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Bundle 84: Folktales and Anxiety About Starvation

Anxiety about food scarcity bedeviled Japan for centuries. Accordingly, some folktales reflect deep concerns about starvation. In "The Stone Potatoes" (told bilingually here), someone disguised as a filthy priest begs a woman for potatoes, only for her to hoard her stash. "A Human Sacrifice in Kamashita" (presented bilingually here) depicts the gravity of having floods repeatedly destroy crops. Another essay refers to the same folktale, showing why the name "Kamashita" must have terrified people. A final essay in this collection argues that Japanese folktales often convey philosophy rather than lessons, which sheds light on the two stories.
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穫
harvest
JOK: 1081
Learn which words the Japanese use for harvesting apples, corn, and even pearls versus catching a haul of fish. Learn to say, "I got a lot out of that project," which uses "harvest" figuratively, and "Apple season will come soon," which doesn't. Get into the minds of advertisers who use 穫 to tout a product's freshness. And enjoy a bounty of harvest images, plus a memorable folktale.
堤
embankment
JOK: 1620
Embankments save lives and could even be why we have government! But they're so well integrated into landscapes that you could walk on an embankment and not know it. See why Japan has built these structures for millennia. (A folktale particularly brings the topic to life.) Also find out about embankment stew, tsutsumi dolls, 'super embankments,' and a "battleship seawall."
釜
iron pot; kettle
JOK: 1950
Pots look lifeless, but 釜 is full of fun. It plays a great role in a folktale and has connections to necessities in life, plus car crashes, cross-dressing, and demons who boil people in cauldrons. It pops up in colorful place names. And of course this kanji has a culinary side, appearing in terms for "rice cooker," the names of rice and udon dishes, a salty fish dish, a way of making tea, and more.
喩
illustrate
JOK: 2122
Learn to compare life to climbing a mountain, to a stage, and to a voyage, while likening death to sleep. Discover the Japanese metaphor for being unable to use one’s talents in a new environment. Find out how to use “torii,” “bow and arrow,” and “bread” to stand for larger entities, along with “mountain” and “temple” in certain regions. Also see what alchemy and lemons represent in Japan.
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