Japan

The Story of the Samaen Stars
Tokuzou’s Star　
Murikabushi-Yunta
Tanabata and the Melon Field
Amano-Iwado -- The regend of the Solar Eclipse
IWAN-NOCIW (the six stars) / (A Myth of chasing the three-star after Pleiades)
Omorosoushi
Tanabata Festival

The Story of the Samaen Stars (the Seven Stars in Ursa Major) : A Myth of the Ainu People

Traditional poetry of Ainu people, Hokkaido, Japan.

Compiled by: Tomio Sueoka

Edited and translated by: Norio Kaifu

People tell the tale of Samaen like this - as if he was speaking. There was an oak tree at the foot of the mountains. A big bear was walking heavily, like a man, but it disappeared instantly. Following the bear’s tracks, I ran swiftly, like a bird.

A sudden blast of wind carried me deep into the mountains. I found a large house and heard a sound coming from the window. I was surprised when I peeked inside. There were all kinds of treasures there and even some sake*! Although the sake was poisonous one, the bear was drinking it, and he just ignored me.

The bear finished the sake and roared. He started to walk farther into the mountains. Then I heard a dog barking at the bear. Oh, it was my dear dog! The bear bit my dog, and then beat my poor dog to death with his strong arms.

“You stupid bear!” I said. “You had been a god, but you have an evil heart. Do not you want to return to the pure God?”

We started to fight. I fought with all my power and skill. However, after I heard the angry voice of the bear, I lost my energy and collapsed.

I lay there dying, or maybe I was just sleeping. A young girl found me. I opened my eyes slightly and saw her. As swift as light, that girl moved close to me.

“Please drink a little water” she said. I got up and drank the water. It was delicious! I was saved. I recovered my health.

The bear had run deeply into the mountains, and I followed him farther and farther to catch up with him. I found a very big oak tree there. To my surprise, the bear had passed beneath the oak tree without stopping to pay his respects to it. What an appalling bear! I saw the spirit of the oak tree and honored it. I left that place and continued to follow the bear. I tracked it a long, long way.

I found the bear again. He had dropped a small elm branch from his mouth and put it on the ground. While I watched, the branch grew rapidly into a tall, thick tree. When I approached, the bear beat me up and then climbed the elm tree. I also climbed the tree so that I could follow the bear. When I looked up, the bear was riding on a cloud in the sky.

I raised my hands to the cloud and said, “Bear, you were once my bear. What do you have forgotten me completely? You did evil things in the land of humans. I cannot believe that you are a god. It might be too late now, but I want you to tell me how you feel. If your heart has become evil, you must be killed. Listen to me, bear.”

The bear got angry, looked back at me and said, “All right, Samaen! Let’s compare our strength!” Hearing that, I wondered how I would do it. Then the bear and I spread out wings and we circled around each other in the sky, like eagles.

The bear circled in the sky many times, tens of times, so that I could not catch him. Oh, this irritating bear!

The bear finally escaped into the sky. So I became starlight and went up high in Heaven.

*Sake is traditional Japanese wine made from rice.

**Samaen became the Big Dipper (Seven Stars in the Constellation Ursa Major). In Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan, the stars of the Big Dipper circle around Polaris over the course of a night. So, the Ainu people, an aborigine nation in Hokkaido, see the Samaen Stars still chasing the bear in the sky all year round.

Tokuzou’s Star----the Discovery of the North Star’s Movement

Compiled by: Kouichi Kitao

Translated by: Ramsey Lundock and Norio Kaifu

Long ago, there was a great seafarer named Tokuzou, who sailed as a skilled captain for a shipping agency in Osaka, Japan. It is not clear where Tokuzou came from. Some people say he came from Kishiwada City, Osaka. Other people say he came from Hyogo, but Hyogo people say he came from Awaji Island. His skill at sailing was so well-known that it was said that when one’s boat came close to underwater rocks, one would call out “Tokuzou! Tokuzou!” and the boat would safely avoid the rocks. Even if a boat hit the rocks, one could call out “Tokuzou! Tokuzou!”, and the boat would leap safely over the stones.

One night Bonsan, a sea goblin, appeared in front of Tokuzou’s ship. The Bonsan asked Tokuzou, “What is the scariest thing in the world to you?” Tokuzou replied “It is Misogi”. Then the Bonsan quickly disappeared. The Bonsan wanted to defeat Tokuzou by turning into what Tokuzou feared, but because Misogi is a Buddhist purification ceremony, the Bonsan could not do it. According to other versions of the story, Tokuzou said that the scariest thing in the world for him was “big master” or “one square inch below your nose.”

Tokuzou always used the North Star (Polaris) to guide his boat. When the North Star was on his left, he knew he was going east. When he was facing the North Star, he was headed north. When he wanted to go south, he would put the North Star behind him. When he wanted to go west, he would keep the North Star on his right. Tokuzou fully understood that the North Star remains in the north sky and does not move around the sky like other stars. Tokuzou taught his young colleagues that this is why they could rely on the North Star, regardless of the season.

One day, while Tokuzou was on his ship, as usual, Tokuzou’s wife was sitting in her room where she had been sewing for a long time. She could see the North Star through the lattice window high in the wall. She imagined that Tokuzou was now sailing his ship, guided by that fixed North Star. To her surprise, she could not see the North Star again when she tried to view it after a long time. The star was behind the lattice of the window.

“I’ve heard that the North Star doesn’t move. But…..” She carefully repeated her observation and confirmed her conclusion: The North Star had moved. “The North Star had changed its position in the lattice window,” she convinced herself.

It wasn’t a big move. It had just moved the width of the wooden lattice in the window. But Tokuzou was at the sea, guiding his boat by the North Star. She became very worried as she thought about her husband.

When Tokuzou came back from the sea, the wife told him, “The North Star moved across the lattice window. When you are at sea, be very careful.”

Tokuzou didn’t believe that the North Star could move, so he decided to check it out for himself. There was a pine tree growing in Osaka’s harbor. He lined up the top of the tree with the North Star. “Just looking at the North Star, I can’t tell if it is moving or not,” he thought. But when Tokuzou aligned the North Star with the top of the tree one night, the place where he had to stand had moved by 3 inches. So he confirmed what his wife had found.

Different areas have different legends about how much the North Star moves. On Awaji Island, they say it moves one tile. In Osaka they say it moves 3 tiles.

Today we know that the North Star (Polaris) actually moves a bit in the sky, about a degree and a half. Even a small difference in angle may make a big difference in position when one sails for long distances. Therefore, after he discovered that the North Star does actually move, Tokuzou was more careful when he guided his boat.

(Commentary)

This is a traditional Japanese story told in 16-18 A.D. when Osaka was a central port of active trade throughout the Japanese islands.

"Murikabushi-Yunta": A Legend of the Okinawan people

Traditional song of the Okinawan people, Japan

Compiled by: Takeshi Miyaji

Translated by: Ramsey Lundock, Takeshi Miyaji and Norio Kaifu

Since long ago, government officials have collected a very heavy land tax from farmers living on the Yaeyama islands in Okinawa, the southernmost region in Japan. The farmers’ lives were very difficult, and they were poor, mainly because many pirates and thieves roamed around the Yaeyama islands.

Seeing that this was not right, the King of the Heavens ordered the Northern Seven Stars* to rule the Yaeyama islands. However, because the stars did not obey the King, they were banished and had to continually dance in the northen sky.

Next, the King of the Heavens ordered the Southern Seven Stars** to rule the islands. Once again, the stars did not follow the King’s order, and they were banished and required to keep dancing in the southen sky.

The King of the Heavens was very angry. All the stars felt frightened; they didn’t speak and avoided the King. Then, a small constellation of star,Murika-bushi***, went before the King and said, “I will undertake the job.”

The King was very surprised and asked Murika-bushi, "Can you do the job well, even though you are very little stars?

"Murika-bushi answered in a full voice, "Yes, I can!

"The king was pleased and ordered him to pass through the center of the sky. Therefore, Murika-bushi rises from the East Sea, passes through the center of the sky over the Yaeyama islands, and sets in the West Sea.

Since then, farmers have been able to plan their farming tasks by observing the position of these stars in the sky every evening. They knew the times for sowing and harvesting good crops. The wheat crops were so bountiful that the wheat stocks were packed together in the fields like a straw wall. The rice plants were like many pair beads. Millets were like gravels; the millet plants were like a cow's tail. The sweet potatoes were as large as bulls’ horns. The village could harvest many crops. The pirates and the thieves were gone. The farmers were still rich, even after they paid their annual tribute.

Farmers returning home after working on their farms always sang the song of "Murika-bushi-Yunta". The farmers said that their village was rich because they were able to know the times for sowing and harvesting wheat by observing the position of the "Murika-bushi" stars. The farmers were proud of the village where they lived, and they boasted of this custom for a long time.

Even today,"Murika-bushi-Yunta" is still sung in the Okinawa region.The Murika-bushi stars are known as the Pleiades in the Western world.

* “The orthern Seven Stars” are clearly the Big Dipper in the Constellation Ursa Major.

** “The Southern Seven Stars” might be the stars of the Southern Cross.

Tanabata and the Melon Field: A Japanese Legend about the 7th of July

Compiled by: Masami Furuya

Translated by: Ramsey Lundock and Norio Kaifu

One day, a young hunter went to a forest to hunt. He heard shrill voices and the sound of splashes from a lovely pond surrounded by trees. He stopped very quietly and carefully forwarded the lake, where he found beautiful girls bathing. When the hunter came closer, the girls were surprised and panicked. They put on their heavenly clothes, turned into white birds, and flew away. Since he had taken one of the garments and quickly hidden it, one of the girls could not escape. The girl was Ori-hime, the youngest daughter of the Lord of Heaven.

The hunter and Ori-hime got married and soon had two dear children. One day, the hunter went to town. While Ori-hime was working at home, she found something white on the ceiling. It was her heavenly garments, which the hunter had been hiding. When Ori-hime had the clothing in her hands, she missed her parents very much. She left a message for her husband and their children, and then she flew away to heaven. When the hunter returned to his home, he immediately noticed what had happened. Together with his children, he followed his wife into the sky.

The Lord of Heaven and the Empress, the parents of Ori-hime, were waiting in heaven for the hunter and children. They were very angry at him, because he had prevented their daughter from returning to the heaven. They offered him a big melon from the heavenly field and said, "Help yourself.” When the hunter cut the melon, a massive amount of water poured out from it. The water immediately pushed the hunter and children away from Ori-hime, flowed as a wide river, and became the Milky Way.

The hunter and his children saw Ori-hime standing alone across the Milky Way. The children said, “Father, if we remove the water with the ladle, we may be able to reach mother." They tried very hard to scoop up the water with a ladle. Meanwhile, Ori-hime was watching her husband and children and crying.

The Lord of Heaven and the Empress were deeply moved by them, so they allowed them to meet once per year on the night of July 7th. On that day, the hunter and his children wait on one side of the Milky Way to meet Ori-hime. Ori-hime also waits on the other side of the Milky Way. Ori-hime is Vega of the Constellation Lyra. The hunter is Altair of the Constellation Aquila and the two smaller stars on either side of Altair are their children. One can even see a small ladle near those three stars.

On the memorable night of July 7th which is called “Tana-bata*” in Japan, people offer beautiful bamboo decorations, colorful threads and clothes, writing brushes and Haiku (a short Japanese poem), and food, among other things, to those stars. The offerings celebrate their meeting, and people pray to those stars** for the skill of sewing and writing, or for other things that they are wishing for.

*“Tana-bata” is an old Japanese word that means weaving lady. “Ori-hime” also means weaving lady, but it derived from a Chinese word many years ago.

**The original simple version of this story was provably introduced from China to Japan in 7-8 A.D., during the Nara Dynasty. Since then, for more than 1300 years, the Japanese people have loved this love story. It became so popular that many different versions were produced from time to time. We have presented here one of the most popular versions of the Japanese story of the 7th of July.

***For more details about the Tana-bata festival in Japan, see page 166.

Tanabata Festival

Written by: Masami Furuya

Translated by: Norio Kaifu

「Tanabata is a festival celebrating the night of meeting of Vega (Constellation Lyra) and Artair (Constellation Aquila) across the Milky Way, which is supposed to happen on 7th of Jury, only once a year. On the day the Tanabata-bamboo beautifully decorated with paper ornaments are elected at schools, homes and at shopping streets. Children enjoy to hung up the bamboo strips of paper with a variety of prayers written on them, and to make offering toys, paper-crafts and foods etc. to two stars.

This book contains tree different versions of the 7th of July legends; from China, Vietnam and Japan. The original story was formed un China more than 2000 years ago. The custom to celebrate the 7th of July became very popular in Chinese Tong Dynasty as the “Night of Skill” because ladies asked Vega for better skill of weaving. This custom was introduced to Japan (7C-8C A.D.) and has been enjoyed at the Imperial Court of Nara Dynasty as one of the annual events. From so many poems of “Tana-bata” in the “Manyou-shu”, a huge ancient collection of Japanese poem “Tanka”, we see how much they enjoyed the love stories of two stars, Vega and Altair.

The 7th of July legend was accepted in Japan so well because there already had been an older Japanese legend of “Tana-bata-tsume”, a weaving lady who prepares the cloths of gods. So in Japan the weaving lady, Vega, was called as “Tana-bata”. The custom of “Tana-bata” celebration spread over people and mixed with farmers festivals and Bon festival (Buddhism festival of the Dead) etc. 」

In the Edo period spanning the 17th and 18th centuries, the Tanabata festival became very popular among the Japanese people. During the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese decorated bamboo by putting colorful attractive threads on it. The Japanese considerably elaborated this custom. In the Edo period, people erected Tanabata bamboos as high as possible on their roofs and they decorated them with colorful paper. That was a magnificent sight. In the evening all families got together to watch the stars and the Milky Way, and they enjoyed listing to the old stories and short poems.

Although most of this custom has been lost in China, the Japanese people still enjoy the 7th of July story and celebrate the Tanabata Festival every year. However, the days around 7th of July in the current, new, calendar are during the rainy season in most areas of Japan. Therefore, many people tend to celebrate the Tanabata Festival according to the old calendar. The old calendar’s date 7th of July is in August in the new calendar, so the children can enjoy the beautiful stars during the clear weather of summer. There are also lights-out activities in the cities for this wonderful time to enjoy the stars and an ancient love story.

Iwan-no-chyu: The origin of the Pleiades

Traditional poetry of the Ainu people, Hokkaido, Japan.

Compiled by: Kouichi Kitao

Transrated by: Ramzey Lundock and Norio Kaifu

Once upon a time, there were seven sisters and three brothers. The sisters were very lazy. They played continually from morning to evening. They did not work for their family at all. Meanwhile, the three brothers worked very hard, plowing their fields from early morning to late evening.

The brothers asked their sisters, "Please help us to plow the fields."

The sisters replied, "No, we won't. If we plow the fields, our hands will get dirty. We will never do such dirty work." One brother said, "Don't worry. You can wash your hands with river water." The sisters said, "Oh! How terrifying! We could fall into the river if we washed our hands there." Another brother said, "No problem. It's easy to grab grasses on the riverside so that you would never be swept away." The sisters replied, "Oh! The grasses could cut our hands." Finally the sisters said, "We want to become stars, because they have nothing to do".

The three brothers got so angry that they ran after their seven sisters to catch them. The seven sisters got into a boat and escaped from their brothers. The three brothers got into a boat and chased after them. However, it was hard to catch up with their sisters’ boat, because they had seven rowers. Eventually the seven sisters rowed their boat up into the starlit sky. The three brothers followed them into the sky. When the seven sisters reached to the western sky, a kamui, a god of the Ainu people appeared, in front of the seven sisters and said, "How lazy you are! Halt!" Their boat stopped immediately.

The kamui turned the seven sisters into a group of small, faint stars called “Iwan-no-chyu”, the Pleiades. As punishment for their laziness, the kamui let them rise into the sky when people finished their work in the fields and cold winter approached. The youngest sister was ashamed of herself and covered her face with hands. Therefore, one of seven stars became unable to see. The kamui praised the three brothers for their hard works, and turned them into a straight line of three bright stars, which are the three stars of Orion.

Amano-Iwado -- The regend of the Solar Eclipse

Complied by: Takao Ibaraki

Translated by: Takao Ibaraki and Norio Kaifu

This very old Japanese legend expresses the beliefs of ancient Japanese people who prayed for the return of the Sun after a frightening solar eclipse.

A long time ago, when heaven and earth were separate, the gods Izanaki and Izanami were born in heaven. Together they created together the islands of Japan by twirling the unstable ocean with a long jade-adorned halberd. Then they gave birth to many gods and finally had the three great gods: Ama-terasu, Tuku-yomi and Susano-o. Izanaki ordered Ama-terasu, the Sun god, to preside over heaven and ordered Tuku-yomi, the Moon god, to be in charge of the night world. The youngest brother Susano-o was ordered to supervise the ocean. However, Susano-o missed his mother Izanami who had died and was in the land of the dead. Susano-o a violent, powerful god, continued to cry loudly. His voice caused mountain trees to die. His deep grief formed storms over the world. He destroyed rice fields and violated shrines. Even the ruling Sun-god Ama-terasu feared Susano-o and could not take a stand against him.

Finally, a shocking incident occurred. Susano-o broke the roof of the house where Ama-terasu stayed for sacred weaving, and he threw the hide of a horse into the room. One of weavers was so surprised that she stuck herself with a shuttle and died. The god Ama-terasu became very angry and grief-stricken. She went into in a cave in heaven called Ama-no-Iwato and completely covered its entrance with a heavy stone door. Because Ama-terasu, the Sun god had withdrawn to the cave, the whole world lost its light and heat. Dense darkness covered the world, and all kinds of evil and disasters started to strike it.

Other gods gathered and discussed how to bring Ama-terasu back from the Ama-no-Iwato to the outer world. The gods placed a large mirror in front of the cave and started a dancing party. A cheerful goddess named Ame-no-uzume performed an amusing dance on the stage, which was the bottom of a wooden bucket turned upside down. The gods laughed, clapped, and cheered at her performance. Ama-terasu became curious about the noise outside, so she opened the stone door slightly and asked Ama-no-uzume what was going on. Ame-no-uzume answered, “Because a god nobler than you visited us, so we are celebrating".

"A god nobler than I?" Ama-terasu said as she hesitantly stepped from the standing outside, she saw a dazzling god the most beautiful god she had ever seen. What Amaterasu actually saw was her reflection in a mirror. At this point, the strong god Tajikara-o, who had been waiting for this moment, immediately removed the stone door, grabbed Ama-terasu’s hand and took her out of the cave. The world was filled with light and heat again.

Omorosoushi

Traditional song of Okinawa people, Japan

Compiled by: Zenchu Nakahara

Translated by: Norio Kaifu

In ancient Okinawa, paddlers shout this traditional song when they row the boat.

Row! The crescent is shining in the sky.

Row! The goddess carries her beloved bow.

Row! The evening star is shining in the sky.

Row! The goddess positions her golden arrow.

Row! The six stars are shining in the sky.

Row! The goddess adorns herself with her beloved comb.

Row! The heavenly river is shining in the sky.

Row! The goddess dresses herself with her beloved sash.