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Cover of 桃太郎 (Momotarō)

Advanced · JLPT N1

桃太郎Momotarō — The Boy from the Peach

by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (芥川竜之介, 1892–1927)

  • JLPT N1
  • 4,390 characters
  • 6 parts
  • about 37 minutes

Akutagawa's 桃太郎 is a satirical retelling of the folk tale every Japanese child knows: a boy born from a peach sets out with a dog, a monkey and a pheasant to conquer the island of the oni. Akutagawa wraps it in a mythic frame, with a giant peach tree that fruits once in ten thousand years and Fate appearing as the crow Yatagarasu. His hero's motives are far from noble. Momotarō goes to war because he dislikes honest work and pays his followers in half-dumplings. On Onigashima he finds not monsters but a peaceful, pleasure-loving people. The tale is told by an ironic first-person narrator, writing in 1924, who stops to question the old legends and compare the ancient capital to Ginza. The humour is dry, the satire is pointed, and the middle of the story turns violent. The main challenge for learners is the register. The narration uses dense Sino-Japanese vocabulary in a mock-solemn way, along with classical negatives like 〜ぬ. The dialogue ranges from Momotarō's curt commands to the oni chief's stiff, old-fashioned keigo. The six parts are short, and knowing the original folk tale makes the parody easy to follow.

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Contents

  1. The Great Peach Tree Deep in the Mountains （一）Deep in the mountains stands an enormous peach tree that, since the dawn of the world, has flowered and borne fruit once every ten thousand years, each peach carrying a beautiful baby where its stone should be. One lonely morning, Fate takes the form of a Yatagarasu and pecks one small peach loose, and it falls into a mountain stream far below. The stream carries it toward the land of humans, where, as every Japanese child knows, an old woman is washing clothes.
  2. Half a Dumpling Buys an Army （二）Momotarō sets out to conquer Onigashima mainly because he hates honest work, and his foster parents, long fed up with him, gladly equip him just to be rid of him. He recruits a dog, a monkey and a pheasant by paying each only half a millet dumpling, and the three constantly quarrel. When the monkey, still sore after the dog's attack, refuses to go on, Momotarō wins him back by threatening to give him no share of the oni's treasure, which includes the magic mallet.
  3. The Peace-Loving People of Onigashima （三）The narrator describes Onigashima as a tropical paradise whose oni are peaceful, pleasure-loving and domestic, and he questions the legends that paint famous oni as villains. An old oni mother scares her grandchildren with stories of humans: hornless, pale-faced, lying, greedy and murderous beasts.
  4. Massacre and Surrender on Onigashima （四）Momotarō and his three hungry retainers storm Onigashima and slaughter the panicking, innocent oni with brutal cruelty. The surviving chieftain surrenders, agreeing to hand over all the island's treasure and his children as hostages. When he asks what wrong the oni committed, Momotarō gives only a circular answer and threatens to kill them all if they still do not understand.
  5. The Hero's Bitter Homecoming （五）Momotarō returns home in triumph with his animals, the oni child he took hostage and a cart of treasure, but his happiness does not last. The oni child kills the pheasant and flees, the monkey is murdered, and surviving oni raid Momotarō's house again and again. Meanwhile, on Onigashima, young oni quietly build coconut bombs and plan their island's independence.
  6. The Tree Still Bears Its Fruit （六）Deep in the mountains, the peach tree still bears countless fruit, just as it always has. Only the peach that held Momotarō is gone, swept away long ago by the mountain stream. Unknown numbers of future geniuses still sleep inside the remaining fruits, and the narrator wonders when the great crow Yatagarasu will appear at the top of the tree again.

Before you read

  • Separate the narrator's voice from the story. The first-person commentary uses hedges and asides such as 〜かも知れない, 〜ようである, 〜はいうを待たない ('it goes without saying') and 〜までもあるまい ('there is hardly any need to…'). Much of the irony sits in these phrases.
  • Expect classical and archaic negatives. 〜ぬ means 〜ない, 参りませぬ means 参りません, and 〜まい means 'probably not' or 'there's no need'. They are frequent in the oni chief's and the dog's humble speech (でございます, 致します, わたくしども).
  • Use speech style to tell speakers apart. Momotarō speaks in lordly plain commands with 貴様 and 〜ぞ. The oni grandmother uses warm colloquial speech. The animals and the oni chief are stiffly deferential.
  • Learn the folk-tale vocabulary first, because it carries the plot: 鬼 (oni), 鬼が島, 征伐 (punitive conquest), 家来 (retainer), 黍団子 (millet dumpling), 宝物 (treasure), 人質 (hostage) and 打出の小槌 (magic mallet).
  • Read part 3 slowly. It is an essay-like digression on oni legends (酒顛童子, 茨木童子, 羅生門), with dense grammar such as のみならず and 〜にさえ. It also sets up the satirical reversal of part 4. The name glossary helps here.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
奥おくthe deep interior; the far depths (of mountains, a house, etc.)山の奥 is a set phrase for 'deep in the mountains'.N3
家来けらいretainer, vassal, followerN1
人質ひとじちhostage質 here is read じち (rendaku of しち, 'pledge').N1
孕んではらむto carry (a child) inside; to be pregnant withdictionary form: 孕むLiterary. Also used figuratively: 危険を孕む, 'to be fraught with danger'.—
累々るいるいin heaps; piled up thickly, one after anotherLiterary adverb, used with と.—
谷川たにがわa mountain stream; a river in a valleyRendaku: たに + かわ → たにがわ.—
征伐せいばつsubjugation; punitive expeditionA grand, official-sounding word, used here with mock solemnity.—
鬼おにoni; horned ogre or demon of Japanese folkloreKept as 'oni' because 'demon' or 'ogre' does not quite fit. Oni are horned, often red or blue, and are traditionally villains in folk tales.N3
破ったやぶるto break through, to piercedictionary form: 破るThe basic meaning is 'to tear' or 'to break'. Here the tree is so tall it pierces the clouds.N3
実みfruit (on a plant)実をつける means 'to bear fruit'. When the kanji stands alone in this sense it is read み, not じつ.N3
姿すがたfigure, form, appearance姿を現す (to show oneself) is a set phrase meaning 'to appear'.N3
算盤そろばんabacus算盤を取る/はじく = to calculate gains and losses; here it shows Momotarō's stinginess.N2
拵えたりこしらえるto make, to put togetherdictionary form: 拵えるA slightly old-fashioned, colloquial alternative to 作る.N2
饑えたうえるto starve, be famisheddictionary form: 饑えるUsually written 飢える today; 饑 is an older variant kanji.N2
口惜しそうくやしいvexed, indignantdictionary form: 口惜しいOlder spelling of 悔しい.N2

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

A giant peach tree in the mountains bears a baby inside each fruit once every ten thousand years. Fate, in the form of the crow Yatagarasu, knocks one peach into a stream, and it floats down to the old woman washing clothes. Once grown, Momotarō sets off to conquer Onigashima because he hates work. His relieved foster parents equip him, and he hires a quarrelsome dog, monkey and pheasant for half a dumpling each. Onigashima turns out to be a peaceful tropical island, yet Momotarō's band massacres its people. The chief surrenders his treasure and his children. When he asks what wrong the oni did, Momotarō gives no real answer. Back home, the triumph sours. The hostage child kills the pheasant and escapes, the monkey is murdered, oni raid the house, and young oni plot independence with coconut bombs. In the mountains, the peach tree waits for the crow's return.

About the author

Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892–1927) was one of the most important writers of modern Japanese short fiction. Born in Tokyo, he studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, and his early story 鼻 (The Nose) won praise from Natsume Sōseki. Many of his works retell older Japanese and Chinese tales with modern psychological insight, including 羅生門 (Rashōmon) and 藪の中 (In a Grove), which later inspired Kurosawa Akira's film Rashomon. He died by suicide at the age of 35. The Akutagawa Prize was named in his honour by his friend Kikuchi Kan.

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