Kintaro
Kintarō ( Japanese 金太郎 ) is a Japanese legend ( 昔 話 , Mukashibanashi ), a fairy tale ( 童話 , Dōwa ) about an animal-loving boy with supernatural powers who was raised by a Yamamba on Mount Ashigara . He became, according to stories, as an adult Sakata Kintoki ( 坂 田 金 時 ), who was in the service of Minamoto no Yorimitsu ( 源 頼 光 ). Its story is a popular motif in Kabuki and Nō theaters. On Children's Day , it is customary to put up a doll of his with the wish and hope that the sons will become just like Kintaro: courageous, strong and sincere.
Legend
There are many legends about the origin of Kintaro , the most famous of which are:
- Kintarō is the son of Princess Yaegiri ( 八 重 桐 ), who lived in a village near Mount Kintoki .
- Kintarō is the son of a princess from Sakata who was forced to flee because of a quarrel between her husband and his uncle. She raises Kintaro in the forests of Mount Kintoki .
- Kintaro's mother abandoned him in the mountains and he was raised there by a Yamamba.
- Kintarō's mother is a Yamamba who was impregnated on Mount Ashigara by a red dragon in the shape of a lightning bolt.
All the legends agree that Kintarō was born in May 956 and that he was strong, plump and only wearing a red apron that read Kin ( 金 , gold) and a huge double ax on his back. Kintarō had a lovely, carefree youth, which he spent making friends with the forest animals and fighting with them or with Japanese mythical creatures like Onis and Tengus . The best-known fights were against a bear, which then became his mount, and against the Oni Shuten-dōji ( 酒 呑 童子 ), whom he captured because he spread fear and terror in the region. Then Minamoto no Yorimitsu should have noticed him and he became one of his Shitennō ( 四 天王 , literally: Four Kings of Heaven ). From that moment on he was known as Kintoki Sakata and died on January 11, 1012.
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The best known and most child-friendly version is:
- “ A long time ago, a little boy named Kintaro lived with his mother on Mount Ashigara. He was a very strong boy since he was born and he wore a red apron made by his mother, with "Kin" written on it in gold. The little boy often played outside in the woods with his friends, the animals. They were hares, monkeys, wild boars and a bear. All of these animals liked Kintaro. They loved to play sumo wrestling , with Kintaro always winning. Even the bear, proud of his great strength, lost to him.
- One day, Kintaro took an ax and sat on the bear's back and went up the mountain with his friends. They came to a ravine over which there was no bridge, only a large bare tree stood on the cliff. The bear tried to knock the tree over, but couldn't. So Kintaro tried it, and he made it. This was seen by a samurai who then spoke to Kintarō and asked him if he would join him and become one of his four cornerstones (an indication of the appointment of Kinotoki Sakata to one of the Shitennō of Minamoto no Yorimitsu). Kintaro was pleased with the question and ran to his mother to inform her that he wanted to go to Kyoto with the samurai to become a samurai himself. His mother was pleased and told him that his father was also a great samurai and that Kintaro shouldn't worry about her.
- Kintarō became Kintoki Sakata, a famous samurai and he brought his mother to Kyoto, where they led a happy life. "
backgrounds
To what extent the story about Kintarō and the anecdote about Kintoki Sakata are linked, unfortunately, it is no longer possible to determine precisely today. What is certain is that Kintoki Sakata lived and was a Shitennō from Minamoto no Yorimitsu. Kintarō is portrayed as a very wild child who behaved very unsocially towards other children, but made friends with the animals, whose respect it sometimes had to earn in a fight with them. This behavior can be explained by the fact that in most of the legend versions Kintarō grew up in the wilderness, in some narrative versions Minamoto no Yorimitsu met him leaning against a stone in the wilderness or in his home village near Mount Kintoki .
Reception of the Kintaro figure
The figure of Kintaro is still a very popular figure; there is a manga with the name: Golden Boy and since the Edo period sweets in the form of the Kintaro figure. Furthermore, characters based on Kintaro appear in many manga or anime.
Characters that can be traced back to Kintarō appear in these works, among others:
- In the manga Gin Tama (the main character Gintoki Sakata is based on Kintarō)
- In the anime Otogizōshi (Kintarō is one of the main characters)
- In the manga The Prince of Tennis (Kintarō Tōyama, a supporting character, has superhuman strength just like Kintarō)
- In the manga Yū Yū Hakusho (Makintaro from Team Uraotogi reminds of Kintarō)
- In the manga One Piece (Sentōmaru is very similar to Kintarō in demeanor and appearance)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The fairy tale in English
- ↑ Directory of Konjaku Monogatarishū in Japanese
- ↑ Limited preview in Google Book Search, excerpt from a book about the life of Kintoki Sakata in English
- ↑ Picture by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka about the meeting ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The fairy tale in English
