him from a Dragon, by Yoshitsuya Ichieisai (1860)

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   It seems that every tale in the series by Ozaki has "bad guys" that appear as demons or monsters, rather than relatable beings with feelings or reasons of their own for doing the things they do. For example, in the story My Lord Bag of Rice, it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to think that the large centipede was a monstrous, metaphorical manifestation of a foreign martial force that the people of Lake Biwa feared. There's no back-story to the centipede, or any elaboration for the root of its actions by attacking the Kingdom on Lake Biwa. Even though these stories are fairy tales, it's definitely within reason to say that the Japanese stories definitely give no aspect of gray-sided morality: there appears to only be a light and dark side.
   There is another example in the story of The Ogre of Rashomon: the ogre himself is only guilty of guarding a gate on a road. It's not unreasonable for people to go around the gate, but those who insist on it face his wrath. The bad treatment he receives subsequently from knight Watanabe just doesn't seem proportionate to the very little damage the ogre does by simply guarding his gate. However, the storyteller and knight Watanabe both seem to address the ogre's actions as mortal transgressions, worthy of severing his arm and keeping it as a trophy. As I mentioned before, no such attention is given to the ogre's story: he simply exists in the plot to represent evil. The mere fact that this plays out in the story makes me wonder as a reader if the author is not being very forthcoming with all the facts of the story. It makes me ask questions like: is the ogre's bad character simply bad because the author is not able to see past his/her own assumptions about those who are different from themselves? Overall, the author's bland portrayal of the bad guys in the stories makes me question their factual basis and truth.

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Storytelling Week 7: Goblin of Adachigahara Retold

Magic Circle, by John William Waterhouse (1886)

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As the warrior Saito headed home from his 3 year long job as a police agent, he pondered something that he heard from reports of his hometown: the cannibal of the Adachigahara province was on the rampage again. There was old folk tale about a cannibalistic goblin of the Adachigahara province, who disguised itself as human. Riako worried for his wife Tokio, who was waiting for him at his home in Adachigahara. He thought it was strange that the day he married his wife that the string of attacks stopped the last time the cannibal goblin was killing.

   As the night was beginning to show on the plain overlooking Adachigahara, Saiko finds his way to his home town. Nothing seems to have been disturbed or ruined, and everything seemed hauntingly quiet. He then makes it further into the forest where his and Tokyo's home is. He remembered that the one thing tha3t both his wife and him always wanted was a little home in the woods all to themselves: secluded enough to get peace and quiet, but not too far from town to be isolated. 

   As the wind whistles through the branches of the trees, Saito sees that the only light in the dark valley is coming from his home. He rushes up the porch to the door, hoping nothing has happened to Tokio. But just as he reaches for the door, Tokio comes from the shadow of the porch with a smile on her face. She greets him warmly and offers him dinner on the porch. "It's such a lovely night," she says. So they dine on the porch, and Tokio laments how she's missed Saito. 

   "I think we should head inside where it's warmer." says Saito.

   "Oh, that, I haven't finished cleaning the house yet. I would hate for you to see it now. We can sleep in the guest house tonight." Tokio replies assuredly. "That's where I have been for the past few weeks after all."

   But as they continue the conversation, Saito smells a distinctive scent coming from inside the house that only a warrior would know: the smell of blood. 

   Saito takes Tokio from the porch, then he turns toward the closed front door whispering "What is in the house?" 

   "Like I said, I haven't been there in weeks: I planned to clean it up after getting supplies from town." Tokio repeated, "Our shipments haven't been coming to the house as they usually do." 

   "Haven't you heard? The cannibal is attacking again. Haven't you noticed that's why the shipments haven't been coming in?!" Saito exclaimed, drawing his sword and leaping towards the door prepared.

   "But we have plenty to eat!" Tokio implored to Saito. But Saito didn't hear her, as he was stunned with horror: the entire house was strewn with the bloody remains of the townsfolk. Saito slowly turns back to face Tokio, who, in the wake of pure moonlight, shows her true self: she maintains her womanly beauty, but with the features of a terrible goblin with bat wings, lizard's skin, and the eyes of a cat. 

   "After I married you Saito, I found peace of mind," said Tokio softly "But when you left for your duties, I could not hold myself back any longer.... All I wanted was a little cottage with you, till we both grew old and died together. And we can still have that if you stay."

   Saito raises his sword, but Tokio floats up to his side and whispers in his ear, "Please choose me. Choose happiness. Now choose..."

Author's Note:
This story is a retelling of the Goblin of Adachigahara, which is about a priest who confronts a goblin cannibal disguised as a kind old woman and defeats her. Since the original story was told from a very detached point of view, I wanted to insert an element of personal entanglement to the story to make it more interesting. I thought it would be more enticing if the main character would have the skills and mindset to take down the cannibal goblin, but be conflict about taking the life of his own wife. After all, he could very well live with her as she wanted, or bring justice. And since I didn't know which would be the better ending, I chose to leave it as a cliff-hanger.

Bibliography:
Author: Yei Ozaki; Story: Goblin of Adachigahara; Year of Publication: 1908; Link to story

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Reading Diary B: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Watanabe Tatsuna Fighting the Demon at the Rashomon, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)

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In the second half of the Japanese Fairy Tales by Ozaki, there is the Goblin of Adachigahara. This story is about a cannibalistic goblin of the Adachigahara province, who disguised itself as an old woman. A Buddhist priest visits the region by virtue of being lost.

   As the night was beginning to show on the plain, the priest finds a worn down cottage tended to by the old woman. He asks if he can stay the night, and the old woman reluctantly agrees. 

   She offers the priest dinner, which he gratefully accepted. The two talk for a long time, until the fire runs out. The old woman offers to get firewood, but the priest insists that he do the job. The woman does the job anyway, but bids the priest not to look in the inner room. For a while, he resists his curiosity from looking in the room. But he eventually gives in and looks to his horror: the entire room has the bones of men and blood splattered on the wall. 

   Realizing the woman is the cannibal goblin, the priest collects his stuff and leaves. As he does, he hears the woman's voice behind him, telling him to come back. As she began to give chase, the priest began to chant a prayer which makes the goblin disappear. 

Another story is that of the Ogre of Rashomon, which begins as a tale of a cannibal ogre that guards the Gate of Rashomon. A warrior general named Riako, who is told about the ogre by his band of five knights that accompanies him at all times. One of his knights, Watanabe takes a piece of paper signed by the other four knights to the Gate, which he plans to post there if he finds no ogre. He winds up finding no ogre and heads home. 

   But then Watanabe is grabbed by the helmet by a large, heavy arm. It turns out it was the ogre, and both it and Watanabe face off and fight for a long period of time. Once the ogre realized he could not scare or defeat Watanabe, he starts to flee. Watanabe then gives chase, but stops once he notices something on the ground: its the ogre's arm. He takes it as a prize and shows his comrades, but after a while starts to fear that the ogre might try to retrieve it: so he locks it in a strong box. 

   Soon afterward, an old woman asks for admittance into the Knights' headquarters. Watanabe allows this, and she praises him about driving away the ogre from the Gate. She then requests to see the arm of the ogre, which Watanabe initially refuses. But after much pleading from the woman, Watanabe shows her the arm. She grabs the arm and transforms back into the ogre. But fearing Watanabe's skill and courage, the ogre leaves the country which allows the citizens to rest peacefully from then on.

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Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Yoshitoshi Fujiwara no Hidesato, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1890)

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In the story of My Lord Bag of Rice, a warrior with the title Tarwada Toda, or "My Lord Bag of Rice", whose real name is Fujiwara Hidesato, agrees to destroy the enemy of the dragon spirit of lake Biwa: a centipede.
   Happy that Fujiwara accepted the task, the dragon spirit hosts a feast for the warrior. However, their feast is interrupted by the approach of the giant centipede itself from it's home (Mount Makimi). Using his bow and three arrows, the Hidesato attempts to kill the centipede, his first two arrows hitting it in the middle of the head between the eyes. Both glance off harmlessly, but then Hidesato remembers that human spit is lethal to centipedes. So he licks his last arrow and lets it fly, and it kills the centipede: piercing its brain.
   Afterwards, Hidesato was gifted five items by the Dragon King, each one having a magical power: a bell, a bag of rice, cooking pot, a roll of silk, and a big bronze bell. It turned out that the bag of rice would never empty, and so the warrior and his family never ran out of food.

Next in the unit are the Adventures of Kintaro, which features Kinataro, a boy with incredible strength. Kintaro was born to a widowed mother, who raised him alone in the forests, fearing the people who killed her husband. While growing up in the woods, Kintaro became friends with all the animals there: a monkey, a deer, a rabbit, and a bear. One day, they all decided to have a wrestling tournament.
   The hare beat the monkey, but the monkey felt cheated because his foot slipped. Kintaro allowed the monkey to re-challenge the hare. The monkey actually wins with the second round. And then the deer challenges the hare to the wrestling game, and the hare consents. After the day's game, it became late and the group started back on their way home. However, the have to cross a river, which has become a raging torrent. However, Kintaro, with his phenominal strength, topples a tree to make a bridge and saves the day.

Link: Table of Contents for the Unit