Momotaro

Momotarō ( Japanese 桃太郎 , dt. About: "peach boy") is a popular figure in Japanese folk beliefs. According to legend, Momotaro hatched from a peach .

Legend

In a Japanese village lived a couple who longed for children. One day a large and beautiful peach was floating on the water of the nearby river, and the wife who noticed it caught it and brought it to her home. But when the two cut the peach in half, a little boy jumped out of it. They called him Momotarō, which means peach boy. The couple were very fond of and well cared for their new son, and Momotarō grew up becoming strong and clever. As an adult, he goes on an adventure to protect people from monsters . He is supported by a monkey , a pheasant and a dog .

today

Momotarō is especially revered in Okayama and on Shikoku Island . The subject is often dealt with in popular literature and films.

The pheasant accompanying Momotarō was eponymous for the football club Fagiano Okayama ( Italian Fagiano 'pheasant' ).

Momotarō is used in the name of many companies. Among other things, high-quality, hand-made jeans products have been manufactured in Okayama since 2005 under the name Momotaro Jeans . Characteristic are a leather patch with an image of Momotarō and the pink selvedge thread on the inside of the jeans, which represents the peach of the legend.

The German composer Marius Felix Lange created the opera Momotaro, the peach boy based on the legend in 2019 .

literature

Ralph F. McCarthy; Ioe Saito: The Adventure of Momotaro, the Peach Boy . Kodansha's Children's Classics, 2000, ISBN 4-7700-2098-8

Web links

Momotaro - Folk Legends - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan. Retelling of the legend at Kids Web Japan of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In: web-japan.org. Retrieved April 1, 2019(English).
Momotaro, the boy who came out of the peach. Via the Momotaro shrine at Inuyama, Nagoya. In: soviet1917.wordpress.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019

Individual evidence

↑ Darius Lalier: The History Of And Behind Story Momotaro jeans. In: heddels.com. April 17, 2013, accessed April 1, 2019 .
^ History. In: momotarojeans.net. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .
^ "Momotaro, the peach boy" Philharmonie Luxembourg. In: philharmonie.lu. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .

[1] Darius Lalier: The History Of And Behind Story Momotaro jeans. In: heddels.com. April 17, 2013, accessed April 1, 2019 .

[2] History. In: momotarojeans.net. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .

[3] "Momotaro, the peach boy" Philharmonie Luxembourg. In: philharmonie.lu. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .