Translations and Psychoanalytical Interpretations of Selected Tales from Konjakumonoga Tari-Shu

TRANSLATIONS AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SELECTED TALES FROM KONJAKUMONOGA TARI-SHU

by

AKEMI TAKIZAWA

B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1996 B.Ed., The University of British Columbia, 1997

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEBREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

in

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

(Department of Asian Studies)

We accept thesis as conforming to the required standard

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

May 2002

© Akemi Takizawa, 2002 UBC Rare Books and Special Collections - Thesis Authorisation Form Page 1 of I

In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. -I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this-thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or .her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission.

Department of

The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada

Date

http://www.library.ubc.ca/spcoil/thesauth.htmi 5/20/02 ABSTRACT

I have translated and analyzed eight selected episodes from Konjaku Monogatari-

Shu (believed to have been compiled around 1120 A.D.). The common themes of these episodes are how sexuality and gender relations are explicitly and implicitly expressed. I have chosen psychoanalytical approaches (mainly Freudian) to look closely at these episodes through the Konjaku author(s)/compliler(s)'s perceptions in order to better understand the plight of women in the late Ffeian period. In the male/female relationships portrayed in the episodes, women are often depicted as obedient and submissive to their husbands and lovers. If a woman exhibited more assertive behaviour however, it was seen as a force working against a harmonious marriage. Thus, marriage as depicted in the episodes is presented as a miserable relationship in which women are trapped.

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction 16:38 How a Man in Kii Province Did not Believe in Buddhism and Received Earthly Retribution

16:38 Analysis

20:10 How a Palace Guard, in the Reign of the Emperor Yozei, Travelled to Collect Gold.

20:10 Analysis

20:37 How Parents, Blinded by Treasure, Had Their Daughter Killed by an Ogre

20:37 Analysis

27:22 How Ki no Tosuke, of Mino Province, Saw a female Spirit and Eventually Died

27:22 Analysis

31:34 About 'Chopstick Grave' in Yamato Province

31:34 Analysis

24:9 A Doctor Cured the Woman Who Was Raped by a Snake

29:39 A Snake That Saw a Woman's Vagina Had Lust for Her Crawling Out of a Hole, but Was Killed by a Blade

29:40 The Snake That Saw a Monk's Penis While He Was Snoozing,

Swallowing His Semen, and Died

24:9, 29:39, 29:40 Analysis

Conclusion Bibliography

iii ABBREVIATIONS

NKBZ Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshu

NBJJ Nihon Bukkyo Jinmei Jiten

KDJ Kokushi Daijiten

KKJ Kadokawa Kogo Jiten

IKJ Iwanami Kogo Jiten

NKSJ Nihon Kodai Shizoku-jinmei Jiten

KD Kogo Daijiten

NZJ Nihon Zokushin Jiten

B^mmm

iv Introduction

Konjaku Monogatari-shu (hereafter referred to as Konjaku) is believed to have been compiled around 1120 A.D., as suggested by Ikegami Jun'ichi in his book Konjaku

Monogatari-shu no Sekai: Chusei no Akebono.1 This was a few decades after the Retired

Emperor Shirakawa began his cloister government and when its political power was at its peak. According to Kunisaki Fumimaro, it was Shirakawa who ordered Konjaku

complied as a textbook for his officers' education, under his new governmental system.

Konjaku, for the most part, teaches its readers Buddhist lessons and morals, and that is

the basis for the hypothesis that its author/compiler(s) had a profound understanding of

Buddhism or were (a) Buddhist monk(s). Some argue that Minamoto no Takakuni

(1004-1077)3 was the author of Konjaku based on citations in literary works such as

Yakumo misho and the official document Honcho Shoseki Mokuroku that the author of

both Uji Dainagon Monogatari and Ujishui Monogatari,4 was Takakuni.5 There is,

however, no evidence to prove that Uji Dainagon Monogatari is identical to Konjaku or

that the former is the origin of the latter. Conversely, Konno Toru claims that the author

could not be Takakuni or any one of his contemporaneous aristocrats because of a

number of obvious errors in the text that any aristocrat would not have made.6 Thus the

answer to the question of authorship remains a mystery.

The Konjaku author/compiler(s) put together more than one thousand stories,

many of which had been passed down in oral tradition, with some chosen from

7 8

antecedents such as Nihon Rydi-ki and Sanbo Ekotoba. Both Nihon Ryoi-ki and Sanbo

Ekotoba are collections of Buddhist stories, and two-thirds of the tales contained in

Konjaku are about Buddhism. Others appear to be myths, actual incidents such as murders and robberies, and rumours. Each story ends with either a Buddhist moral or the author/compiler(s)'s impression of it. The author/compiler(s) concludes each story with a comment such as that women are jealous beings, or that one should not be greedy. In this way, even uneducated people could understand and follow Buddhist teachings.

As well, these stories represent fragments of the social, political, emotional, and most importantly for the purpose of this paper, psychological life of the people of those days. Bruno Bettelheim applies psychoanalysis to typical Western fairytales and points out to his readers psychoanalytical interpretations of each of his selected tales.9 He maintains that fairy tales help children's psychological development. Contrarily, Maria

Tatar states that there are two interpreting communities to fairly tales, namely children and their parents, and every retelling and/or reinterpreting of a tale done by adults is recreating the tale according to their own agenda. She opposes Bettelheim's psychoanalytical interpretation of stories by claiming that "[the stories that he chose to analyze] could be harnessed into service to support Freudian oedipal plots that position the child as transgressor whose deserved punishment provides a lesson for unruly children."10 This challenge notwithstanding, I will use Bettelheim's psychoanalytical approach in this paper to look at selected episodes from Konjaku to reveal what each episode could possibly mean on an unconscious level, so that one might be able to have some insight into the patriarchal society in which the author/compiler(s) lived, as reflected in the episodes written. I will also not neglect pertinent historical and socio- cultural background of that time, as Tatar points out, as these tales are analyzed. The

Konjaku author/compiler(s) chose certain stories, and each was told in a particular way by which he consciously as well as unconsciously decided to tell it. Laura Mulvey points

2 out that "film reflects, reveals and even plays on the straight, socially established interpretation of sexual difference."11 In the late Heian period when there were no films available, story telling must have played a similar role. Surprisingly, some stories contain details that one can easily visualize, such as a woman's body and clothing. Some stories from Konjaku might have had a similar effect on its readers as modern films do on their audience.

A few scholars, though, doubt the validity of the application of psychoanalytic methods of analysis to non-European cultures. One of them is Miyamoto Tadao. He offers, in his article "The Japanese and Psychoanalysis," several reasons why psychoanalysis has not yet taken root in Japan, focusing on its incompatibility with the

Japanese psyche.12 He claims that Japanese society is matriarchal, not patriarchal, as was the case where psychoanalysis originated. Thus, there is no strong conflict between a child and his/her father, and therefore the Oedipus complex has no place to sprout. The second reason Miyamoto presents is that there are not as many sexual restrictions or constrictions in Japan as in the West. He further notes, "homosexual desires are given abundant opportunities for satisfaction in Japan."13 His last reason is the ambivalence of the borderline between "the conscious (ego) and the unconscious (id)" for the Japanese.

He argues that there is no need to be psychoanalyzed if one's id surfaces as in the

Japanese personality.

There are other scholars who tend to agree with psychoanalysis being applied to

the Japanese, but who insist on a few necessary modifications. Kosawa Heisaku, who

was one of the early psychoanalysts in Japan, studied in Vienna for a year, and visited

Freud twice during his stay there. His article, "Two kinds of guilty consciousness (Ajase

3 Complex)" proposes a theory for the Japanese, which he termed the Ajase complex,14 to

replace Freud's Oedipus complex.15 Kosawa claims in his article that there are two kinds

of guilty consciousness in children, namely "Zaiaku-Kan (sense of guilt)" and "Zange-

shin (penitent heart)" found in Jodo-shin-shu,16 whose thought might be closer in the

Japanese psyche than in a Christian-based European psyche.17 Children, in Kosawa's

theory, develop a sense of guilt after committing some wrong. Then, as they are

forgiven, a higher sense of guilt is recognized, which Kosawa identifies as a penitent heart.18

Okonogi Keigo summarizes Kosawa's theory of the Ajase Complex as being based on the mutual forgiveness between a mother and her son, such that it leads them to a restoration of oneness. This feeling of forgiveness can be found in day-to-day life in

Japanese society, which contrasts with the Western patriarchal concept of punishment and expiation.19 Freud's Oedipus complex however, is based on the concept where a fear of castration, which represents punishment for incest and patricide, rules one's behaviour in a society. A significant difference between the Ajase and Oedipus

Complexes is that the central issue of Oedipus's desire is laid on killing the father (as a man) for the love toward the mother (as a woman), while Ajase's murderous intent originates in his anger toward his mother who betrays him by being a selfish woman instead of a nurturing mother.

Doi Takeo is another psychoanalyst who sees distinctions within the Japanese social structure and developed his theory of amae I dependency relevant to the Japanese psyche. He points out that the important concept in understanding how the Japanese mentality works is amae or "the dependency relationship" and omote / ura or "the dual

4 self-structure of a public and a highly private self." According to Doi, neither Freud himself nor neo-Freudians emphasized this tendency of amae I dependency in their theory regarding childhood psychological development. He further suggests the reason why this tendency has not been studied in Europe and North America is an inadequacy of the concept amae I dependency in European languages.24 Doi states that while the concept amae does exist in European and North American cultures, it is a much more

significant characteristic in Japanese culture since amae is an everyday term understood by all. Furthermore, many other words are used in day-to-day life to express this amae psychology. Conversely, it is difficult to enunciate the meaning of amae in European languages or it takes many words to explain it.

Doi began to consider the amae psychology when he first experienced some cultural differences between the United States and Japan in 1950 as he started studying psychology in America. He defends his theory by stating that amae psychology was developed in order to understand the Japanese psyche from a Japanese perspective, rather than from a Western theory.26 Sakurai Tetsuo, a social scientist, expresses his critical opinions on Doi's Amae theory and declares that Doi's success in having the theory widely accepted is largely due to the boom of "Nihon-jin Ron, " or Japanese person theory, which is any theory based on the idea that Japanese society/culture is unique and distinct from other culture.

Doi's theory has also been criticized by others, such as Alan Roland, a psychoanalyst who studied the concept of the self in India and Japan in comparison with the self in the United States. He questions, in his article "How Universal Is

Psychoanalysis? The Self in India, Japan, and the United States," the universality of

5 psychoanalysis as ego-psychology whose concept was developed in the United States where individualism is rooted. He suggests that in order to psychoanalytically compare people from very different cultures, such as Japan, India, and the United States, it is essential to integrate both psychoanalytic universalism and relativism that is suitable within the target culture different from Western individualism.28 Roland criticizes Doi's amae I dependency theory by pointing out that Doi entirely ignores psychoanalytic universals and focuses on his own relativistic categories that do not offer standards to compare with other cultures.

Another major opposition to the potential usage of psychoanalysis in analyzing

Konjaku focuses on the question of whether or not late Heian society was patriarchal.

Was the society in which Konjaku was compiled matriarchal as Miyamoto claims?30

Prior to the late Heian period the society seemed matriarchal; however, by the late Heian period, when Konjaku was compiled, a solid patriarchal structure had been established.

According to William H. McCullough, there was a significant shift in marital residence systems for the aristocracy from uxorilocal, duolocal and neolocal marriages to neolocal exclusively in the early 12th century.34 This change greatly affected gender relations and the power between them. Prior to this era, in uxorilocal marriage, an aristocratic husband would live at his wife's parents' residence and be referred to by a title which identified his place of residence. This matrilineal descent of residential names, as applied to son-in-laws, led to a discontinuity in male lineage. Moreover, in uxorilocal marriage, not only the residence, but also almost all property would be

35 inherited by daughters, not sons. This resulted in a further strengthened position for women within that social context. In an aristocratic society such as that of the Heian

6 period where polygyny was the rule, divorce unrestricted, and a man's financial responsibility unregulated by law, it was indispensable for women to have the financial resources necessary to provide stability and support for themselves and dependents.

Furthermore, regardless of divorce, women retained membership in their clan and were involved in the affairs of it. This allowed for support and a continued social position in spite of a divorce.

On the other hand, Wakita Haruko suggests that the establishment of a system of patriarchy and the decline of women's social standing changed marriage institutions, rather than the latter changing the former. As well, one cannot conclude that matriarchy was stronger in uxorilocal or duolocal marriages since women were, after all, dependent on their fathers' financial support.37 Nonetheless, the social change in marriage institutions from uxorilocal/duolocal to neolocal led to the completion of ie organization later in the medieval period where there was a hierarchical family/industrial structure with a powerful patriarchal figure dominant.

TO

Thus, the Heian period was a transitional stage for ie organization to develop.

After the death of Empress Shotoku in 770 A.D., empresses ceased to reign. Under the

Ritsuryo system, which took effect in 701 A.D., women were basically excluded from the central governing body and were placed only at the Women's Quarters, except for a few positions requiring singing or sewing.39 Furthermore, as the Ritsuryo system began to decline and the capital was finally moved to Heian in 794 A.D., the Fujiwara family became a socially and politically powerful clan throughout the Heian period. Their political power reached its peak during the time of Michinaga and his son, Yorimichi, in the early 11th century. The family strategy was to use their daughters as objects of

7 exchange to obtain political power by marrying them to the imperial family and having them bear sons of their direct lineage to become future Emperors.

As Fukuto Sanae and others argue, it was in the imperial household that a

patriarchal structure was first developed under the politics of Fujiwara marriage.40 When

a son of a Fujiwara daughter became the Emperor, her political power was strengthened

through her position as the Empress Dowager; however, it was empowered only after the

father of the Emperor, who was the Retired Emperor, passed away. Fukuto further notes

that this resulted from the parents' division of rights to a child divided rights to a child

and the priority given to the father. She concludes by pointing out that the political

power wielded by the Empress Dowager as the mother of the Emperor can be interpreted

as singularly meaningful. Amongst the many elements of womanhood, only her position

as the mother of the Emperor gives her significance.

In yet another view of gender relations, Jacques Lacan claims that men belong in

the Symbolic, which represents the social system such as ranks, family / social relations,

gender roles, religions, and symbols, and women are excluded from it.41 In his

phallocentric view, women stay in the realm of the Imaginary where they are only to

symbolize the castration threat to men and to produce their own child with a phallus into

the Symbolic in order to satisfy their own desire to possess the phallus.42 Even though

some intellectual freedom was enjoyed amongst the Heian aristocratic women, evidence

of which can be seen in contemporary literary works such as the Pillow Book I Makura

no Soshi43 and the Tale of Genji / Genj monogatari,44 their political and social status was

restricted and their gender role was limited to motherhood. Thus, late Heian aristocratic

society can be considered a patriarchy, and an ideal foundation to which to apply

8 psychoanalysis. As James Clifford has suggested, psychoanalysis and Marxism must travel through cultures, in space and time, in order to be "appropriated and resisted, located and displaced,"45 psychoanalytical theory, which has indeed traveled through distance and time, should be effectively employed transculturally, to a Japanese literary work, and trans-historically, to late Heian society.

I have selected eight episodes from the Honcho (Japanese) section, which

Tonomura Hitomi analyses and/or briefly mentions in her article "Black Hair and Red

Trousers: Gendering the Flesh in Medieval Japan." Tonomura takes a close look at approximately sixty-five tales from the Honcho section in order to examine how the sexuality portrayed in each episode is expressed in terms of gender. My original intentions were to translate only chosen episodes from those mentioned in Tonomura's article. However, with further research I became quite interested in psychoanalysis and decided to use this framework to interpret Konjaku. The episodes selected are presented in sequence, except for the last three episodes that have been organized under the common theme "snakes." I have mostly depended on the notes in NKBZ and the information found in KDJ to produce my notes, and my interpretations of these episodes are greatly influenced by the point of view that Andrea Dworkin expresses in

Intercourse.46

In her book, Andrea Dworkin applies her feminist point of view to literary criticism to illustrate how, across time and place, men have dominated women through sexual intercourse. She claims that "[intercourse is commonly written about and comprehended as a form of possession or an act of possession."47 In her view, a man possesses a woman during the sexual act because sex itself is barbaric and therefore

9 masculine and both of them have to undergo the maleness of the intercourse. She emphasizes the point that the woman has to be objectified by the man and must devalue herself as if disappearing as an individual during intercourse. On the other hand, only when the woman becomes an object of sexual desire to the man during intercourse, does she have power over him. That is the only time when she has superiority because the man wants to have sex.48 Poignantly, the woman can feel what she wants, such as physical affection and love, only during intercourse when the man takes her body, and this act by itself implies his affirming her womanliness and femininity. In Dworkin's terms, the penis is a weapon in sex and the man is an exploiter of the woman, who must be the capitulator. Furthermore, Dworkin points out that "[mjarriage is the legal ownership of women, the legal intercourse that is the foundation of male authority."49

Under that legal ownership men are obliged to have sex with women to construct and deconstruct a social, political system in which women are kept as a "sexually subjugated class."50 These views bear strongly on the analyses which follow the translated episodes.

Konjaku Monogatari-shu

16:38

"How a Man in Kii Province Did Not Believe in Buddhism and Received Earthly

Retribution"51

Long before now, there was a temple called "Saya-dera"52 in the village of

Kuwahara in Ito district of Kii Province.53 In the reign of Emperor Shomu,54 the nuns of that temple made their prayers and held a service at the temple. They invited a monk

10 from Yakushi-ji55 of Ukyo in Nara Province, who was known as Daie-zenji,56 and held a

57 58 confession ceremony under an eleven-headed-Kannon image .

At that time, there was a scoundrel (MX) in the village. His name59 was Fumi60 no Imiki.61 His common name was Ueda62 no Saburo. He was wicked and thus did not believe in the Three Jewels.63 This man had a wife. Her name was Kamitsukeno64 no

Kimi, and her common name was Ohashi no Onna.63 The woman was beautiful and understood the Buddhist concept of retribution.66 While her husband went out, she followed the eight commandments67 for a day and night and paid a visit to the place where the confession ceremony under an eleven-headed-Kannon image was being held, and sat among the audience. Meanwhile, her husband came home and looked inside the house, but his wife was not there. He asked a person at home, "Where has my wife gone?" "She has gone to the place where the confession ceremony is held," the person at

68 home answered. As the husband heard this, he got very upset, right way, .

When that monk saw this, he became benevolent and preached to the husband.

The husband, however, 69 this, "You are a thief who tries to wed my wife. I shall promptly smash your head." He insulted the monk. He called his wife and took her back home.

Then he immediately 70 his wife, "You must have been violated by that monk." he said angrily. He pulled his wife into their bedroom and the two lay down

(EX^). As soon as he had had intercourse ($f>0 with his wife, it felt like some ants71 instantly stuck to and bit his penis. He became ill with this pain and died soon after.

11 The people who saw and heard about this criticized him exceedingly and said,

"Even though it is said that the man did not strike the monk, since he unlawfully abused

79 and embarrassed the monk, he received earthly retribution,"

Thus, one should never slander monks. As well, this was due to his sin of having come to the place where the confession ceremony under a Kannon image was held and interrupting the attendants. Thus the tale was told and has been passed on.

Episode 16:38 Analysis

In psychoanalysis there are three terms that are important when one is to understand an individual's personality: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is something with which one is born and is the place from which instincts come. It is governed by the pleasure principle with aims to reduce tension, avoid pain, and gain pleasure. The id is mainly unconscious.

The ego acknowledges the external world of reality, and rules the personality. It is governed by the reality principle, which is still aimed at gaining pleasure, but formulates plans and tolerates some displeasure to achieve them. Ultimately, pleasure is gained at the completion of the plans.

The superego is one's judicial system. It stands for the values in a society that are passed down from one generation to another. Its aim is not to gain pleasure, but to perfect one's actions and behaviours. The superego is the internalized standards that one's parents and society have set.

Yet another common term in psychoanalysis, and one employed here, is id-driven.

As previously mentioned, the id is not rational, but seeks only to fulfill basic desires. By

12 definition then, an id-driven person is someone who behaves based upon his/her instinct and operates on the pleasure principle. S/he does not consider consequences, nor does s/he tolerate tensions and discomfort.73

In this episode, Saburo, the scoundrel, may be seen as an id-driven person. His wife, Ohashi no Onna, is described as beautiful and is portrayed as a psychologically well-developed person,74 but is not given a speaking role or allowed to show her own will except that she goes to the Buddhist ceremony on her own. This silence suggests her submissiveness and obedience to men in general, or at least this is how the author/compiler(s) chose to portray her, since all characters in every episode are seen through his/their eyes. Daie-zenji represents the super-ego, as he understands the cosmic law and preaches to people as if he were a god.

Ohashi no Onna can be seen as a woman who is trapped in a terrible marriage.

She goes to a temple when her husband is away. Interestingly, there seem to be only nuns who live in Saya-dera, leading one to wonder if this temple is one of those to which women in late Heian to Kamakura period would escape due to marital problems.

According to Kokushi Daijiten, Kakekomi-dera (kakekomi means to run into or seek refuge) or enkiri-dera (enkiri means to cut off relationships) are known to have existed in the Edo period for wives to run to and establish their right to divorce their husbands since it was only husbands who held the legal right to declare divorce. The famous enkiri-dera temples are T6kei-ji in present Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Mantoku-ji in present Nitta District in Gunma Prefecture. These temples came to be considered enkiri- dera after the mid-Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate eliminated such women's

13 privileges. All of the nunneries, however, must have been considered enkiri-dera prior to

that time.75

Ohashi no Onna in this episode visits this nunnery after completing her religious

purification prior to the day of the ceremony. She has probably planned this visit ahead

of time since her arrival corresponds with the timing of the special ceremony, conducted

by a famous monk at the request of the nuns at the temple. Ohashi no Onna, however,

does not inform her husband of the ceremony or her intentions to visit. Why does she

have to keep it from him? One might consider the possibility of a troubled marriage. As

an eleven-headed-Kannon image is believed to help free people from their anxieties,

troubles, sicknesses, and wickedness, she is possibly attending the ceremony to receive

some of the above providential benefits to aid in her marriage. Alternatively, one might

speculate that Ohashi no Onna indeed intends to divorce her husband by going to Saya-

dera, which may be one of the nunneries that existed prior to the mid-Edo period as

mentioned above. While her understanding of the Buddhist concept of retribution

indicates that she was a religious woman, it is significant that she chooses to leave when

her husband is away. This suggests a greater emphasis on escaping from somewhere

rather than going to somewhere else. It is also possible that her visit to this nunnery is

sexually motivated. This appears unlikely however, as Ohashi no Onna chooses to visit

at the one time when a monk would be there. If her motivation is primarily lesbian, any

other time would have been more reasonable, unless she is there because of the monk. In

this case, her husband's accusations would be accurate.

Meanwhile, Saburo returns to find that his wife is not home. When he finds out

that she is at a temple, he quickly gets upset, or more precisely becomes anxious and runs

14 to the temple. By the time he arrives at Saya-dera, his anxiety has reached its peak. As he sees Daie-zenji he becomes suspicious about the relationship between the monk and his wife, and assumes that the monk had sex with his wife, which makes him feel powerless over his wife. To overcome this he needs to have sex with her immediately to repossess her as his property.

This last part of the episode has several elements that can be identified with typical Western fairytale motifs. First, ants, which are animals with magical powers to assist heroes/heroines in many fairytales, suddenly appear and bite the villain's penis.

Second, these ants eventually kill the villain and free the beautiful heroine to the hero or the fortune. The ants here are certainly taken as emissaries of Daie-zenji. According to

Nihon Zokushin Jiten, there are several beliefs about ants being sacred, particularly in

Aichi prefecture, one of which is that if a person has killed one ant, his sin is as bad as if he had killed 1,000 monks.77 This further implies that ants are juxtaposed with monks in regard to sacredness. More research is necessary however to determine if Nara prefecture has similar beliefs. Nevertheless Aichi is geographically close to Nara and one can speculate that there might have been a similar belief or that residents were familiar with neighbouring myths.

Superficially, this episode may be seen as a Buddhist cautionary tale to warn people not to abuse Buddhist monks. On an unconscious level, the story is telling women that as long as they believe in Three Jewels they may be saved from an unjust husband.

This is, however, subject to women's submissiveness and obedience to the male authority. This explains why Ohashi no Onna's voice is not heard at all throughout the episode.

15 Konjaku Monogatari-shu

20:10

"How a Palace Guard, in the Reign of the Emperor Yozei, Travelled to Collect

Gold"78

Long before now, in the reign of Emperor Yozei,79 it was the custom to send a samurai who served in the Palace Guard80 to Mutsu Province to deliver gold from there to the palace. A samurai, Michinori, who served in the Palace Guard, received such an official order from the Emperor and on his way down to Mutsu Province, he lodged at a place called " "8I in Shinano Province. As he was to stay at the house of the district governor, the governor was waiting for him and gave him unlimited hospitality. When the meal was served and other things were done, the master of the house, the governor, left the house, taking his servants with him.

As Michinori had trouble sleeping due to being in a stranger's house on a trip, he quietly got up and began to look around. Peeking into the room of the governor's wife, he found, in the room, screens, curtain-stands, and straw mats neatly arranged along with a pleasing two-level shelf.82 He also smelled nice incense83 and thought that even though she just lived in the countryside, the wife seemed to have good taste. On further inspection, he now found a woman of about twenty years old lying in a pleasant manner

(WPPO T"). Her hair and forehead were good looking, and her figure appeared slender.

There was not anything to criticize about her appearance. Watching her sleep, Michinori

could not ignore the situation and as there did not seem to be anyone around to see him

approaching her, he decided to gently slide the door84 open and enter the room. There

16 was not anyone to even ask, "Who is it?" Since the lamp was behind the curtain stand, it was very bright in the room. Although it was the wife of the governor who had treated him extremely well and Michinori felt guilty for having bad thoughts @ ^^'fr), he could not help sneaking up to her and gazing at her appearance.

When Michinori put his body beside the woman and lay down, she looked disgusted — but not surprised. The way she was sleeping, covering her mouth with her sleeves, was even more beautiful when closer. Michinori felt as happy as could be. It was around the tenth day of the ninth month, and therefore she was not wearing many layers of clothes. In fact, she was wearing only a light purple kimono of damask and hakama of dark colour. The perfume coming from her kimono was so fragrant that everything around her smelled like that. Michinori took off his own kimono and went in to her bosom (1fj). She, for a short while, tried to pull the opening of her kimono together, although she did not show her disgust nor did she stop him. Thus he stayed in.

Then Michinori felt an itch around his penis and reached down to scratch. He found nothing there but hair, and indeed his penis was gone. Doubting this, and still vigorously searching for it, it was as if he were scratching his head. There was no trace of it. He was so surprised that he forgot all about her beauty. When she saw him upset, she slightly smiled.

Michinori still did not know what was going on and was suspicious about the incident. He stood up with not much strength and went back to his own sleeping place.

He again touched down for it, but again nothing. As he thought this was strange, he called on a close servant and said simply, "There is a beautiful looking woman over

17 there. I have gone there. Do not worry, just go and see." The servant was happy to hear

this and left to see the woman.

Awhile later this servant came back looking puzzled. Michinori thus thought that

his servant must have had the same experience. He once more talked to another servant

and sent him to the woman. This servant came back looking up to the sky and

wondering. Like this, Michinori sent seven or eight servants one by one to the woman,

but every single one of them came back with a similar expression.

While Michinori and his servants were wondering, dawn came. Even though he

was grateful for the governor's hospitality, he was still unsure of what had happened the

previous night, and forgetting everything else, departed as soon as dawn came. After he

had gone about a half mile away, he heard someone calling from behind. Looking back

in that direction, he found a man on a horse coming toward him. The man, who caught

up with Michinori, was a servant who had served him some food at the governor's place.

The servant was holding something in a sheet of white paper. As Michinori

stopped his horse, he asked the servant, "What is that you are holding?" The servant

answered, "This is what my master, the governor, asked me to deliver to you. Why did you throw away such things and leave? As usual we were preparing the meal for you this morning, but you left in such a hurry. That is probably why you dropped these things.

So, we picked them up to bring to you." As the servant handed him the wrapping,

Michinori was wondering what was inside and looked. He found nine penises that looked like pine mushrooms wrapped in paper.

Astonished, Michinori called the eight servants. Every one felt strange and gathered to look inside. Indeed there were nine penises. No sooner did his servants see

18 the penises in the wrapping than they all at once disappeared. As soon as the governor's servant passed the wrapping to Michinori, he returned. Only at that time, those servants began to say to each other, "That happened to me, too." And they all reached for theirs.

This time they all found their penises where they originally were.

Now, they went from there to Michinoku Province to receive the gold. On the way back to the capital, they stopped at the governor's house in Shinano Province to stay over.

As Michinori offered the governor various things such as horses and silk, the governor was delighted and asked Michinori, "What makes you give me this much?"

Michinori got close to the governor and said, "This is such an embarrassing thing to tell

you, but when we were here for the first time, something very strange happened to us.

What was that? I am so curious about it that I am asking you."

Since the governor received a lot of gifts from Michinori, he did not hide anything

and told him the following;

"When I was young, a senior district governor at an interior district in this

province had a young wife. One day I secretly wooed her, but I lost my penis then.

Feeling strange, I asked the senior governor to teach me the trick (ftfi). If you have

intentions to learn the trick yourself, you should quickly return to the capital since you

have much imperial property (4>tyftf5 at this time. Please come back later to learn the

trick with a calm heart."

Michinori promised the governor, returned to the capital to deliver the gold and

other materials, asked for time off and went back to the province. Since Michinori

brought and gave the governor appropriate gifts, the governor was pleased and thought

19 that he would teach Michinori whatever he knew. The governor said to Michinori, "This is not something one can easily learn. One must purify86 himself for seven days and take an ablution every day in order to learn it. You should start purifying your body tomorrow."

Accordingly, Michinori began to purify his inner body and everyday cleansed his outer body with water. On the seventh day after midnight, unattended, the governor and

Michinori went deep into a mountain. Upon their arrival at the side of a big river, the two declared, "We will never believe in the Three Jewels." They also exercised various things and made a profane vow.

After that, the governor said to Michinori, "I am going up the river myself. Jump and hang onto what will come from there, no matter what. An ogre or a god, it does not matter." Then the governor left Michinori there and went up along the river.

After a while, the sky above the upper part of the river became dark. It started raining and thundering, and the wind began to blow. The water level of the river rose.

As Michinori was gazing at the upper part of the river, there appeared a serpent whose head was the size of an adult's arm span. Its eyes looked as if they were metal bowls, and its body under the neck was red and its back was glossy dark blue. Although

Michinori remembered what the governor told him, he was so afraid of the serpent that he hid behind a bush.

A few minutes later the governor came down and asked Michinori, "How did you

do? Could you grab on to it?" Michinori answered, "I was too afraid to do so." The

governor replied, "That is too bad. Then it is very hard for you to acquire this trick. But

why don't we try it one more time?" and he left again.

20 Observing for a while, Michinori saw a big boar, which looked about four feet long, grinning at him. It was running toward him crushing the stones, sparks flying, with its hair standing on end. Although he felt scared of it, Michinori decided it was the end of his life and jumped on it. At that moment he found himself on a three-foot rotten log.

He was very resentful and thought, "The first one must have been something like this log.

Why didn't I grab it then?" As he was regretful, the governor came back and asked how he did. Michinori answered, "I have done it as you can see." The governor saw him and said, "You were not able to acquire the trick to have a penis disappear, but you seem to be able to learn how to change a thing to something insignificant. So, I will teach you

how to do that instead." Thus Michinori learned it and went home. He was regretful for

not having acquired the initial trick.

Going back to the Capital, Michinori returned to work in the palace. When he

was arguing with his fellows betting on whether he could use his acquired magic, he

changed their shoes to puppies and had them crawl. Another time, he changed an old

* 87 straw shoe into a three-foot carp and had it jump on a meal table.

Meanwhile, the Emperor heard about Michinori and his magic. One day the

Emperor asked Michinori to come to Kurodo chamber and to teach the Emperor the

trick. Later the Emperor acquired the trick and used it to have a parade of Kamo Festival

on the crosspiece of a curtain-stand. Common people, however, did not consider this

agreeable. People spoke ill of the Emperor using a trick (fif>j) that would go against the

89 •

Three Jewels. Maybe due to this evil deed, the Emperor later went crazy. People said

that the Emperor should not have done such a thing and that it was sinful for even a

vulgar fellow to learn and practice such a trick.

21 Practicing this magic was believed to be worshiping goblins and deceiving the

Three Jewels. It is difficult to be born in the human world, but it is more difficult to encounter Buddhism. Thus if one, who had been born in the human world and had encountered Buddhism, later renounced Buddhism and followed the world of devils,91 it would be as if one had gone into a treasure mountain and come back empty handed and lost his own life by jumping into a deep pool holding a stone. One should never learn such a thing. Thus the tale was told and has been passed on.

Episode 20:10 Analysis

Freud asserts that through the process of boys' psychological development they have to master the Oedipus complex. In the male Phallic stage (between the ages of three and six) boys unconsciously desire their mother as a love object. Due to the incestuous nature of this desire however, it eventually must be repressed. The boy is soon to realize that his father is in competition in acquiring love from his mother and that the father might punish him for his desire toward her. By the time the boy displays this longing for his mother in illusion and action, a fear develops, known as castration anxiety. The boy fears that his father will castrate him for his forbidden desire toward his mother.

Moreover, his realization of the absence of a penis in girls also underlines the reality of these fears. Thus, through the rendering of the castration anxiety, which plays the role of a threat to the boy, he begins to identify with the father and repress his sexual desire for his mother, ultimately detaching psychologically from her. Freud indicates in the notes of his book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality that any man who fails to master the

Oedipus complex will become psychoneurotic.

22 The most significant aspect of this episode is that Michinori feels castration anxiety and tries to control it. I would like to illustrate the process by which Michinori encounters this castration anxiety. As he approaches the governor's beautiful wife, his libido is increasing. One can see how he is sexually drawn to the governor's wife by reading the details of the descriptions of the furniture, the ambience, and the fragrance enveloping in the room. In psychoanalytic terms, however, the presence of women itself is a threat of castration to men. As well, pragmatically, he is anxious as to whether he can have sex with such a beautiful woman. Michinori carefully surveys the woman's room to see if there is anyone to interrupt him and is cautious of her every reaction as he joins her in bed. He is aware of how the woman reacts and tries to interpret her body language. Simultaneously, Michinori is experiencing the Oedipus complex, for he is, metaphorically speaking, stealing the wife of the governor who is portrayed as a father figure to Michinori, for he looks after and nourishes Michinori as if he were his own son.

Michinori, however, enters the governor's wife's room even though he is grateful for and recollects the governor's hospitality and attempts intercourse with the wife. Although he feels guilt wanting the governor's wife, Michinori proceeds to satisfy his desire by cautiously approaching and entering the wife's bed.

The incident which follows is the disappearance of Michinori's penis. He was unconsciously experiencing the Oedipus complex, as he tried to have intercourse with the governor's wife, feeling uneasy about wanting her and betraying the governor. He is then castrated as if he were really punished for his forbidden longing.

After Michinori loses his penis, he repeatedly sends his servants to encounter the

same fate. One interpretation of this event is based on Freud's observation of a child at

23 play. Freud observed an infant's game, naming it "gone" or "fort" in German, which is an activity where the child handles a wooden reel with a string tied around it. He would throw the reel, holding on to the string, to the end of the cot on which he was sitting, so that the reel would disappear from his sight. When he pulled on the string, however, it would come back to him. Freud interpreted this child's behaviour as enacting discomfort he had experienced earlier due to his mother's absences. The child did not like his mother leaving him, but it was beyond his control. Thus, Freud concludes that the child, by playing the game, was trying to control the initial displeasuring experience.

The child was in the passive situation when his mother left him, but he was taking an active part when playing the game: having the reel (the mother) disappear and reappear by his own will. Michinori, therefore, can be seen as re-enacting his original trauma

(losing his penis) by repeatedly sending his servants to the governor's wife. Michinori, as with the child Freud examined, is trying to control the unpleasant occurrence, which also implies, in this case, a castration anxiety. Mulvey states that one of two ways for men to escape castration anxiety is to be preoccupied "with the re-enactment of the original trauma."94 Thus, Michinori unconsciously tries to undo what has happened to him by having his servants go through his original trauma. The significant difference, though, is that Michinori has no control over the disappearance and reappearance of the lost body parts. In fact, he and his servants cannot get their penises back until the next morning.

As Michinori discovers that it was the governor's magic that temporarily castrates, he wishes to learn the magic himself. The implication of his wish is that he wants to control his castration anxiety. If he acquires the magic, Michinori could

24 "castrate" and put back someone else's penis at will. While this may not easily be seen

as his capability for controlling his own castration, I would argue that Michinori

identifies himself with the man over whom he could have control to castrate. In

psychoanalysis, identification95 is an important part of the developmental means and

Michinori is going through this process. His wanting to acquire the magic can also be taken as his attempt to identify with the governor, the father figure, who has the power to manipulate through magic. By learning the magic, Michinori can then put himself on the same level as the governor. Thus, psychoanalytically speaking, he is about to master the

Oedipus complex by identifying with the father and detaching from the mother.

Michinori, however, ends up being unable to acquire the magic, underlying, symbolically, his impotence.

A final issue for this episode concerns Michinori's new power. Although he fails to learn the original trick, he does acquire a lesser magic; namely, to change one thing to another. There are two occasions described: one is when he changes shoes (7M) to puppies, and the other is when he changes a slipper (m7M) to a large carp.96 In psychoanalytic terms, one can see this event as another form of escape from castration anxiety. This case, which differs from the previously mentioned method of escape, is based on a total denial of the anxiety. Mulvey points out that one way of escape from castration anxiety is the "complete disavowal of castration by the substitution of a fetish

07 object...so that it becomes reassuring rather than dangerous." Significantly, the fetish objects here, namely the shoes and slippers that Michinori focuses on through his magic with which he is preoccupied, are symbols of female genitalia and a representation of a QO castrated women's penis.

25 Some might argue that the relationship between female genitalia and shoes in psychoanalysis is not applicable to the Japanese context because of the custom of removing shoes at the entrance to a house." Earnest Jones in his article, "Psycho-

Analysis and Folklore," states that a symbol in psychoanalysis comes from unconscious ideas and therefore is "concrete and crude."100 He presents an old European custom of throwing a worn-out shoe or slipper after newlyweds as they leave their wedding ceremony and suggests that the shoe / slipper can be taken as a female sexual organ. He further notes that this interpretation can be strongly supported by the saying that used to accompany the act, that is, "May you fit her as well as my foot fits this old shoe."101 If psychoanalytical symbolism is concrete and crude as Jones claims, then the association of shoe / slipper to female genitalia should be also suitable to the Japanese Heian context, where people wore shoe-like footwear such as clogs and sandals which could be well- used to comfortably fit to one's feet. Furthermore, according to Izutsu Kyobei's article

102 on footwear that courtiers wore in Heian period, there was footwear called kurokawa- kutsu that surprisingly resembles modern Western shoes. He claims that this type of footwear was worn both in and out of a building. This evidence also supports the applicability of the association between shoes and female genitalia to the Heian context.

There is also some interesting evidence in Chinese culture where there is a connection between symbolism of female genitalia and shoes. According to R. D.

Jameson's research in Chinese folklore, there is a custom in the south of China where a bride gives a pair of shoes to her husband, which means that she is going to put herself under his control. As well, in Manchuria a bride gives shoes to her brothers-in-law and younger brothers are allowed to have intercourse with their older brothers' wives.

26 Significantly, those shoes are given with a flower "lien hua" which commonly means female genitalia. 103 Moreover, in Yusenkutsu (MiliiM), the first love story in China's literary history,104 one can find a reference to the connotation of shoes where the couple exchange gifts (the man gives a pillow and the woman gives shoes) before farewell in the morning after they have had intercourse. This literary work was introduced to Japan during the reign of Emperor Monmu (697-707). According to Yagisawa Hajime it was very influential with regard to Heian literature, especially in the origination of Heian narrative literary works.105 Thus, one could argue that this analogy between Chinese female genitalia and shoes is applicable to the Japanese context as the countries are close geographically and China influenced early Heian culture.

A final observation concerns the omission of the main character, Michinori, at the conclusion of the episode. Instead, the emphasis shifts to the Emperor and the results of his use of the magic. Two explanations are possible from a psychoanalytic perspective.

The first concerns fetishism and incompetence. The beginning of the tale reads as "in the reign of Emperor Yozei, .. .Michinori.. .received such an official order from the

Emperor..." and it suggests that the character of Michinori is just an emissary of the emperor— in other words he is a substitute acting for Emperor Yozei. Throughout the tale, therefore, one can observe Michinori and his behaviour as overlapping those of the emperor. Since Emperor Yozei is believed to have gone mad and been taken off the throne after ruling for only four years, this episode of Michinori being incapable of acquiring the desired magic and arguably indulging himself in fetishism implies the emperor's incompetence in his job. It is possible therefore, that the episode is functioning as social/political comment by the Buddhist author/compiler(s).

27 A second interpretation rests upon understanding Michinori as a symbol of the

Emperor. Just as Michinori's penis disappears in his attempt to control his castration anxiety, Michnori "disappears" in favour of the emperor, but does not re-appear. In this way Michinori represents the emperor as both an emissary and a body part. The emperor, recognized as going mad, may be seen to be suffering his own castration anxiety as his grip on power dwindles. For this reason Michinori does not re-appear and the emperor is rendered impotent (without power).

Konjaku Monogatari-shu

20:37

"How Parents, Blinded by Treasure, Had Their Daughter Killed by an Ogre"106

Long before now, there were people who lived in the east of the village called

Amuchi of Tochi district in Yamato Province. They were very wealthy and their surname was Kagamitsukuri.107 They had a girl who was so beautiful that she did not look like a daughter of such country folk.

The girl had not yet been married and appropriate men near her village had called upon and wooed her, but her parents had resolutely refused.108 As some years passed like this, there was a man who insisted on marrying the girl. The parents again refused and would not accept this man's proposal. One day this man sent three carriages full of various treasures. When the parents saw this, they immediately became absorbed in the treasures and decided to marry their daughter to the man. Thus they accepted what the man asked for and allowed him to marry their daughter. The parents and the man picked

28 out an auspicious day for the marriage and the man showed up on that day. Then he entered the bedroom and had intercourse V^) with the girl.

Meanwhile, around midnight, the girl shouted in a loud voice, "It hurts! It hurts!"

She shouted so three times. When her parents heard her voice, they said to each other,

"Since she has never had it before, it is painful during intercourse (Scifi)." And they went to sleep.

After the dawn, the girl stayed rather late in bed. Thus the mother went over to the girl's room and tried to wake her up by calling her in a loud voice, but there was no

answer. The mother became suspicious and went closer to the bed. What she saw there

was her daughter's head and finger but no other body parts. Furthermore, there was a lot

of blood running from them!

When the parents saw this, their sorrow was without limit. They soon went to see

the treasures that the man sent them, but they found only bones of horses and bulls.

When they looked at the place where the three carriages were, in which the treasures had

been loaded, they found Japanese pepper trees.109 "Did an ogre disguise itself as a man to

kill and eat our daughter? Or did a god in wrath throw an evil spell over us?" they

wondered. While they were crying in sorrow, people around their neighbourhood heard

about their distress and came over. When people saw this, there was no one who did not

feel strange (-^f^X) about it. Later the parents held a Buddhist ceremony for their

daughter. They put the box in which their daughter's head was placed before the tablet of

the deceased and held a Buddhist service110 on the 7th day of their daughter's death.111

29 When I think of this story, I suggest that people should not want or indulge themselves in treasures. These parents lamented their loss, blaming themselves for getting absorbed in the given treasures. Thus the tale was told and has been passed on.

Episode 20:37 Analysis

Psychoanalytically, there are two important elements to this episode. The first is what is implied by oni, or an ogre, disguised as a man, wooing and wedding a beautiful woman. The second element is the significance of the woman's finger, her head, and blood to understand the meaning of the episode on an unconscious level.

The ogre in disguise as a man can be interpreted as the beast-like nature of men's sexuality. While the ogre in the episode is portrayed as a wealthy, cultured, ideal man in

daytime, he reveals himself only to his newly wedded wife at night and in bed. This

motif is very common in western fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast. Jacques

Barchilon analyses two versions of Beauty and the Beast112 and addresses men's beast•

like sexuality as follows:

This synthesis is very suggestive; while in one version the sexuality of the

male companion is split between two persons, as if to symbolize two aspects of

man, in the other (Perrault) version these two aspects are fused into one

individual, thus creating the true-to-life reality of the whole man wherein the

human and beast-like exist in the person that symbolized what a man should be to

a woman: the sexual man as well as a friend or lover divested of sexuality and

113 lovable as an object of affection.

30 In our episode, one individual is two-sided in nature. During the day, when he initially

comes to ask the parents to marry their daughter and sends treasure to them, which

reflects his sociality and financial stability, he is depicted as an acceptable man. On the

contrary, at night, and most importantly in bed, he suddenly discloses his sexuality which

is animalistic to the point of cannibalism in that he literally eats her up.114

Maria Tatar remarks in The Classic Fairy Tales that "what many of these tales

seem to endorse in one cultural inflection after another is a reinscription of patriarchal norms, the subordination of female desire to male desire, and a glorification of filial duty and self-sacrifice." In this episode there is no voice given to the daughter, though it is evident that she is obedient to her parents and does not express any opposition to their arranged marriage for her. She certainly sacrifices herself for the up-coming wealth that the husband-to-be would bring into the family, even though they are already "very wealthy," and agrees to marry him. Tatar also states that any arranged marriage would have had a frightening side to it and for a woman it would have been a logical analogy to see that fairy tales transform the husbands of this type of marriage into beasts.115

The other important aspect of this episode is how one interprets the woman's finger and blood that are found the following morning. I would argue that the finger symbolically represents as a castrated woman's penis, and that blood typifies menstruation as well as blood from lost virginity. In comparison, Bettelheim indicates that there is mutilation of the stepsisters' feet found in several versions of Cinderella.

That is, the stepsisters cut their feet with a knife so that their feet would fit the slipper.

He views this as "symbolic self-castration to prove their femininity," and bleeding caused by mutilation as "another demonstration of their femininity, as it may stand for

31 menstruation."116 In Cinderella, the stepsisters need to show that they are the ones worthy to be chosen princess because as they are, they are not feminine enough. Thus they castrate themselves to become what the prince, and all men, desire.

This castration is also evident in our episode. The daughter's symbolic penis, which is represented as a phallic object (her finger) is castrated by her husband the ogre.

Wives in the Heian aristocracy needed to be, or more likely husbands wanted their wives to be, beautiful (have long shiny black hair), educated (be able to compose tasteful poems), cultured (to be able to play musical instruments, especially the koto), submissive, understanding, and well-bred, all of which can be summed up in one word: "femininity."

Thus the husband, the ogre, tries to mould his newly wedded wife to be more submissive, cultured, or by all means more feminine for him. Thus he cuts off "her symbolic penis," which keeps her from being what he wants her to be. This femininity is further expressed in running blood, which implies menstruation. The blood also signifies the woman's virginity. After having a "symbolic penis" cut off, her idealized femininity, as seen by her husband, is to be revealed and is proved by the running blood.

There is also the woman's head left behind, along with her finger and blood. I would argue that it represents the wife's last resistance to her husband. The husband

conquers her body and moulds her into his ideal femininity by cutting off her "symbolic penis" and eventually eats her up. Now, literally, the wife is within the husband and the

implication is that she, or specifically her body, is in his total control. Her head,

however, has not been eaten and remains. In this way she surrenders her body but not her

mind. As an obedient daughter, she sacrifices herself for the fortune that her parents

32 would receive for marrying the wealthy stranger, but mentally or psychologically she is not owned by the man at all.

On an unconscious level, this episode tells readers that men, whose sexuality is beast-like, want their women to be "feminine" and would do anything to achieve it. As well, women have to be "feminine" to be married. This issue of "beast-like sexuality" will be dealt with again in a later episode.

Konjaku Monogatari-shu

27:22

117 "How Ki no Tosuke, of Mino Province, Saw a Female Spirit and Eventually Died"

Long before now, there was a person called Fujiwara no Takanori,"8 who was a former provincial governor at Nagato.119 When he served as a temporary provincial

120 * • governor in Shimotsusa Province, he governed Misho of Ikutsu in Mino Province as his duty for the Regent.121 In Misho there was a man named Ki no Tosuke.

Amongst many attendants, Takanori favoured Tosuke and therefore had him serve 122 123 a long-term night duty at Higashi Sanjo Mansion for a while. When Tosuke

completed this work, Takanori gave him some time off and sent him back home to Mino

Province. On his way down to Mino, crossing the Seta Bridge,124 Tosuke saw a woman

whose kimono skirt was pulled up for travel purposes standing on the bridge. He found

this odd and as he was passing by her, she asked him where he was heading. As a result

he got off his horse and answered her, "I am going down to Mino." Then she asked him,

"There is something I would like to ask you. Could you do me a favour?" "I certainly

could," Tosuke responded. The woman was happy and pulled a small box wrapped with

33 silk clothes out of her bosom. She said to Tosuke, "There is a bridge called Osame no

Hashi125 in the village of Morokoshi of Katagata District.126 Please hand this box to the

lady-in-waiting C&M) standing on the west end of the bridge." Tosuke thought, "I have

bound myself to such an inconvenience!" He found the woman fearful (SUffi ), so he

could not refuse. He took the box and asked her, "Who is the lady on the bridge? Where

does she live? In case we miss each other, where shall I go to see her? From whom shall

I tell her this?" Then she said, "Just be at the bridge, and the lady will come and get the

box. Nothing will go wrong. She will surely be waiting for you. But make sure never to

open nor look inside this box." Meanwhile, Tosuke's servants did not see the woman to

whom he was supposed to be talking and felt strange about it. They thought, "Our master

got off his horse and is just standing there for nothing." As Tosuke received the box, the

woman went home.

Tosuke got back on the horse and later arrived in Mino, but passed by the bridge

forgetting about the errand that he had promised the woman. He did not remember about

the box until he returned home. "I forgot to give the lady this box. I must have caused

her some inconvenience," he thought and put the box up on the top of some furniture in a

closet-like room thinking that he would take it to the lady sometime later.

Meanwhile, Tosuke's wife, being very jealous, cunningly saw him put the box on

the top of the furniture and thought, "Tosuke must have bought this box at the capital and

brought it all the way back from there to give to his girl. That is why he hid it from me."

While Tosuke was out, she took the box down and opened it to see inside. To her

astonishment, there were many gouged out human eyeballs and cut off penises with some

pubic hair. She was so scared that as soon as Tosuke got back home she called out in a

34 flurry to tell him to see what was in the box. "Oh no! The lady told me not to look inside. What have I/you127 done!" he said and hurriedly put the lid on to make it look like it was before. Then he dashed to the bridge where the lady had asked him to go.

As Tosuke was standing on the bridge waiting for the lady-in-waiting, she indeed showed up. When he handed the box to the lady and told her what the other woman said, she received it and said, "You have opened the box and looked inside." Tosuke answered, "I never did that," but she looked very displeased. "You have made things very bad," she said and was still extremely upset. Since she accepted the box anyway,

Tosuke went home.

A while later, Tosuke said, "I am feeling sick," and lay down. Tosuke said to his wife, "You have opened the box that the woman said never to open." Soon after this, he died.

Thus it is not beneficial to a man for his wife to be very jealous and become suspicious about everything without reason. Tosuke lost his life, which he did not have to if his wife had not been so jealous. As people know that women have a habit of being jealous, they blamed Tosuke's wife for his death when they heard this story. Thus the tale was told and has been passed on.

Episode 27:22 Analysis

One possible interpretation of this episode is that Ki no Tosuke, as a

representative of men, is victimized for the bitter resentment and poignant regret that women experience in their relationships and/or marriages.

35 The most important point concerns the two ladies at the bridges and their connection to a "bridge goddess." According to Yanagida Kunio, people used to worship

128 a bridge goddess in ancient days, which is known as hashi-hime shinko. It is also said that ancient people believed that bridges were the boundary between this world and the other world, where spirits travelled.129 These ladies with whom Tosuke meets at the

bridges thus seem to be bridge goddesses coming out of their realm to ask Tosuke to run

an errand for them. Bridge goddesses were believed to have a jealous nature so that they

could protect the town from an invading enemy.130 Interestingly, this jealous nature is a

characteristic of Tosuke's wife, rather than of the ladies at the bridges. This might imply

that the wife belongs to the array of women on the bridges and thus she does not deserve

to die, but Tosuke does, even though she is the one who sees inside the box.

Kawada Tadaki indicates that one of the most famous bridge goddesses is the Uji

Bridge goddess and her legendary tale is mentioned in one of the old copies of

He ike monogatari. The legend relates that a noble lady in the reign of Emperor Saga

prayed to a god to become a living demon in order to haunt and kill the spiteful woman

for whom her lover left her. The god told her to go and stay in the Uji River for twenty-

one days, and she did as she was told and became a demon as she wished. People

thereafter began to call this demon Uji no Hashi-hime or the Uji Bridge goddess.ljl

Although the Heikemonogatari was completed approximately a century later than the

compilation of Konjaku, people in the Heian period were perhaps familiar with this

legend since it originated in the reign of Emperor Saga (ruled between 809 and 823).

The people who heard this episode, therefore, could have easily made the association

between the jealous wife, who is to blame for Tosuke's death, and a bridge goddess with

36 a jealous nature. Furthermore, if Tosuke's death was pre-determined at the moment he accepted the lady's errand, and not because he broke the prohibition, then one can argue

that he was killed as compensation for the man who betrayed that noble lady in the Uji

Bridge goddess legend. It is not too farfetched to speculate that Tosuke becomes a victim

of these bridge goddesses as a representative of men in general. The tale concludes with

the comment that Tosuke would not have had to die if his wife had not been so jealous,

which confirms that Tosuke's wife indirectly killed him. This further implies that

Tosuke's wife plays the role of an emissary of the bridge goddesses.

Furthermore, I would like to consider the significant aspect of the contents of the

box in this Konjaku episode. It contains many eyeballs and penises, and belongs to the

women on the bridges. One can easily relate the symbolic meaning of such penises to the

power that men in general enjoy and to active sexuality (versus passive sexuality for

females). As these women (bridge goddesses) hold castrated phalli, i.e. the centre of

male sexuality, which offer men social superiority, they feel the power in their own

hands. They can also experience the conquering feeling of revenge for men's betrayal

and taste short-term satisfaction from their "spoils." This is a pleasure for these

supernatural women alone, and one in which men must not intrude.

As well, in time periods including Heian, "to see" meant to have sexual

intercourse and/or to have a (marital) relationship. It is, therefore, natural to associate

eyes, which see, with penises, which have sex, in this way. Significantly, there is a close

relation between the prohibition "not to see inside the box" and these eyeballs. Yamada

Naomi states that in the context of Japanese myths "to see" meant to know, to possess,

and to dominate what one "sees," and the given prohibition or taboo "not to see" can be

37 considered as one's desire of not being dominated by another. Those ladies at the

bridges, portrayed as strong-willed and powerful enough to scare Tosuke, give him the taboo, which implies that they do not want to be dominated by men, whom Tosuke

represents. Moreover, the eyeballs in the box, which are assumed to be men's, are necessary items for men to "see" in order to rule women, against which those ladies

appear to protest. Thus, the implication of the two types of male body parts in the box is that these women wish to take both social and sexual power from men, or at least demonstrate that such power is in their possession.

Konjaku Monogatari-sM

31:34

"About 'Chopstick Grave' in Yamato Province"133

Long before now, there was a daughter134 of the Emperor ,135 Her countenance was so beautiful that both the Emperor and the Empress loved her and took excellent care of her.

As this princess was not yet married, one day a certain man, who seemed very noble, stealthily came close to her place and said to her, "I want us to be husband and wife." The princess replied, "I have never touched (Mil "J^M V) a man before.136

Why should I simply follow your words? Thing like that should not be done without talking to my parents, either." The man said in his reply, "If your parents know about this affair, there will not be anything wrong with it." In spite of his nightly visits, they did not get close.137

38 Meanwhile, the princess told her father, "Such-and-such person visits me every night and says so-and-so." The Emperor replied to her, " He may not be human. It must be a god who comes and says such a thing." Later the princess finally became close with the man.138 After this, they loved each other, although she did not know who the man really was. Thus, the woman139 asked the man, "I feel very strange, because I do not know who you are. Where do you come from? If you truly love me, please tell me who you are and where you come from without concealment." He answered, "I live near here.

If you wish to see my figure, please look in the oil bottle you have in your comb box, but never be afraid. If you ever get scared of what you see, my life will become unbearable."

She said, "I will never be afraid." As the dawn came, the man left.

Later on, the woman opened her comb box to see inside the oil bottle and found a creature in it. She wondered what was moving and lifted the bottle up to see closer, and then she saw a very tiny snake lying in a coil. One can imagine how small it was, living in an oil bottle. Although she promised the man not to get startled, no sooner did she see this snake than she became extremely frightened, ran away screaming and threw the bottle away.

The man came that night. He looked displeased, not as usual, and would not

140 to the woman. So, she felt strange but went closer to him. Then, he said, "Even though I warned you not to get frightened, you did anyway, which is a very shameful

thing (jff ^^r^). Therefore I shall never come to visit you," and he was about to leave

looking very cold. The woman said to him, "It is indeed a regrettable thing if you decide

not to come due to such trifles," and would not let him go pulling on his sleeve. Right at

that time, the man stuck a chopstick into her vagina. As the woman immediately died

39 from this, both the Emperor and the Empress were overcome with sorrow. There was, however, nothing to be done about their loss.

The woman's grave was placed in Shikinoshimo141 district of Yamato Province.

It is still there, known as "the chopstick grave."142 Thus the tale was told and has been

passed on.

Episode 31:34 Analysis

In this episode there are two major issues hidden on an unconscious level. One is

the Electra complex that the princess displays, while the other is the male beast-like

sexuality previously mentioned.

Initially readers see the princess as pretty, well taken care of and loved by her

parents, the Emperor and Empress. She is immature both socially and sexually. As the

mysterious man begins to visit her, she tells him that she should not do anything without

her parents' consent. Soon after she has consulted the Emperor about the man and he

tells her that the man must be a god143 visiting her, she finally lets the man sleep with her.

This "daughter and father relationship" is a common pattern found in western

fairy tales such as The Frog King and Beauty and the Beast. Bettelheim claims that there

are three core elements common to these types of tales, which he calls "animal groom"

stories. The first and second elements are not as useful to this analysis,144 but the third -

"it is the father who causes the heroine to join the Beast"145 - is applicable. The heroine

joins the animal to obey her father's request or order because she loves her father or is

obedient to him. There is no significant role for her mother nor is a mother figure

mentioned in the tale. In our episode, there are only two brief mentions of the mother:

40 the beginning and ending. It is her father whom she consults about the man and who influences her greatly on her major decision about "knowing the man." The princess identifies the man with her father for the man's dedication, kindness, and affection that he has shown to her on visiting every night. As well, she soon has intercourse with the man after the father's advice as if she were obeying her father's decision. Thus the princess is acting out the Electra complex.

The Electra complex is a female version of the Oedipal complex, through which every female child should pass in her phallic stage as it is necessary for her ego development. Similar to their male counterparts, girls have an initial desire for their mother. When they come to the realization that their mother does not possess the phallus, however, they begin to shift the object of their desire to their father, who does possess the phallus. Upon mastery of the Electra complex,146 girls again come back to identify with their mother, who is the object of their father's desire.147

The story relates that following their initial intercourse the princess and the man dearly love each other. The princess, however, is not yet fully aware of her sexuality nor is her Electra complex resolved. She is curious to know who the man really is. Although her father has told her that the man must be a god, she is still eager to find out his identity on her own, since it means that she is to discover her identity, too. Thus, up to this point she is in love with one side of who the man is, i.e. those same characteristics and qualities as her own father's.

This episode also bears resemblance to Amor and Psyche on which Beauty and the Beast was later based. Amor is really a god and is said to be a serpent, while the unknown man in this episode is rumoured to be a god and is really a serpent. Secondly,

41 both men issue a prohibition to their brides: for Psyche not to listen or trust her sisters,

and for the princess not to be frightened when she sees what is in the bottle. Lastly, it is

the man who decides to separate from his bride because of her betrayal. The most

significant difference between the tales, however, is that there is no reunion or resolution

between the couple in our episode. This implies that the princess cannot master the

Electra complex and therefore cannot psychologically fully develop, nor can she find her

identity, while Psyche successfully develops her femininity and identity by going through

the four labours arranged for her.149

Since there are some significant similarities between these two tales, it is

worthwhile to compare them in order to examine possible implications concerning what

the princess does and does not achieve in our episode. As previously mentioned, to find

out who the man really is means the princess discovers her own identity. Neumann

interprets the Greek myth as the description of the necessary path of the feminine psyche.

Indeed, Psyche tries and does discover what her groom looks like, and therefore learns who she really is by the end. Although the princess in our episode eagerly attempts to discover the man's real form, she does not seem to find her identity. She actually dies, i.e. loses her life, and therefore loses her identity. Neumann-points out that Psyche uses an oil lamp to illuminate and reveal her husband's figure, which stands for her coming out of darkness, i.e. the unconscious. This further suggests the nightly life with him without knowing who he is. With the help of the oil lamp (light), i.e. the conscious,

Psyche discovers the true identity of Amor. Similarly, the princess meets her suitor only at night, in the darkness, and when she finally sees what he looks like it is in the daytime, in the light. The question is why Psyche finds herself, whereas the princess does not.

42 One might argue that it is an issue of femininity. Neumann notes that Psyche

"does not respond with struggle, protest, defiance, resistance, as a masculine ego must have done in a similar situation, but, quite the contrary, with acceptance of her fate,"150 when she is told about the marriage as the oracle has prophesied. As well, she does not

resist when she has injured Amor and he decides to leave her. The princess, on the

contrary, defies the separation that the man has defined and even attempts to convince

him that what she has done is a trivial matter. Moreover, she pulls his sleeve, not letting

him go at all, aggressively protesting, which is exactly what Neumann suggests a

"masculine ego" might do. She is not able to come to complete selfhood as long as she is

in denial of the guilt for what she has done and without the acceptance of the separation

from her beloved.

As the princess asks him to tell her who he is and where he comes from, the man

tells her to look in the oil bottle she has in her comb box and admonishes her to never get

scared of what she sees in it. This is a taboo, which is often given in folk tales to the

protagonist to break. The princess is still not ready to accept the man's real identity, the

serpent, which symbolizes the other side of his character, which is his "beast-like"

sexuality.

The man comes to visit the princess that evening looking distressed and upset, and

his demeanour is said to be very different from the one to which she is accustomed. This

implies that the princess has been blind to the "beast-like" side of him till then. Since she

has broken the admonition he declares their separation. Nevertheless, she will not let him

go, saying that her breaking the taboo is trivial. She is in denial and still does not indicate

that she has completely accepted his full identity.

43 For the man, she is no longer worth loving, since she cannot accept who he really is, which shows her incapability of resolving her Electra complex. She has failed to develop her own identity. No sooner does she pull his sleeve to stop him from leaving than he thrusts a chopstick into her vagina that kills her. The chopstick may be taken as a replacement for the man's penis, of which the princess is no longer worthy.

Another interpretation of the ending of this episode concerns the usage of the term

"chopstick." Kawada Tadaki in Hashi to Nihon Bunka makes an interesting remark about the origin of the word hashi. He claims that the ancients had a general idea about the word meaning that it would imply a starting point of a thing as well as an end point and even a space between them. When the writing systems were brought in to Japan in the early 5th century, each kanji character, which is familiar to us in the modern days such as

^ra, H, iffi, Pit, and even PH]151 which are all pronounced as hashi, was assigned to each concept of hashi the people used up until this time. Each character surely has a slight difference in meaning; for instance, M implies a space between one end of land and another end of land, and $p implies a space between one floor and another.152 If this concept is further taken to better understand the significance of the chopstick in our episode, it is possible to conclude that the chopstick, which kills the princess, is used to send her from this world to the other world, as a bridge, f§ (also pronounced hashi),

meant to the people in ancient days. Nagafuji Yasushi presents the dichotomy between

day and night portrayed in Japanese myths, folk tales, and literary works mainly from the

Heian period.154 He sees day as run by reality concepts and night by dream concepts. In

psychoanalytical terms, day is governed by the conscious and night is ruled by the

unconscious. In this way, one can see the princess' death as that she is taken from this

44 world to the unconscious realm where she is to stay forever, since she cannot accept reality, which is illustrated in the rejection of the man's real form, or the conscious. This is necessary to fully develop her selfhood.

Finally, it is essential to note that it is the princess who always takes the initiative at the major turns of the story. She allows the man to have sex with her, insists on knowing his identity, and stops him from leaving her. Thus, one interpretation of this

story can be that if a woman is an initiator and does not follow the man's words, their

relationship does not last and her life, symbolically, as a wife or a lover, is at risk. The

episode of "Creation of Islands" in Kojiki 155 has a similar motif (how women's

initiatives cause misfortunes), where Izanami speaks before Izanagi after going around

the sacred pillar as the consummation of their marriage.156 As a result, Izanagi and

Izanami give birth to a deformed child.157 Even though Izanagi opposes Izanami

speaking first, when they try again he allows Izanami to once again speak first. This time

they have a crippled child. After consulting "the gods of the Plain of High Heaven"158

and finding out that Izanami, being female, should not be speaking first, Izanagi and

Izanami finally give birth to a complete child, Ahadi no ho no sawake no shima (;i&i1t;£.

fS^^fcl^Jis).139 In juxtaposing this episode of Kojiki with the episode at hand in

Konjaku, a common theme appears. Namely, in order to achieve success it is necessary

for the man to initiate. If it is the woman, then misfortune results. This is the situation

the princess experiences in the Konjaku episode as she attempts to exert control over her

lover. Predictably, the princess encounters misfortune of the worst type as she is killed

by the man she seeks to control.

45 Konjaku Monogatari-shu

24:9

"A Doctor Cured the Woman Who Was Raped by a Snake "160

Long before now, there was a person who lived in a village called Umakai, in the

Sarara District161 of Kochi Province. Even though he was of a low rank, his family was quite wealthy. There was a young daughter of his.

Around the fourth month, the girl climbed up a big mulberry tree to pick leaves for her silkworms. Since the tree was on a side of a road, people were passing by it. As they were walking by the tree, they saw a huge snake crawl out and wind itself round the tree in which the girl was. When they noticed this, they warned her that the snake was coiled round the tree. As she heard this and looked down in fright, there was indeed a big snake round the tree.

No sooner did she see the snake than she jumped off the tree. At the same time, the snake twined itself round her and immediately had sex with her (£§ Then her body felt very hot, became unconscious, and fell at the foot of the tree. The parents who saw this cried and called a doctor to examine their daughter. There was a fine doctor in the province, and therefore they invited him and asked him to see their daughter. All the while the snake was still in the girl and would not leave her. The doctor said, "First, place both the girl and the snake on a bed and then quickly take them back home to put in your yard." Thus, the parents took them back home and put them in the yard.

After that, the parents burned three sheaves of rice straw according to what the

162 doctor said. That is, the diameter of the sheaf was about one metre, and therefore they

46 burned three of these. The parents added these ashes into hot water and made about 54 litres163 of the liquid, which they boiled down to 36 litres. They also chopped ten bundles of boars' hair into a powdery form and mixed it with the liquid. Finally they set up a post near the daughter's head and another post close to her feet to have her lie against the sides of those posts and poured the liquid into her vagina. After about 18 litres of the liquid went in, the snake quickly parted from her. As the snake was crawling away, the parents had it stricken, killed, and thrown away. At that time, baby-snakes pierced with boar hair,164 which looked as if they were tadpoles, came out of her vagina. There were almost 9 litres165 all together. When all of the baby-snakes came out, the daughter became conscious and spoke. As the parents, crying, asked how she was, she said, "I do not remember anything at all. I felt as if I had been dreaming."

Thus, the girl was saved due to the applied medicine and has been very cautious since then. Three years later, however, she was raped by a snake again and died at last.

This time, the parents thought, "This must be something to do with her previous life," and did not apply any medical attention to her.

A doctor's skills and the power of medicine were miraculous. Thus the tale was told and has been passed on.

Konjaku Monogatari-shu

29:39

"A Snake That Saw a Woman's Vagina Had Lust for Her Crawling Out of a hole,

But Was Killed by a Blade"166

Long before now, there was a young woman. Around summer she was walking westward on Konoe Oji. As she was passing by Munakata Shrine around Koichijo

47 walking on the north side, she could not hold her urine any longer. So she squatted facing south, against a mud wall, and urinated. A girl whom the woman was accompanying was standing on the street waiting for her thinking, "She will soon be done and stand up." It was around eight in the morning, but even two hours later the woman would not stand up. The girl wondered what was happening and said "hey" to the woman, but there was no answer and she stayed in the same manner. Another two hours passed and the time was almost noon. Although the girl called out to the woman, she would not answer. The girl was so young that she did nothing but cry standing there.

A man on a horse with many servants was passing by, and saw the girl crying. He had his servant ask the girl why she was crying. The servant answered to the man such and such. As the man looked, there was the woman wearing a belt with a bamboo hat on her head, squatting, facing the wall. The man asked, "How long has she been there?"

Crying, the girl answered, "She has been there since this morning. It has been about four hours." The man felt strange (1573" U T"), and got off the horse. He went close to the woman and looked at her face, but it looked pale as if she had been a dead person.

Therefore, he asked to the woman, "What happened? Did you become sick? Have you ever had this before?" but she said nothing. The little girl answered instead, "No, this

never happened before." When the man looked at the woman again, he thought that she

was not a person of low birth. He felt compassionate and tried to pull her up, but she

would not move at all.

At that time, the man unintentionally looked at the wall and found a large snake in

a hole of the wall where its head was pulled in, staring at the woman. The man thought,

"Well, this snake saw her vagina when the woman was urinating and must have lusted for

48 her. It must have made her lose her sense and she became unable to stand up." He then took a short sword off his waist and stuck the sword in front of the hole where the snake

was with the blade pointed inward.

As the man had his servants pull the woman up and leave the spot, the snake

suddenly came out of the hole as if it had been a spear and therefore it split into two. It

split for about 30 centimetres167 and could not completely come out of the hole before

dying. It is surprising (-P-1"!?) to know that the snake caused the woman to lose

consciousness by gazing on her, but as it saw the woman was removed, all of a sudden it

must have come out of the hole without knowing the sword had been placed in front of it.

Indeed, the spirit of a snake is astonishingly frightful. It was reasonable for many people

passing by to come and gather to see this dead snake.

The man left riding his horse, and his servant took the sword back. He was

concerned for the woman, and therefore had his servant send her home without fail. The

woman, like an ailing person, walked staggeringly back home with the man's servant

taking her hand. What a benevolent person this man was! Even though they did not

know each other, he must have had compassion. There is nothing known about him after

that.

Thus, all the women who have heard this story should not do such a thing against

any bush.168 The people who saw this told the tale, and thus it was told and has been

passed on.

49 Konjaku Monogatari-shu

29:40

"The Snake That Saw a Monk's Penis While He Was Snoozing, Swallowing His

Semen, and Died"169

Long before now, there was a young monk serving a noble monk. He had a wife

and children.

When the monk went to Mii Temple170 along with his master, it was daytime in

summer and he became sleepy. Since it was such a big cloister171 he found a place where

no one was and laid down, putting his head on a threshold.172 He slept well for there was

no one to wake him up. While he was sleeping for a long time, he had a dream. In the

dream a beautiful woman came close to him to sleep with him and he ejaculated (jS ^

V\V) after having sex with her. Then, he suddenly woke up and saw a one-and-a-half-

metre-long173 snake beside him. He found it very terrifying, so got up to take a closer

look, but it was dead with its mouth open. Astonished, he looked at his front finding it

wet after ejaculation (:M J ?7 yf). "The pretty woman in the dream with whom I had

sex must have been this snake," he thought and was too horrified to say a word. Looking

inside the snake's mouth, he noticed his semen that the snake had vomited.

As he saw this, he realized, "While I was well asleep, I had an erection. As the

snake saw that, it approached me and sucked (#^7" JU) my penis, which I thought was

sleeping with a woman. On my ejaculating, the snake must have felt too painful and

died," and he left there to wash his penis well, feeling terrified. He wondered whether he

50 would tell anyone about this, but he thought he might be called "the monk who slept with a snake" if he told anyone of this trifling story, so he did not say anything to anyone.

When he thought of the incident, it was still strange, so he finally decided to tell it to the monk to whom he was quite close. This monk also found it very fearful.

Thus, one should not snooze alone far from where other people are. After this incident, nothing unusual happened to this monk. It is in fact true that animals always die

if they swallow human semen. As well, the monk was scared and acted like a sick person

for a while.

The monk's friend to whom the monk told his story related it to others, and the

tale was told and passed on.

Episode 24:9, 29:39, and 29:40 Comparative Analysis

These three episodes have a common theme, which is sexual intercourse with a

snake. Many scholars point out that snakes are treated as divine creatures such as gods or

messengers of a god in mythology and legend; however, in folklore they are considered

to be lustful and horrible, just as they are depicted in these episodes.174 The previous

episode, 31:34, which is very similar to a myth in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, has this former

nature in which the snake is to be a god's messenger. In Konjaku, due to the fact that it is

a collection of folk-like tales, one sees many episodes emphasizing the latter nature

concerning the characteristics of snakes.

In the first two episodes with this theme, a girl is raped or almost raped by a snake

outside in a field. This kind of incident might not have been rare back then, but probably

strange, since some remedies and strategies in such a case are mentioned in Nihon

51 Zokushin Jiten.175 Also, this story might have been a cautionary tale to warn some people, especially girls, out working in bushes. On the profound and unconscious level, however, these tales appear to have different meanings.

These tales, in which women have sex with a snake, make implications regarding marriage as a yoke to women. My argument is based on two major issues: one is understanding the representation of the snake, and the other is a recognition of the etymological aspect of the word to "marry" or totsugu (jM. C).

The snake in each episode clearly represents a man's penis, except for the last in

which a monk ejaculates into a snake's mouth. People believed that snakes were jealous

creatures, full of lust and evil, just as men, through their penises, were also lustful,

seeking snake-like pleasures.176 The evil and jealous nature of snakes is portrayed in

another episode in Konjaku, where an amorous woman, wanting to have sex with a

handsome monk, is turned down and transforms into a large snake to kill him. This

episode is known as the origin of Dojoji Engi.177 As well, a snake's figure naturally

reminds people of the shape of a penis.

Whether by snake or by man, the term totsugu is used throughout the episodes in

Konjaku to mean having intercourse. This is significant as the term is also employed to

denote marriage. Tonomura Hitomi states in her article that it seems accurate to say that

marriage was defined by sexual intercourse between a couple in 12TH century Japan when

178 * •

the term "marriage" was not yet understood as in modern society. With this

understanding it is possible to assume that having intercourse in some way equated to a

state of matrimony.

52 With this association between snakes and penises, as well as a fuller understanding of the term totsugu, these episodes where a snake penetrates or tries to penetrate a woman's vagina, and as a consequence either the woman dies or is close to death, symbolize marriage for a woman with a commensurate loss of freedom and end to life as she knows it. In each of these episodes, a snake, which represents a man or his penis, penetrates a woman, which metaphorically means that she is married to the snake and becomes its property. Moreover, because she dies due to the intercourse, which implies entering the matrimonial state, marriage is considered to be equal to death. Even the woman in one of the episodes who does not die is described as so ill as to be nearly a dead person. This may be understood as having been penetrated/married/becoming a man's possession, which is, metaphorically, death or the end of her life.

As previously mentioned, episode 29:40, where a monk has sex with a snake, appears to have a different symbolic representation. The monk does not die, but the snake dies immediately after it swallows the man's semen, and in the author/compiler(s)'s afterthoughts we read that "it was indeed true that men's semen kills animals." In this case the snake cannot be seen as the representation of man's penis, but may be perceived as a woman's vagina, which further signifies a woman. Indeed, the monk dreams that he is having sex with a beautiful woman, which turns out to be a snake when he wakes up. Significantly, the snake, which represents a woman in this case, meets the same fate (death) as the women in other episodes who were penetrated by a

snake. This suggests that the underlying meanings of the episodes here have less to do

with the animal involved than the gender they are signifying.

53 Although these women and the monk clearly have two different fates, a commonality does exist. All of them are unconscious when they are having sexual / near- sexual intercourse with a snake. The woman who urinates on a street cannot move at all being unconscious, and the girl in a tree in episode 24:9 says afterwards that she felt as if she had been in a dream. The monk is, literally, having a dream, during his deep sleep or unconscious state, when he has sex with a snake. The only distinction between the monk and the women is that the monk remembers what and how the incident happened, while the women do not remember a thing. The monk wakes up (from unconsciousness to reality) knowing what has occurred, whereas the girls, by implication, stay in the unconscious realm, not being aware of the incident. Furthermore, they only return to consciousness with male assistance (a doctor and a nobleman), underlining the dependence of women on male authority and entitlement.

Jacques Lacan claims that a girl cannot be a part of the Symbolic Order because she cannot completely internalize the Law of the Father due to the lack of a castration complex.179 Thus, a girl stays just outside the Symbolic Order as a Subject without knowledge. In these episodes, the monk, who plays an important role in society, is seen to be fully aware of the incident with the snake. Conversely, the two girls who are described simply as the daughters of a certain man, and one of whom does not even have a part to speak, are presented as not knowing beings. They are excluded from the cultural order where the power accompanied by knowledge exists. The best they can do is to stay in the Imaginary where the unconscious rules.

In addition, Nagafuji Yasushi explains his view of a dichotomy between the two genders in the concept of time. In the early Heian period, since polygamy was a common

54 form of marriage, particularly in the aristocracy, and women were excluded from the political sphere, women and men had totally different views of passing time. Nagafuji states that most women spent their days and nights waiting for their man to come and visit, while for men visiting their women was only a part of their social life. Women, isolated socially from the Heian aristocracy, viewed social reality as farfetched, emphasizing instead the reality of their dreams, experienced during the days and nights waiting for their man. Thus, women seemed to live in a dream state, i.e. in the unconscious, while men seemed to live a balanced life in both reality and dreams, i.e. in

the conscious and the unconscious.180 This view is also reflected on our episodes in that

the monk dreams but also is capable of understanding what has happened. The girls,

however, are in a dream-like state and never recover, which indicates they are far from

reality, captured in one realm, which is the unconscious. This might have been the

condition that women had to face at that period of time in married life.

Conclusion

I have translated and analyzed eight selected episodes of the group of secular

episodes in Konjaku using psychoanalytical approaches to provide some insight into the

psyche of those who lived in the patriarchal society of the late Heian period. Although

the author/compiler(s)'s identity has not been revealed, one can recognize how he/they

viewed the world surrounding him/them at that time by carefully looking at the Konjaku

episodes that he chose to compile. He decided to tell each episode in a certain way,

sometimes adding his own conclusion or his own moral understanding of it. As Maria

Tatar suggests, every retelling of a story is reinterpreting it using one's own goal in

55 his/her mind and on his/her unconscious level. The Konjaku author/compiler(s) retold more than one thousand stories and unconsciously could not help reflecting his/their perspectives of the people and society in the telling of them. I hope that psychoanalysis has allowed us, the modern readers, a glimpse at the people's psyche of the late Heian

world.

The analyses of the episodes mostly reveal the married relationship during this

period. Women are often portrayed as obedient and submissive to their husbands, and

otherwise their aggressiveness, which is depicted and analyzed in 27:22, is seen as a force

working against a harmonious marriage. As well, in 31:34 "About 'Chopstick Grave',"

women in control or taking the initiative are not described as an ideal trait in men's view,

and therefore, at the end of the episode the princess is to be killed. This can be read as a

warning to women not to be like her, i.e. disobedient and dominant to their man.

Marriage itself seems to be depicted as a dreadful relationship for women, equated with a

metaphorical death for them in the analyses.

Psychoanalyzing has also demonstrated that men need to have their women

under their authority and control, otherwise they have to face anxiety and difficulty in

their life, which is recognized in 20:10 within the theme of the castration complex.

Moreover, if men cannot overcome their castration anxiety, they tend to become in denial

of the anxiety by substituting it with a fetish object, which implies that men would end up

being neurotic and social failures.

There are quite a few episodes dealing with snakes and the characteristics of

snakes related to those of people in Konjaku. I have looked at four of those episodes and

have noticed that snakes being jealous are often associated with women's jealousy, and

56 that snakes' appearance is sometimes used to imply men's sexual organ and their beast• like sexuality. Since there are many mythologies with snakes and abundant materials available on people's beliefs and in folklore dealing with serpents, it will be an interesting challenge to take this whole issue into further research in the future.

Psychoanalysis in literary use, especially in Japanese literature, is controversial,

as I have mentioned in my introduction. However, it gives the readers of literature a

useful guide to glance into an author's mind and an opportunity to see some hidden

meaning behind what is normally understood. Meredith Anne Skura underlines this

endeavor in her conclusion to The Literary Use of the Psychoanalytic Process.

Ultimately, however, psychoanalysis provides not only a tool for practical

criticism but also a basis for understanding how literature works. The strategies

employed in the psychoanalytic process reveal more than the secret meaning of

one patient's symptoms. They provide the techniques, the categories, and the

vocabulary for examining the conditions of meaning and for studying the way we

make sense of things—or fail to do so. The psychoanalytic process begins to

181 show what happens when we create a fantasy or a memory, or tell a story.1

57 1 Ikegami Jun'ichi, Konjaku Monogatari-shu no Sekai: Chusei no Akebono (Chikuma, 1953), 9-10.

According to Ikegami, this year of the compilation is based on the evidence that the latest literary work to which an author/compiler(s) might have referred, namely Gusan Hokke-den, was not available until 1120.

Even though there have been many theories on the year of its compilation, as well as its author, we do not

know yet exactly when it was compiled.

2 Nagano Joichi, Konjaku monogatari shu no Kansho to Hihyo (Meiji Shoin, 1978), 468.

3 He was commonly known as Major Counselor Uji since he had his second house in Uji where he spent

much time listening to people's stories and is believed to have written many of them down himself. He

took the tonsure due to his illness in June of 1077, and passed away on July 9th in the same year. (KDJ)

4 This is different from the presently known Ujishui Monogatari. Apparently, it was lost.

5 KDJ.

6 Konno Toru, "Konjaku monogatari-shu no Sakusha o Megutte," Kokugo to Kokubungaku fl958, Feb.)

7 Keikai (ft5t£) compiled it around 822.

8 Minamoto no Tamenori (7-1011) compiled it in 984.

9 Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment (Vintage Books, 1975).

10 Maria Tatar, Off With Their Heads! (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1992), xxi - xxii.

" Laura Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasure, (Indiana UP, \ 9%9), 14.

12 Miyamoto Tadao, "The Japanese and Psychoanalysis," in Japan Interpreter 8 No. 3 (Fall 1973).

13 Ibid., 388

14 Ajase complex was based on Kosaka's version of the Buddhist story of King Ajase, who was a ruler of

the Ganges area between 494 and 462 B.C. See Taketomo's article for Kosaka's verson of this story.

15 Taketomo Yasuhiko, "Cultural Adaptation to Psychoanalysis in Japan, 1912-52," Social Research, Vol.

57, No. 4 (Winter 1990): 951-991.

16 Sinran (MM) founded Jodo-shin-shu (fr±JIS? ) (1173-1262) at Mt. Hiei (ittXlJJ).

l7Takemoto, 987.

58 18 Okonogi Keigo, "Nihon-jin no Ajase Complex: Moratorium Ningen o Sasaeru Shinso-shinri," Child

Koron 93 (April - June, 1978), 97.

19 Ibid., 97.

20 Ibid., 99.

21 Ibid., 108.

22 Doi Takeo (±JjH&fi|5) (1920-) studied at the Menninger School of Psychiatry in the United States between 1950 and 52 and at the San Francisco psychoanalytic Institute in 1955 and 56. He first presented his theory of dependency at a conference in Honolulu in 1961 entitled, "Amae — a Key Concept for

Understanding Japanese Personality Structure."

23 Alan Roland, "How Universal is Psychanalysis? The Self in India, Japan, and the United States," in

Culture and Self: Philosophical and Religious Perspectives, East and West, ed. Douglas Allen (Boulder:

Westveiw Press, 1997), 27-39.

24 Doi Takeo, Amae no Kozo (Tokyo: K6bun-d6, 1971), 14. Doi notes that the only term he has found similar to the concept of amae is the "passive object love" that Michael Balint uses in his book, Primary

Love and Psychoanalytic Technique.

25 Ibid., 24-25. Doi adds an anecdote when a British woman, the mother of his patient, who was born and grew up in Japan and was fluent in Japanese, explained her daughter's childhood in English, but said only a

part in Japanese, that is, "Kono ko wa amari amaemasendeshita." As Doi asked this woman why she used

Japanese to express that part, she thought for a while and answered that it could not be said in English.

26 Doi Takeo, 'Amae" no Shiso (Tokyo: K6bun-d6, 1995), 15.

27 Ibid., 1-2, 5.

28 Roland uses three approaches, namely evolutionism, universalism, and relativism, in which

anthropologists have attempted to understand other cultures. In evolutionism, norms are set or based on

Western individualism, and therefore a certain culture different from the Western is basically determined as

superior or inferior. In universalism, the focal point is on universals such that people are

psychoanalytically the same in any culture. Relativism uses a totally distinct structure from Western

individualism to analyze people in a certain culture, which often loses common ground to compare across

cultures. (Roland, "How Universal is Psychoanalysis?")

59 Roland, "How Universal is Psychoanalysis?" 34.

30 Miyamoto considers, though, only the modern Japanese family structure and society. (Miyamoto, 1973)

31 Uxorilocal marriage = married couple live at wife's parents' house.

32 Duolocal marriage = couple have separate residences and husband visits his wife.

33 Neolocal marriage = couple establishes their own residence.

34 William H. McCullough, "Japanese marriage Institutions in the Heian Period," in Harvard Journal of

Asiatic Studies 21 (1967), 103-167.

35 Ichikawa Shigetaka radically suggests that until the beginning of the Heian period people may not have

believed in the biological role of a father, but instead they must have thought that women alone could bear

babies maybe with some help from men by stimulating their uterus and ovaries. He concludes that due to

this idea of birth the matrilineal inheritance must have been practiced. (Ichikawa Shigetaka. Nihon-jin wa

Sei o Do Kangaetekitaka: Kuron Jidai ni Ikasu Azia no Shiso (S^AfH^^^y^A. Xcffzfr : O —

>B$ttlz£fri-7'i/T

36 Wakita Haruko, Nihon Chusei Josei-shi no Kenkyu (B$ip1#£t&&

Shuppan-kai, 1992), 4-5.

37 Ibid., 4.

38 Sekiguchi Hiroko claims that the patriarchy in Japan must have been completed around the 10th century.

(Sekiguchi Hiroko. Nihon Kodai Kon'in-shi no Kenkyu (ff^^tMM^CDW^), vol. 1. (Tokyo:

Haniwa Shobo, 1993), 32.

39 Wakita Haruko, Nihon Josei-shi (B^ftg) (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobun-kan, 1987), 28-29.

There were a few positions available outside the salon such as utame , musical women, and

nuime sewing women. Utame belonged to a section called gagaku-ryo or utamai no tsukasa at the

palace whose job was to organize the musical part of religious and/or annual festivals and to educate the

aristocrats with the knowledge of foreign and imperial traditional music. Nuime belonged to a part of the

Ministry of Finance at the palace, which was called nuibe-shi. Their main responsibilities were to sew

clothes for guards at the palace and to repair ledgers for the Ministry of Finance. (KDJ)

40Ibid., 44-48.

60 41 Ariga Chieko, "Dephallicizing Women in Ryukyo shinshi: A Critique of Gender Ideology in Japanese

Literature," in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 51 (Aug. 1992), 565-586.

42 Mulvey, Laura, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," in Visual and Other Pleasures, (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1989), 14-26.

43 Sei Shonagon (>&'P$]1§ c. 966- 1025) probably completed its original form around 994.

44 Murasaki Shikibu (^litpfl c. 978- 1015) presumably began to write it around 1001 when her husband,

Fujiwara Nobutaka died.

45 Clifford, James, "Notes on Travel and Theory," in Inscriptions, Vol. 5 (1989), 177-188.

46 Andrea Dworkin, Intercourse (New York: The Free Press, 1987)

47 Ibid., 63.

48 Ibid., 15-16.

49 Ibid., 158.

50 Ibid., 150, 159.

51 This episode is originated in Nihon Ryoi-ki (B^MMsB, 822). (NKBZ, Vol. 22)

"Unknown. (Ibid.)

53 Kii Province is present Wakayama Prefecture.

54 Emperor Shomu is a son of the Emperor Monbu and is traditionally counted as the 45th emperor who

reigned between 724 and 749. (Ibid., 328)

55 Yakushi-ji was located at 6-jo 2-bo in Ukyo of Kafunoshimo district in Yamato Province, which is

present Nara Prefecture. Its property was about 440 meters long and 330 meters wide. (Ibid., 328)

56 Daie-zenji (? - ?). According to Nihon Ryoi-ki he was commonly known as Yoasa-zenji (#c$HW6iIi).

(NBJJ) and (NKBZ).

57 The original word in the text is "kuwaika," which is to confess one's sins to Buddha, or Buddhist priests,

or a confession ceremony.

58 This is Ekadasa-mukha in Sanskrit. It is a Kannon image that has eleven small faces on its head. It is

believed to help people get rid of their anxieties, troubles, sickness, and wickedness. Also monks preached

61 that this Kannon would save those who fell into Hell, so the production of these Bodhisattva has increased since the 9lh century. (KDJ)

59 The name here means one of yakusa no kabane (Afe(D&t) or "the eight family names" that Emperor

Tenmu extablished in October, 684. They are mahito, ason, sukune, imiki, michishi, omi, muraji, and inagi.

Down to the fourth rank of these family names were given to uji, or "local clans," in Kinai Area until June,

985, but the ranks below michishi were never distributed. (Ibid.)

60 Fumi-uji (3tf£) was one of the clan names in the ancient central Japan. There were two clans who called

themselves Fumi-uji. One was in Yamato Province, and the other was in Kawachi Province. After 985

when Emperor Tenmu established Yakuso no kabane, both of these Fumi-uji were known as just Fumi no

Imiki. Prior to this, they were occasionally distinguished from each other as Kawachi no Fumi-uji and

Yamato no Fumi-uji. (KDJ)

61 Imiki was one of the eight family names known as Yakusa no kabane that Emperor Tenmu established as

mentioned above. The name Imiki was given mainly to clans at the kuni no miyatsuko level who lived in

Kinai area. (Ibid.)

62 Ueda-shi was a family clan originally from Sumida of Ito District in Kii Province. The people who lived

at Sumida were united to serve at Sumida Shrine and later grew to become a group of warriors. Ueda-shi

was one of the enthusiastic members of this group. (Ibid.)

63 This is Sanbo fES) in the original. Jewels represent Buddha, Dharma (Cosmic Law), and Sangha

(community of monks) respectively. (Religious Study 364 lecture note of May 2, 2000)

64 Kamitsukeno-uji was one of the ancient powerful clans (§|:S£). According to Nihon Shoki it originated

from the prince of Emperor Sujin (the 10lh emperor). (Ibid.)

65 Further research should be made to find some relation between the name, Ohashi no Onna (^H<7)^),

and hashi-hime shinko (MJEHMAP)-

66 The original word is "inga," which is known as karma. This is the Buddhist principle: everything in this

universe is created, operated, and dismissed under this principle. (NKBZ. Vol.22, 328)

67 The original term is kai (M), which is the prohibition that Buddhists should follow. The term used here

in the text, though, specifies "8-saikai" / "8-kai" (pronounced as "hakkai" or "hachikai"), or 8

62 commandments, for Buddhist followers who are laymen/women. "8-saikai" differs however depending upon the doctrine. According to "Kusharon," which is valued as the foundation of Buddhist teaching, it includes cruelty, theft, adultery, evil language, drinking, dressing up and watching plays, sleeping in an expensive bed, and eating except at mealtime. (Ibid., 328 / Daijirin)

68 There is a lacuna in the original.

69 There is a lacuna in the original.

70 There is a lacuna in the original.

71 In the original the term is "ari" which does not specify whether it is singular or plural.

72 The term in the original is "genpd," which is one of the three Buddhist retributions. It is the fruit of one's evil deeds that s/he receives in his/her lifetime. {Daijirin)

73 Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, (New York: Liveright Publishing Co., 1950), 1-8.

74 She believes in the Three Jewels. In psychoanalytic terms, three is significant for it implies one's psychological development: id, ego, and super-ego.

75 KDJ, s.v. "enkiri-dera tfttJJ^)."

76 His anxiety can be taken as the same as children's original anxiety. Freud states in his Three essays on the theory of sexuality that "[a]nxiety in children is originally nothing other than an expression of the fact that they are feeling the loss of the person they love." (p.90)

77 Suzuki Tozo, Nihon Zokushin Jiten, (Kadokawa Shoten, 1982), 24.

78 Although the source of this episode is unknown, there is a similar episode in Ujishui monogatari (^Jnta

JM^UEa, Compiled in Kamakura period). (NKBZ)

79 Emperor Yozei (868 - 949) is traditionally counted as the 57th emperor and reigned between 876 and

884. He was the first son of Emperor Seiwa. In 949 due to illness he renounced the world.

80This samurai was called "Takiguchi" or "Takiguchi no Jin." The guards were called "Takiguchi" due to

the place where they were stationed, which was the Northeast of Seiyoden in the palace. They belonged to

the Chamberlains' Office.

81 There is a lacuna in the original.

63 82"Zushi" was originally used to store dishes in a kitchen. This particular one is called "zushi nikai" or

"nikai zushi" which has two levels; the bottom one has small doors. (KD)

83"Soradaki," which means to burn incense in another room so that the fragrance would flow around the house.

84"Yarido," which is a sliding door.

85 It is the gold that Michinori received in Michinoku Province to take to the Capital.

86 "Shojin" is the original term in the text. It can also mean that one should refrain from having intercourse with women, (KD)

87 "Daiban" SI) was a stand used to place a meal plate at a place such as the palace. It has four legs and is a desk-like object with a rectangular top surface. It was commonly in red or black lacquer finish. (KD)

88 "Kurodo" was also known as "Kurodo no gosho" which was a long, narrow room located between

"Seiryo-den" and "Koki-den." It was so called due to the black color of the door that was stained with soot. (KD)

89 According to Fukago, Fuyoryakki, Gyokuyd, and Kojidan, Emperor Yozei did lose his mind. Many modern scholars believe that Fujiwara no Mototsune took Emperor Yozei from the throne because of his

madness, which Gukan-shd also supports. There is, however, another theory that the Emperor was too ill to

keep his job, which is stated in Sandai Jitsuroku. (NKBZ, Vol.23, 69 / KDJ)

90 The original term in the text is "tengu," and an English equivalent is a long-nosed goblin. "Tengu" is a

phantom that was believed to live in a mountain and curse people. (KD)

91 The original term in the text is "makai," a Buddhist term, which means a world where devils live or

devils themselves. (KD)

92 Sigmund Freud, Three Essays of the Theory of Sexuality. Translated and edited by James Strachey. (New

York: Basic Books, 1962), 92.

93 The child was about one and a half years old at the point of this observation.

94 Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure," 21.

95 Jacques Lacan's mirror stage theory is the prior step for constitution of one's ego to the stage where one

identifies him/herself with others. (Ibid., 17)

96 R. D. Jameson notes that fish symbolize fertility in Brazil, India, and China.

64 R. D. Jameson, Three Lectures on Chinese Folklore, (Peking: North China Union Language School, 1932),

81.

97 Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure," 21.

98 Freud, Three essays, 21.

99 When a child first realizes that his/her mother does not possess a penis, the first object s/he is likely to see is her shoes. They are between the mother's legs and the idea is that the child looks down on the ground in despair of his/her discovery.

100 Earnest Jones, "Psycho-Analysis and Folklore," Jubilee Congress of the Folklore Society, (London:

William Glaisher, Ltd., 1930), 220-237.

101 Ibid., 229.

102 Izutsu Kyobei, "Kutsu no Koto," at http://www.iz2.or.ip/essay/2-6. htm, 2.

103 Jameson, R.D. p.75.

104 Yagisawa Hajime, Yusenkutsu Zenko (Tokyo: Meiji Shoin, 1967), 1.

105 Ibid., 2.

106 This episode originated in Nihon Ryoi-ki (B^SMsE. 822). (NKBZ)

l07The name originated from "kagamitsukuri no miyatsuko," who used to be in charge of making mirrors

and religious festivities. In 683, the 12th year of the Emperor Tenmu's reign, under the new naming code

("Yakusa no Kabane") it was offered "muraji," which was the 7th rank of 8 designated surnames. {KDJ/

Nihong Kodaishizoku Jinmei Jiten)

108 In the text there is no specific subject given, and therefore there is no way of knowing if it was the girl

who refused to get married or her parents. The parents, however, did later make arrangement for their

daughter's marriage. Thus, it is likely that it was her parents who refused as well. Interestingly, however,

the subject of all the actions in the corresponding episode (episode #33) of Nihon Ryoi-ki, which was

compiled approximately 300 years prior to Konjaku, is the girl. {NKBZ. Vol. 23, 147)

109 The original term is "kawahajikami no ki," which is a kind of "sansho" (a prickly ash) and used for

medicine. {NKBZ. Vol. 23, 148)

110 The original term in the text is "Saiwe," which is a Buddhist mass where monks/nuns are invited to hold

a service for the departed spirit and have some meal with the organizer(s). {KKJ)

65 '""Sho nano-ka" is the seventh day after one's death, and in Buddhist practice people are to hold a mass

for the deceased. (IKJ)

112 Mademoiselle Bernard's version was published in 1696. The other one is Charles Perrault's version

published in 1697.

113 Jacques Barchilon, "Beauty and the beast from myth to fairy tale," in Psychoanalysis and the

Psychoanalytic Review, vol. 46 #4 (Winter, 1959), 22.

'14 Freud states that "there is an intimate connection between cruelty and the sexual instinct," and that "this

aggressive element of the sexual instinct is in reality a relic of cannibalistic desires." (p.25)

115 Tatar, Off With Their Heads!, 141.

116 Bettelheim, 268.

117 Structurallly this episode is similar to a fairy tale known as "A letter to a marsh god." As well, it is like

an episode in Sojin-ki (fMffisB). There must be profound relations between these three episodes. (NKBZ)

"8Fujiwara no Takanori served as "Gon no Kami" in Shimotsusa (the provincial governor who was

temporarily appointed for Shimotsusa), "Minbu daijo" in 1062 (an officer of the Popular Affairs Ministry

whose rank was senior sixth lesser, "Nagato no Kami" (Provincial governor for Nagato) etc. (NKBZ.

Vol.23, 62) (KDJ)

119 Nagato is an old name of a province, which is one of the eight provinces in Sanyodo. It is in the west of

present Yamaguchi Prefecture. (KD)

l20"Gon no Kami" was a provincial governor who was temporarily appointed. (KD)

121 The Regent at this time was Fujiwara no Yorimichi. (NKBZ. Vol.24, 80)

122 Higashi Sanjo-den or Higashi Sanjo-in which had been Fujiwara no Kaneie's residence.

123 Takanori called Tosuke from Mino Province to the Capital to work at this duty.

124 Seta Bridge was a bridge over Seta River into which water from Lake Biwa flowed. Some evidence of the existence of this bridge appears in Nihon Shoki in an article in 672. When one was to travel from the

Capital to the east, s/he had to cross this bridge. (NKBZ. Vol.24, 58)

The bridge played a very important role to connect the West and the East. (KDJ)

It is also interesting to see that the Seta Bridge was later rebuilt by Oda Nobunaga in Tensho 3 (1575) and was commonly called "Kara-hashi "(JUfSi). The second bridge where Tosuke was supposed to go to see a

66 lady was in Morokoshi no Sato (fSI6|5). (Kawada Tadaki, Hashi to Nihon no Bunka (Met B^oVJt-ft),

Tokyo: Daiko-sha, 1999), 128.

125 In the Suzuka-bon (IPS^), which the compilers of NKBZ used for this volume, the character i|X seemed to appear. The character IS is seen in other texts, but whatever the character in Suzuka-bon is, it

cannot be read as IS. If it is indeed J|R, then the bridge might have been related to a place people stored

agricultural products. {NKBZ. Vol.27, 81)

Osame also meant a "low rank of lady-in-waiting at the palace" according to KDJ. The characters for

osame, though, are ^ktc. It is, however, very interesting to compare this to the fact that a lady-in-waiting

would be waiting for Tosuke on that very bridge.

126 Katagata District was located almost at the center of Mino Province, which is Gifu Prefecture in present-

day Japan. In Wamyd ruijusho there are six districts listed as follows: Murabe (fTptf) , Morokoshi {~X

It) , (IIS) Katagata , Shidami (,®$) , (IRfO . {KDJ) 127 There is the omission of the subject in the text.

128 Yanagida Kunio, "Hashi-hime" in Teibon: Yanagida Kunio-shu, vol. 5. (££j0EBBMMM£g),

(Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 1962), 214-229.

129 There is a custom in Saitama and other parts of Japan where parents take their baby across a bridge and

come back home by crossing another bridge to pray for the baby's health. This custom is known as hashi

watashi (MML) or hashi mairi (ti0 V) • (Kawada, 144-148.)

130 Yanagida, 227-228.

131 Ibid., 153-156.

132 Nihon Shiwa Jiten(B*&s%#M). (Tokyo: Yamato Shobo, 1997), 295-296.

133 A similar story appears in Nihon- shoki (B^lfSE) and Koji-ki (ft^EE) . The story in Koji-ki is

known as the Myth of Mt. Miwa ( = fffldj(zjl#) and the story in Nihon-shoki is known as the Myth of

Chopstick Grave (3£g(5l5i). {NKBZ)

134 This episode is originally seen in Nihonshoki. In it, the name is "Yamatotobi momosohime no mikoto."

Ij5 There is a lacuna in the original.

67 136 This is a literal translation, which really means "I have never had intercourse with a man."

137 This is also a literal translation, which implies that they did not have any sexual relationship.

138 This indicates that the daughter allowed him to have intercourse with her.

139 Before their intercourse, the daughter was called "musume," but now the pronoun changes to "onna" which indicates a (sexually) mature woman.

140 There is a lacuna in the original text.

141 This district was merged with "shikinokami" and "tochi" districts to be called "isoshiki" district, which is around present-day Sakurai-city in Nara prefecture. (NKBZ. Vol.24, 638)

142 "Hashi no Haka" is presently located in Hashinaka, Sakurai-city, Nara. (Ibid., 638)

143 The idea of a visiting god is related to Origuchi Shinobu's theory of marebito which is a god who would visit people from an ideal land over the sea or from a mountain on a certain day of each year. Kajiki Go

(WtM) , Origuchi Shinobu no Sekai(tJfCl(E^:OVMW), (Tokyo: Sunakoya Shobo, 1982), 34-69, 230-

262.

144 The first common element is that a tale does not tell its readers how and why the groom was enchanted and became an animal. The second element is that it is a sorceress who changed the groom into an animal, but she is not punished for what she has done to him. (Bettelheim, 283)

145 Ibid., 283.

146 Freud did not use the exact term Electra complex. Jung and other writers took Freud's ideas of the

Oedipus complex and named its female version the Electra complex. (Jacques Lacan, Feminine Sexuality:

Jacques Lacan and the ecole freudienne, edited by Juliet Mitchelle and Jacqueline Rose, translated by

Jacqueline Rose, (London: Macmillan Press, 1982), 12-13.)

147 Ibid., 7.

148 Erich Neumann, Amor and Psyche: The Psychic Development of the Feminine, translated by Ralph

Manheim, (New York: Harper and Row, 1956), 3-53.

149 Venus tells Psyche to complete the four labours: to sort seeds, to steal the golden wool of sheep, to fill an urn with cold water from the top of the mountain, and to get a beauty potion from Proserpine.

150 Neumann, 69.

68 151 Some argue that hashi in Hashi haka means "in between" or IW and that Hashi haka was supposed to

mean the connection between Miwa-yama and Osaka-yama. (Nihon Shiwa Jiten (B&ffigS^M)), 251.)

152 Kawada, 22-26.

153 Refer to Note 125.

l54Nagafuji Yasushi, Jikan no Shiso (B$IB1(DM&), (Tokyo: Kyoiku-sha, 1979), 161-164.

155 Kojiki SB) is believed to have been completed in 712. This is based on the date appears in the

preface, but there are a few scholars such as Kamo Mabuchi (KMMiffl) who doubt that date. (NKBZ,

Vol.1, 13)

156 Yaku Masao, The Kojiki in the Life of Japan, trans. G. W. Robinson (Tokyo: The Centre for Asian

Cultural Studies, 1969), 154.

157 The text, "ko no hiruko (7KK-F) wo umu (NKBZ, vol. 1, p.53)" literally means that [Izanagi and

Izanami] gave a birth to a child called "Leech." The name implies that the child was deformed without any bones, like a leech (NKBZ, vol.1, 53 note #20).

158 G. W. Robinson translated "amatsu kami moromoro no mikoto (^0|$|f %CD op) as such (Yaku, 154).

159 NKBZ, 55.

160 This episode originated in Nihon Ryoi-ki (B^MMSB. 822). (NKBZ)

161 It was later combined with Kono and Ibata districts and became Kita Kochi District. (NKBZ)

162 The scale used in the text is 3 shaku (R). One shaku is about 30 cm.

163 The scale used in the text is 3 to. 1 to is about 18.03 litres.

164 There is a type of folktale called hebi muko iri or Jjf A U where a snake is to wed a woman. In one of these tales the woman uses needles to kill her snake husband. (Nihon Minzoku Jiten (B^M/if^M),

(Tokyo: Otsuka Minzoku Gakkai, 1972), 640.) These boar hairs might be taken as substitutes for the needles.

165 The original scale in the text is 5 sho. 1 sho is about 1.8 litres.

166 The source of this episode is unknown. (NKBZ)

167 The original scale is 1 shaku. 1 shaku is about 30 cm.

69 168 The woman in the episode urinated against a mud wall, not a bush, but here a bush means the place where snakes usually stay. (NKBZ)

169 The source of this episode is unknown. (NKBZ)

170 Mii-dera (H4t^) is another name of Onjo-ji (HM#) at Nagara-yama (ft^lll). It was in Shiga

District, 6mi Province, and is presently located in Onjo-ji-cho, 6tsu-shi. The temple has the well whose water was used for the washing of a newborn infant for Emperor Tenchi, Emperor Tenmu, and Emperor

Jito, and thus it was called Mii, or =.#. (NKBZ)

Mii-dera is the head temple of Tendai sect. (KDJ)

171 The original term used in the text is sobo (/BW), which is a series of compartments for monks to live in

and is located within the property of a temple. (KDJ)

172 The original word is nageshi (Mffl), which is a decorative piece of wood to cover a threshold and/or a

lintel. (KKJ)

173 The original scale is 5 shaku.

174 Nihon Minzoku Jiten, 640.

175 Nihon Zokushin Jiten, 546.

176 Kanaya Takehiro discusses some linguistic relations between snakes and the origins of some sexual

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Kanaya Takehiro, "Montorioru-to wa Kurowassan," Fraser Monthly, June 1999, 14-15.

177 Konjaku, 14:3.

178 Tonomura Hitomi, "Nikutai to Yokubo no Keiro," in Jendd no Nihon-shi, Wakita Haruko et al. ed.

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179 Ariga Chieko, "Dephallicizing Women in Ryukyo shinshi: A Critique of Gender Ideology in Japanese

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180 Nagafuji Yasushi, Jikan no Shiso: Kodai-jin no Seikatsu Kanjd, (Tokyo: Kyiku-sha, 1979), 158-195.

181 Meredith Anne Skura, The Literary Use of the Psychoanalytic Process, (London: Yale UP, 1981), 274.

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