Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part B

For the most part, this reading focused on the Japanese hero Yamato Takeru, or Yamato Take. I did some research to find out more about the story and its background, but it looks like there's more than one version. Several of the summaries floating around are just vague enough that I can't tell if they're supposed to be the version in the reading, or if they're just similar enough to be confusing.

However, I think this version would be great to use to adapt the story of Yamato into a novella or novel. It could even fit into a neat, three-act screenplay structure. Unlike the Egyptian mythology stories, this story is long enough, and the main character developed enough, that a writer could get away with adapting it for modern audiences. 

The protagonist is the main selling point here. He has a handful of major flaws, like any good main character, and is far from perfect at any point in the story. He is also actively a jerk to other people, like Princess Tachibana, but by the end of his story, he suffers hardships, learns a lesson, becomes a better person, and almost manages to end his own story happily. If I were the one writing this story, I might edit the ending a little--instead of Tachibana sacrificing to the sea god and Yamato living the rest of his life in grief, I would try to resolve the conflict. There could be a (Disney) Hercules-type showdown where the hero travels to the underworld (or to the heavens) to find his wife's soul and bring her back to life. Or, Yamato could do something sacrificial to bring her back. For that matter, I probably wouldn't write Yamato and Tachibana as being married for most of the novel. The relationship seems so one-sided that it would make Yamato seem like a huge jerk, if it were written that way. An alternative could be making them engaged, or putting them in an arranged marriage, but marrying them at the end of the story instead.

The antagonist is almost as interesting as the protagonist. Benten exploits Yamato's flaws for her own gain, so he can only beat her by overcoming his own weaknesses. The rest of the plot could be fleshed out with Yamato's labors, like the episodes with the glass-cutting sword and the boar.

Sources:
Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend, by E. W. Champney and F. Champney

Image:
Yamato Takeru at 16, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi