Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part A

Sendan Kendatsuba, 12th century,

    I was really excited to start this unit, as I'm really trying to expand my general knowledge of different mythologies. I read a lot of Greek and Roman mythology, fairy tales and a little bit of Egyptian mythology as a kid, but it's very exciting to be reading tales that I've never really heard of before.

    One of the things that really surprised me was how many of these different mythologies share overlapping stories, ideas, and themes. For example, the story of Izanagi and Izanami, where we see Izanagi try to bring Izanami back from the dead, reminded me of Isis and Osiris, and the way Isis was trying to get Osiris back. I also was reminded of Persephone and Hades, since Izanami tells Izanagi that she has eaten food of the underworld and thus cannot return to the land of the living. It almost makes me question the idea of creativity: so many of our ideas, even ones that are relatively new and unique, are all founded on work that has come before us. So how do we define creativity when we can't ever truly get originality. Or, at least, originality is very very hard to come by.

    The other thing I noticed was how many of the love stories are the same, and it makes me really sad. They all center on the man, usually the "hero" of the story, seeing a beautiful woman and falling in love. There is absolutely no dimension or character to the woman besides the fact that a man has fallen in love with her looks. I've noticed this in a few other stories that I've read, and I've commented on it before, it just really struck me again today. I may rewrite a story of two this week to tell the woman's side and get a little more depth to the characters.

Bibliography: Romance of Old Japan by E.W. Champey and F. Champey, 1917