The Japanese Story Project: “Hanasaka Jijii”

Translation by Kunimasa Nerome
Edited by Jenny Auld

Hanasaka Jijii, a famous and much-beloved folktale in Japan, presents the story of two old couples, one good and one evil. The good old couple have a dog, Shiro, whom they love as the child they never had.

Shiro is no ordinary dog. He seems to possess the ability to bestow supernatural gifts on the owners who cherish him. When the selfish couple next door become jealous, they try to force Shiro to perform the same feats of magical blessing for them — and it does not go according to plan.

The name Hanasaka Jijii translates literally to the phrase “flower-blossoming old man.” This refers to the final act of the story, in which Shiro grants his beloved owner the power to make dead trees burst into bloom, even in the depths of winter.

This week, Legible’s Japanese Story Project team, translator Kunimasa Nerome and editor Jenny Auld, are pleased to offer our blog readers a sneak peek at the whole story, rather than just our usual excerpt! In honour of spring and new life, of the Legible public beta launch, of AAPI heritage month, in solidarity with the Stop Asian Hate movement, and with thanks for your support along the way, we invite you to read and enjoy the entire story of Hanasaka Jijii.

For more information and updates on Legible’s Japanese Story Project, follow Legible on our social media platforms: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Hanasaka Jijii: The Flower-Blossoming Old Man
(Translation based on the original version by Masao Kusuyama)

Part One

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman. They were an honest and kind couple. They had never had any children. Instead, they cherished their dog, Shiro,* as though he were their own child. Shiro, in turn, cherished the old man and the old woman.

Next door to the kind old couple lived a greedy old man and woman. They were envious because their neighbours had such a wonderful dog and so they treated them with contempt.

One day, when the honest old man went out to cultivate his field as usual, Shiro followed him. The dog explored here and there, sniffing the ground, and after a few minutes he trotted over to the old man and took his sleeve in his mouth. He pulled the startled old man to a nettle tree on the edge of the field and pushed at the soil beneath the tree with his front paws.

“Dig here, wan wan*! Dig here, wan wan!” Shiro barked.

“What is it?” said the old man. “What’s going on?” He was a little confused, but he nevertheless dug down at the spot that Shiro had shown him.

As he dug — kachiri*! — the old man hit something hard with his hoe. He peered down into the hole and spotted something shiny at the bottom.

He kept digging, and soon a whole pile of koban* came bursting out!

The old man was overcome with joy. He excitedly called the old woman over, and together they carried the heavy load of koban home.

Thus the honest old couple suddenly became wealthy.

Part 2

The greedy old couple heard what happened, and they were jealous. They visited the honest old couple and demanded to borrow Shiro so that they could check their field. The honest old couple were so kindhearted, they let Shiro go with them.

Shiro was unwilling to go, however, and dug his heels in. The greedy old man tied a rope around Shiro’s neck and pulled him harshly to his field.

“There must be treasure buried under my field somewhere also! Where is it? Where is it?” The greedy old man yanked on Shiro’s neck even more harshly.

In his misery, Shiro was scratching the surface of the soil in a particular spot, and the greedy old man misunderstood.

“Oh it’s here? Good, good!”

The greedy old man started digging; however, he could only find small stones and broken pieces of kawara.* He kept digging and a foul-looking sludge came out, along with a terrible smell.

“Ah! It stinks!” the greedy old man screamed and covered his nose. In his rage, he swung his hoe and struck Shiro’s head — khyan!

Poor Shiro cried out once, and died.

The honest old couple were grief-stricken beyond imagination. But there was nothing they could do. In tears, they took Shiro’s body home, dug a hole in a corner of their yard, and buried him with tender care. Instead of a gravestone, they planted a small pine tree on Shiro’s grave.

The pine tree grew very rapidly and became a towering tree.

“This is a memento of Shiro,” the old man said.

The old man cut the pine tree and made an usu* from its wood. “Shiro loved mochi a lot,” he said to his wife. “Let’s make some mochi in memory of him.”

The old man put some rice in the usu, and together they started pounding the mochi — pentarakokko . . . pentarakokko . . .

The strange thing was that the more they pounded the rice, the more fresh rice appeared in the usu. After a while, their kitchen was overflowing with rice.

Part 3

The greedy old couple heard about this incident and became jealous once again. In their audacity, they came to borrow the usu. Once again, the innocent old couple could not refuse and lent the usu to the greedy old couple.

As soon as they got home, the greedy old man put some rice in the usu and started pounding the rice — pentarakokko . . . pentarakokko . . .

However, instead of more rice, a filthy sludge came pouring out, accompanied by a terrible stench. In a few moments, the disgusting stuff overflowed the usu and filled the greedy couple’s entire kitchen.

The greedy old man flew into a rage once again, broke the usu into pieces, and used it as firewood.

When the honest old man came to get his usu back, he was struck with sorrow to find it reduced to ash. However, he could do nothing about it, and, downcast, he collected the ash in a basket and carried it home with heavy steps.

“Old woman, Shiro’s pine tree has been turned into ash,” he told his wife, sadly. He carried the ashes to the corner of the backyard where Shiro’s grave was.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a warm wind blew into the basket, lifted the ash into the air, and scattered it all around the backyard. Strangely enough, the dead plum tree and cherry tree suddenly burst into bloom wherever the ash landed on their branches. Despite the winter season everywhere else, the kind old couple’s garden became a lively scene of spring.

The old man started clapping his hands with joy.

“This is wonderful! Why don’t we use these miraculous ashes to make the trees around our neighbourhood bloom for everyone?”

The old man carried the basket out into the road and scattered the ashes as he walked. Along the way he chanted:

Hanasaka jijii, Hanasaka jijii*
The best in Japan!
Hanasaka jijii
Blooming flowers on dead trees!

As he chanted and scattered the ash, he was seen by the lord of a great house who was returning from hunting with his vassals.

The lord called out to the old man: “I say, aren’t you novel! Alright, show me how you can put flowers on that dead cherry tree.” The lord indicated a nearby tree.

The old man went up to the cherry tree and chanted once more:

Golden blossom sarasarasara*!
Silver blossom sarasarasara!

As the old man chanted and tossed the ash onto the branches, the cherry tree burst into full bloom.

The lord was amazed. “This is fascinating and mysterious!” He praised the old man and gave him a generous reward.

The greedy old man heard about this and, once again, got jealous. He gathered up

some bits of the leftover ash into a basket and imitated the honest old man. He went out into the neighbourhood and chanted:

Hanasaka jijii, Hanasaka jijii
The best in Japan!
Hanasaka jijii
Blooming flowers on dead trees!

As the greedy old man shouted, the same lord, with his retinue, also happened upon him.

“You must be that Hanasaka jijii from before. Show me again how you cause the flowers to bloom!” and he pointed to a tree.

The greedy old man swaggered up to the tree with his basket and chanted in the same manner as the honest old man:

Golden blossom sarasarasara!
Silver blossom sarasarasara!

However, not a single flower bloomed. In the next moment, a ferocious wind came and blew the ash in all directions, and everything became chaotic. The ash flew straight into the eyes and noses of the lord and his vassals. Everyone was sneezing, scratching their eyes, and shaking ash out of their hair.

The lord was extremely angry. “You must be a fake Hanasaka jijii! What a villain you are!” He had the greedy old man arrested and tied up.

The greedy old man shouted in protest, but in the end, he was taken to the jail as a proper punishment for all of his crimes.

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Shiro — lit. “white”

Wan wan — onomatopoeia for the sound of a dog barking

Kachiri — onomatopoeia for striking a hard object

Koban — oval-shaped Japanese gold coin

Kawara — a type of brick used for roofing in traditional houses

Usu — a large wooden bowl for making mochi rice cake

Pentarakokko . . . pentarakokko — onomatopoeia for the action and sound of pounding mochi

Hanasaka jijii — lit. “flower-blooming old man”; i.e., a hero who brings new life

Sarasarasara — onomatopoeia for the action of sprinkling (in this case, the ash)

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Kunimasa Nerome ( 根路銘 国真 ) was born and raised in Okinawa (沖縄), Japan. He is in his fourth year of study in political science at The University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. He loves bicycles, raccoons, and ramen, not necessarily in that order.

Jenny Auld was born in Vancouver, Canada. She has an honours degree in linguistics from UBC, with a specialization in the history and structure of the English language. She has written and edited for various publications, and is also an exhibiting artist, with three solo shows at Art Sui Gallery in Taipei, Taiwan. She likes ginger milk tea, riding her bike, and watching way too many Korean dramas.