The legend of Sakura and Yohiro

[GemmaChirico]

Hello everyone!
I'm looking for the japanese title and text about the legend of Sakura and Yohiro.
I've only found the english and spanish version!
Could you help me?
Thank you so much!

 

[Toritoribe]

I'm a native Japanese speaker, but I've never heard about the story. The name "Yohiro" is very uncommon or unnatural as a Japanese name, by the way, except it's a misspell or misunderstanding of Yōhiro, Yoshirō, Yahiko, etc..

 

[nice gaijin]

Did a google search for "legend of sakura" and found this, which mentions a character by that name. Not sure if this is an actual Japanese legend (I'd never heard of it, for what that's worth), and there are no sources to check: The Legend of Sakura: A True Love Story — Exploring your mind

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, that's exactly the page I also found and read the story from.

 

[nice gaijin]

Well, there's a Japanese version of that page out there with the exact same images... on a different domain though: 桜の伝説：真実の愛の物語 — こころの探検

 

[Toritoribe]

That's the only one page where both 桜の伝説 "The Legend of Sakura" and 世比呂 "Yohiro" are mentioned. The English and Japanese sites are both related to a company Grupo MContigo. My impression is that the English version is the original and the Japanese version is the translation of it.

 

[ardesmond]

Hello - I'm trying to find more information on this topic. There are a few sites I've found that mention the story of Yohiro and Sakura, but it sounds like it may not be of Japanese origin. Any information would be helpful.

 

[Majestic]

I think the advice will be the same as was given 2-3 years ago. Can you point us to the English source of this story?

 

[ardesmond]

A love story of Sakura

A long lost Japanese fable about a girl named Sakura and a tree called Yohiro (hope), tells the story of a true love that never ends.

www.paperandtea.com

 

[bentenmusume]

This is clearly not a real Japanese fable, but something that a non-Japanese person made up using (what that person thought to be) vaguely "Japanese" themes.

This is evident from the first line/introduction:

A long lost Japanese fable about a girl named Sakura and a tree called Yohiro (hope), tells the story of a true love that never ends.

As Toritoribe-san said the last time this question was asked, "Yohiro" is not a common (or even natural) Japanese name, and it doesn't mean "hope".

 

[ardesmond]

OK, thanks - are you aware of any similar folk tales about the cherry blossoms?

 

[ardesmond]

Or, are there changes that we could make to this story that would make it more authentic? For instance, changing the name of Yohiro to Nozomu.

 

[nice gaijin]

To make it more authentic, I would remove "A long lost Japanese fable," because it's not.

This is kind of a strange request. It's not a real Japanese legend, what is the point of trying to make it more convincing so it can be passed off as one? Just leave it as it is, a contemporary work of fiction, and don't lie about its origins.

 

[ardesmond]

Not trying to lie about anything, just trying to make the story as it is more authentic. Any other suggestions?

 

[mdchachi]

Not trying to lie about anything, just trying to make the story as it is more authentic. Any other suggestions?

Change the tree's name to Kibou and it will be authentic. Kibou can mean hope but it can also mean wooden pole. Perfect for a tree that has aspirations.

 

[nice gaijin]

Not trying to lie about anything, just trying to make the story as it is more authentic. Any other suggestions?

I'm not sure you understood my point: the most inauthentic thing about this fable is its own origin story.

I would recommend reading actual mukashi banashi and compare it to the structure and content of this story.

Some questions to keep in mind:
What kind of mythical creatures are mentioned?
How are plants, animals, and inanimate objects anthropomorphized?
What kind of transformative spells are mentioned? How do they work?
How is love and affection depicted?
What is the general structure and rhythm of the story?
Is there a moral or specific explanation being made?

Rereading the above links, the issues go deeper than getting a name wrong, both in regards to its quality as a legend and its authenticity as a Japanese one. Like I said, it's wholly unnecessary to claim it's a long-lost Japanese legend, because that's demonstrably false.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Princess Saya Kibana (コノハナサクヤヒメ [Konoha Sakuya Hime] ) is a goddess appearing in the Japanese myth. It is said to be etymology of the name of cherry blossoms very beautifully.

Konohanasakuya-hime - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Myths
Ninigi and Sakuya-hime
Sakuya-hime met Ninigi on the seashore and they fell in love; Ninigi asked Ohoyamatsumi, the father of Sakuya-hime for her hand in marriage. Oho-Yama proposed his older daughter, Iwa-Naga-hime, instead, but Ninigi had his heart set on Sakuya-hime. Oho-Yama reluctantly agreed and Ninigi and Ko-no-hana married. Because Ninigi refused Iwa-Naga, the rock-princess, human lives are said to be short and fleeting, like the sakura blossoms, instead of enduring and long lasting, like stones.

Sakuya-hime became pregnant in just one night, causing suspicion in Ninigi. He wondered if this was the child of another kami. Sakuya-hime was enraged at Ninigi's accusation and entered a doorless hut, which she then set fire to, declaring that the child would not be hurt if it were truly the offspring of Ninigi. Inside the hut, Ko-no-hana had three sons, Hoderi, Hosuseri and Hoori

木花咲耶姫（コノハナサクヤヒメ）の神話と祀られている神社

桜の語源となった薄命の美女と誉れ高い木花咲耶姫（コノハナサクヤヒメ）の登場する神話やご利益、祀られている神社を紹介します。

www.e-sogi.com

サ神(Sa Kami)
The love to a cherry tree produced it, "さ"神" of the history ignorance.
Kami of the farming of Japan

天下の俗説「サ神」信仰の矛盾とは？和風月名「皐月(さつき)」考(季節・暮らしの話題 2020年05月01日) - tenki.jp

今日から五月。新緑まぶしい爽やかな季節の到来です。旧暦（太陰太陽暦）の五月には他の月と同様さまざまな異名がありますが、もっともポピュラーな和風月名では皐月（さつき）。新暦の五月も「さつき」は転用されていますが、旧暦の五月は新暦の5月下旬～7月上旬ごろ（概ね新暦の6月前後）で変動し、そして必ず五月中に夏至を迎えることになります。「さつき」という月名の意味や語源については、民俗学が生んだある説が真実であると信じられ、困ったことになっています。

tenki.jp

 

[ardesmond]

I'm not sure you understood my point: the most inauthentic thing about this fable is its own origin story.

I would recommend reading actual mukashi banashi and compare it to the structure and content of this story.

Some questions to keep in mind:
What kind of mythical creatures are mentioned?
How are plants, animals, and inanimate objects anthropomorphized?
What kind of transformative spells are mentioned? How do they work?
How is love and affection depicted?
What is the general structure and rhythm of the story?
Is there a moral or specific explanation being made?

Rereading the above links, the issues go deeper than getting a name wrong, both in regards to its quality as a legend and its authenticity as a Japanese one. Like I said, it's wholly unnecessary to claim it's a long-lost Japanese legend, because that's demonstrably false.

And as I said, I'm not going to claim that. I'm just telling the story. Another thing that might be helpful would be examples of conversations that might happen between Sakura and the tree. Looking for ideas on how they might talk, what they would be likely to talk about, what mattered to people, etc.

 

[mdchachi]

And as I said, I'm not going to claim that. I'm just telling the story. Another thing that might be helpful would be examples of conversations that might happen between Sakura and the tree. Looking for ideas on how they might talk, what they would be likely to talk about, what mattered to people, etc.

I think your best bet is to read a variety of real Japanese fables and stories. Here are a few (use translation feature in Google Chrome) to read.

富士山に伝わる木花咲耶姫（コノハナサクヤヒメ）の話｜美しき楽園～年齢を重ねても輝く女性達

平安時代まで頻繁に続いていた噴火を鎮めたという伝説が残っていました。守り神の木花咲耶姫（このはなさくやひめ）は、アマテラスの孫のニニギノミコトの子を身ごもったのですが、自分の子ではないのではと疑われ、木花咲耶姫は疑いを晴らすために産屋に火を放ち、その炎の中で出産をします。そして3人の神々を生みました。

www.chizu-h.com

伝説にまつわる昔話 | 民話の部屋

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

十六桜
JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA
Lafcadio Hearn 小泉 八雲,(Koizumi Yakumo)

伊予の国の和気郡には「十六桜」、あるいは「十六日の桜の木」と呼ばれる有名な大変古い桜の木がある。
In Wakegori, a district of the province of Iyo (1), there is a very ancient and famous cherry-tree, called Jiu-roku-zakura, or "the Cherry-tree of the Sixteenth Day,"
その木は毎年（昔の太陰暦で）一月十六日に開花し、その日のうちに散る。
because it blooms every year upon the sixteenth day of the first month (by the old lunar calendar ),-- and only upon that day.
したがって本来の桜ならば春まで待つところを、その桜は大寒の時期に開花するのである。
Thus the time of its flowering is the Period of Great Cold,-- though the natural habit of a cherry-tree is to wait for the spring season before venturing to blossom.
十六桜は自らのものではない命―少なくとも、もとはそれ自らの命ではなかった―をもって咲く。
But the Jiu-roku-zakura blossoms with a life that is not -- or, at least, that was not originally -- its own.
その木には、ある男の魂が宿っているのだ。
There is the ghost of a man in that tree.

LH23十六桜　JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA

日英対訳文対応付けデータというサイトにLafcadio Hearnの対訳がありま...

drmayoke.blog.fc2.com

 

[bentenmusume]

I think your best bet is to read a variety of real Japanese fables and stories. Here are a few (use translation feature in Google Chrome) to read.

I absolutely agree with the idea of reading real Japanese fables, but I'm not sure why you'd want to read anything through machine translation when plenty of authentic Japanese fables have been translated into English by actual literary translators.

In addition to the Lafcadio Hearn-translated story that Nagashima-san provided, I was able to find a complete collection of mukashibanashi by Kunio Yanagita translated into English just by Googling for "Japanese fables English translation".

https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/1404

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Konohanasakuya-hime symbolizes the beauty and vanity, severe character (goddess of the volcano) in the goddesses of the cherry tree.



梶井基次郎(Kajii Motojirō)
Motojirou Kajii, (February 17, 1901 – March 24, 1932) was a Japanese author in the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories.
[Very Short Stories]
桜の樹の下には(Sakuranokinoshitaniha)"Under the cherry trees".
桜の樹の下には屍体が埋まっている！
これは信じていいことなんだよ。何故なぜって、桜の花があんなにも見事に咲くなんて信じられないことじゃないか。俺はあの美しさが信じられないので、この二三日不安だった。しかしいま、やっとわかるときが来た。桜の樹の下には屍体が埋まっている。これは信じていいことだ。
A dead body is buried under the tree of cherry tree!
This is what you may believe. Why is not that it is unbelievable that cherry blossoms bloom such wonderfully why? As I could not believe that beauty, it was uneasy for these 2-3 days. However, time at last to know just came. A dead body is buried under the tree of cherry tree. You may believe this.

ŠˆäŠîŽŸ˜Y ÷‚ÌŽ÷‚̉º‚É‚Í

(I was not able to find English version.)


Reading aloud


"A dead body is buried under the tree of cherry tree!" It is a famous sentence in Japan. It is quoted in many novels and animation, comics.

櫻子さんの足下には死体が埋まっている(Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru)
Plot
Sakurako Kujō is a genius beauty in her mid-twenties whose life is centered around one thing and one thing only: bones. With little tolerance for others, she would be completely isolated in her study full of skeletons if it weren't for high school boy Shotaro—her new assistant and constant companion. Why exactly she has taken a shine to him remains a mystery, but one thing is clear: Whenever the two go out together, the chances are high that they will come across a human corpse.