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Hanasakajijii




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jousha



Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 205
Location: the floating world
PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:18 am Reply with quote
The only reason I have heard of Hanasakajijii was from the amazing Michigan-based band, Anathallo (they deserve props for the Japanese influence throughout this album).

This is a summary of the story inside Anathallo's album cover:
Hanasakajijii is an old Japanese folk tale about an old couple that find a stray dog; this dog digs up treasure in their yard and they celebrate. A neighbor, fuming in jealousy, tries to get the dog to do the same in his yard; it only finds garbage (slugs, broken rake, etc.) so the neighbor kills it and then burns it. The neighborhood is in a major drought; out of the area where the dog is buried, a great wind blows. The old man scoops up the ashes, causing the wind to stop, and blows it into his yard. The old man climbs a tree tossing the ashes out, bringing water and life. The jealous neighbor tries to do likewise, but he fails.

I found another summary of the story put into an old 5-minute short film linked from ANN (top-left image):

Quote:
[T]he 5-minute-long The Grandfather Who Makes The Flowers Bloom (Hanasakajijii, 1928), based on a tale of an old man who spreads ashes on the roots of a dying cherry tree, causing it to bloom and buried treasure to appear beneath its roots. He is spied upon by an avaricious neighbour, who reports what has happened to his landlord. In search of easy gains, the landlord tries doing the same thing. However, the ashes blow into his face making him look a fool in front of everyone.


My questions: Are there any recent animes that have taken a more obvious allusion to this tale? Are there any recent retellings via anime form? Is there any access to the old short from 1928? Have any of you ever heard of such a tale? Is there anything any of you know about this that would help create a better understanding of it? What other famous/folk tales are told in the Japanese culture that you know of?

I just found the Hanasakajijii story too interesting to let it go unnoticed--even if it isn't some newer crowd-pleasing anime to the likes of Naruto. I really want to see the anime short, too (It's the "film geek" in me).
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-gecko-



Joined: 26 Apr 2005
Posts: 285
Location: Near Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:57 am Reply with quote
I've never heard of that one, but the one I can think of off the top of my head is The Crane Wife which has over 200 variations in Japan. here's a summary.

This story has been used in numerous anime, the one I can remember is an episode of Cosplay Complex Shocked

I'm sure there are many other folktales that have been used/made into anime as well.
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CyberViper



Joined: 16 Dec 2005
Posts: 218
Location: Matsumoto, Nagano Japan
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:43 pm Reply with quote
This may or may not be worth mentioning, but this tale is also mentioned...though not to a great extent...in 2x2=Shinobuden. After their meal is destroyed by (I think lightning), the powder from the meal is used to create beautiful flowers. However, only one person can create flowers whereas everyone else who tries ends up with something else...or some horrible sort of plant.

They mention the folk-tale as well in reference to what's going on with the powder and flowers. But the show is mostly comedy so it's not really going to provide any great insight or anything.
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