The country Inaba, from where the events took place, has been deduced by researchers to be modern-day Shimane, in the eastern part of Tottori Prefecture. The white rabbit brought bad luck to himself due to this…which is a poor habit we should avoid. While his wit to have the sharks line up unaware is admirable, getting ahead of himself and making them look stupid by bragging about his trick was his undoing. In turn to his kindness, the white rabbit ensured that it was Ōkuninushi be the one to take Yagami-hime’s hand in marriage.Ģ) AVOID BRASH ACTIONS, LEST BE GREETED BY DISASTER – This pertains to the white rabbit and how he foiled himself as he crossed along the backs of the sharks to reach Inaba Country. Unlike his mean and selfish older siblings, he helped an injured white rabbit heal itself & regain his fur. Reasons behind this include certain aspects of the past intentionally hidden due to political issues, which can be remedied through either changing names of certain individuals involved, to replacing with a misdirection in the form of a fantasy-like narrative.Īs a folklore geared towards children, what types of lessons are young readers expected to take away from the story “Inaba no Shiro Usagi”? There are 2 lessons that I was able to find.ġ) GREAT FORTUNE COMES TO THOSE WHO DO GOOD DEEDS – This one points to Ōkuninushi no kami, and how he was rewarded for his kind nature. While there may be some truth to this (especially later on in the Kojiki, when the “gods” theme tones down abit and focuses more on actual people), it is still challenged by a lack of concrete, factual evidence. Some of these issues will be touched upon lightly in this article.Īnother point regarding interpretation challenges leads to the idea about aspects of the folklore being a parallel to real social, and political events that are linked to geographical areas of old. In the end, researchers have to struggle reading in-between the lines, which in itself can lead to more confusion. These, along with not fully understanding the reasoning behind why the Kojiki was written the way it is, has lead to numerous discussions on the meaning behind much of the text. ![]() The original text isn’t as clear with the details, nor the meaning behind some of the dialogue used. While this, as well as all other stories found in the Kojiki, part of the mythological origin of Japan, it is worth noting that the interpretations aren’t as clear cut as one would assume reading the clear & easily digestible versions of the folklore (including the one from the previous article) paints an acceptable image of the white rabbit and his journey to Inaba Country, but in reality these are based on adjusted, acceptable interpretations. ![]() While it may seem that the white rabbit plays a minor role, it is in fact the opposite, for he was critical in Ōkuninushi’s rise in status, and can even be argued that he judged Ōkuninushi’s fate. ![]() Here’s a list of some of the sources used as research material for this article:īefore going forward, it’s worth mentioning again that the story of the white rabbit and his journey to Inaba Country is originally part of a bigger tale regarding Ōkuninushi no kami, and how he becomes the head of the earthly gods, as well as the ruler of the central land in Japan, which is all recited in the Kojiki. Of course, this type of literature was only privy to nobles and influential clans as early as 700s, but was made available to the general public from around the mid 1600s, especially as literature in schools. Although introduced as a folklore to many kids, originally this was held with high esteem as a source of Japan’s origin story, as well as the rights of the Imperial line. Here is part 2 on the series regarding the folklore “White Rabbit of Inaba Country”, which will cover fun facts, real life comparisons, as well as certain research topics.
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