The Story Behind the Tale of Momotaro 「桃太郎伝説」の生まれたまち おかやま〜古代吉備の遺産が誘う鬼退治の物語〜 ストーリー動画

Description

The Japanese folk tale “Momotaro” tells of a boy born from a peach who grows up to vanquish some ogres. It is one of the country’s most loved stories. It has its origins in an even older legend set in the Kibi area of present-day Okayama Prefecture. It goes like this.
Long ago, there lived an ogre named Ura. From his home on Mt. Kinojo he terrorized the people living nearby. When the Emperor Sujin learned of this, he ordered a man named Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto to vanquish the ogre. Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto fought with Ura, pursued him, and lopped off his head, which he buried under an empty rice pot in the Kibitsu Jinja Shrine. It is said that the ogre’s head gave groans from underneath the ground until his wife cooked rice in the pot and finally he was silent. So ends the legend. Sometime later however, this Okayama legend was linked to peaches, a famous local product traditionally associated with warding off evil, and the story of Momotaro the peach boy was born. Both Ura’s legendary home of Mt. Kinojo and the Kibitsu Jinja Shrine are real places in southern Okayama open to visitors. There are many ancient burial mounds in this area, suggesting the Kibi region was once home to powerful local rulers. One theory is that the Imperial Court sent an army to attack and vanquish these threats to the central government, and that this was the inspiration for the tale of Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto and of Momotaro.