Japanese Fables: The Influences

The Samurai’s Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard is about a boy named Taro, the protagonist in the story. The major characters in the story are Taro, Yoshitoki, Lord Takeda Katsuyori, Lord Akiyama Nobutomo, and Togan. The setting of the story is in Japan, in around the 16th century. In the beginning of the story he was presented as a gift by the great Lord Takeda Shingen to Lord Akiyama after his parents had been killed. By using his wits and suppressing his fierce pride, Taro slowly escalates the ranks of his lord’s household until he achieves his greatest goal—becoming a samurai like his father and Lord Akiyama, whom he has come to admire. The life of a samurai is not so easy, Taro finds himself sacrificing opportunities of love and friendship

Throughout the entire novel, the religion of the remaining humans on Earth, Mercerism, puts a large amount of emphasis on animals. Animals are seen as a way to show your humanity, that you are truly human and not a special or an android. Animals were also a way to show your economic status so some individuals would go as far as to have an electric animal in order to maintain

The stories showed how their relationship with the animals and planet came to be, and how nature and the animals are important to them. Stories overall taught everything the elders knew.

Japan is described as a country of wood, and the reverence of natural materials. The depths of the love and admiration that the Japanese people have for wood are famous, which is similar to the Greek love of pristine marble and its smooth surfaces. This can be seen in an old Japanese expression "plants and trees all have something to say", Japanese believe that trees have a soul and say they can sense spirits, or "kami", within them. It is trees that form the core which nurtures the sensibilities about nature held by the Japanese people. It is thus natural for architecture in Japan to be based on wood. Many structures are made of wood, ranging from shrines and temples to palaces and homes, and in doing so grand structures have been created (Stokstad).

Every culture has their own interpretations of how the world was created, which were told in the form of stories and myths. They give meaning to life and give people more of an understanding about the world, and these stories are used as a basis for how to live/moral conduct, including their views on animals. The way the animals are told in these stories reflect their beliefs and values towards animals. Animals played very significant roles in many creation myths and were highly respected; in the creation myth of the Yoruba and in the creation myth of the Iroquois, animals helped with the creation of earth, were created before humans, and were well trusted by both the gods and humans.

The animals themselves are used to enhance certain characteristics. c. Orwell used allegory as a rhetorical device and order to write a satire type book. He did this because it is much easier to form a critique with this medium. It's easier for people to see the absurdity in something if they are shown humor and parallelism rather than regular data.

4) in our daily lives. In more prominent ways, Japanese culture can be noticed through cuisine and religion. “Buddhism” and “Shintoism” are the two significant religions of Japan, though in Hawaii more buddhist temples are seen rather than shinto shrines. Besides the majority of the Japanese population in Hawaii, buddhism is also practiced by a great amount of Hawaii locals. The only set back being, “The only temple activities that cater to non- Japanese…are taiko drumming and meditation.” (Borup

This is completely different from US religious beliefs in many ways. For one, all the religions practiced in the United States worship a specific god or gods. Another thing that’s completely different in Japan than in the US is that they are more accepting of different religions. The other religion that is widely practiced in Japan is Buddhism. Brought over by missionaries in 552 AD and emphasizes simplicity to beauty, devotion to study and severe self-discipline. All the concepts of both of these religions are not concepts that American religions emphasize. Religion is huge for the Japanese and in most houses Shintoism and Buddhism are both practiced and shrines are usually done of both religions. There are many other cultural customs in Japan that are different from those in the US.

Both Europe and Japan were primitive countries so they had various similitudes of resemblance, one of them being trading. The merchants stood lower in rank in Japan yet they could buy what they need and offer what they didn't to have a content with living. Religion wasn't as wide-ranging to Japan as it was in Europe yet the ruler implemented Buddhism. They soon found Zen and that was used to make a huge impact on the warriors by showing the way that it endorsed extraordinary behavior. Zen extremely transformed the human experience and culture of Japan.

Religion had an important role in the everyday life of the Japanese people in that time period. It supposably guided the citizens of japan to understand the world and also gave a relation between the physical world and the spiritual world that they believed in. The two most common religions in medieval japan were Buddhism and Shinto. Shinto, the oldest religion in japan, was mainly associated with everyday life and Buddhism was more of a reflection on future and the life ahead. Confucianism is another religion originated in

Twelve different gods and goddesses have watched over the earth for all time. They each have a designated time of ruling and all children born during that time take on the traits of the ruling deity. They are the Zodiac.

examples: Omiwa Shrine (Nara Prefecture) *This view makes Japanese characteristics to respect Nature Ancestors …… examples: Sawara-no-taisai (Chiba Prefecture) In Japanese culture, it is natural that there exist uncountable gods ⇒It was easy for Japanese to religion from outside Japan Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism are adopted in Japanese culture (However, Christianity was banned in Edo era) 3. Japanese Culture`s merits

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience the meaning behind the Chinese New Year animals and there meaning

Many fables have good and bad animal characters to convey the good things that come from good actions, and the bad things from bad actions. The majority of the fables you will read will have characters that show what happens to the good animal and what happens to the bad one. Stories like, the tortoise and the hare, the bat and the birds, the dog and the wolf, and the fox and the goat are just a few to name. In all of them however we see the good that comes from being someone good and the bad for the bad character. This is what conveys the moral and shows the reader how you want to be. These animals help show the moral because as animals we feel for them and it shows us what happens when you’re good or bad. And it is also easier for kids to relate to animals rather than anything else because they get attached to them and since fables

Each Year has different names. The names are animal names. The names are “rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig” (“Chinese Zodiac Sign”). The animal year can be related to the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthy branches.