Have you ever had that thought? You know? "Man, I would thrive so much in crisis. The only problem
is the world is all safe and simple and stuff. If circumstances just conspired to put me in
an action-hero situation, I'd do great! I bet if I was trekking across a beautiful
suspiciously-new-zealand-y landscape with a crew of true companions on a perilous quest I'd have a
much easier time getting them into our dang weekly board game nights! Or, you know, archaeology would
be so much more fun if it actually involved dodging traps and punching nazis on moving
tanks. I'd kick ass at that! Man, I hate calling my doctor and my bank, because the
true test of my bravery would be using kung fu to fight a crew of ne'er-do-wells in an exciting
action setpiece on top of a train." Now of course that little voice is not to be trusted because it
belongs to your inner storyteller - the part of you that once upon a time played swordfights or
dragon-slaying or Star Wars on the playground before eventually maturing into game nights,
improv comedy, theater, writing, or really any other creative outlet for that beautiful
little "what if" instinct. It's a vital part of you, but it's not always the best at reading
the room or accepting that the real world does not operate on the logic of a story.
So it's kinda funny to encounter a fantastical folktale where the protagonist has the exact
same struggle. Today's story is a Japanese tale first documented in english in the late 1800s by
Mrs. T. H. James in a children's picture book, and then later featured in Andrew Lang's The
Violet Fairy Book in 1901, one of several compilations of folktales he collected from
around the world. However, unlike in the similar case of Tokoyo and the Sea Monster, the story of
Shippeitaro is also documented in japan, and in fact has several different localized versions,
meaning this story was definitely not made up by some proto-weeb in 1800s Europe, which is a
relief. You always gotta check these things. Anyway, the story of Shippeitaro begins with a
nameless young man leaving his village in search of fame and adventure, this just being the way
things were done back in Folklore Japan - but he finds himself almost quixotically
frustrated at the lack of adventure opportunities. Despite living in a world chocka with youkai,
he can find no monsters to slay, no damsels to rescue and overall nothing
that would allow him to finally display his true heroic potential. After all, it's hard
to be a hero in a world with no easy villains. But his luck changes one day when he reaches
the foothills of an extremely scary-looking mountain that practically screams "here there
be plothooks" and he starts hiking his way up through dense underbrush and shadowy trees.
Unfortunately the mountain of plothooks turns out to be a huge pain in the ass and he fails to
find a way out of the forest before nightfall, only managing to locate a large stone shrine,
which he takes shelter in for the night. But at midnight, a sudden horrible sound
wakes him, and he sees that outside the shrine are… a truly staggering number of cats. Which
is… probably a little disheartening if you're on the hunt for adventure. But these folkloric
cats are not the cute and cuddly kind; Japanese folklore has a habit of highlighting the sinister
and untrustworthy nature of the cat, and this tale is no exception. These cats are partying
up a storm under the light of the full moon, dancing and caterwauling and overall behaving
in a very unnerving manner. As the young man watches, he begins to make out words
in the wailing - "don't tell Shippetarou! Don't tell him we've been partying it up
on this mountain! It'd be just awful if our one weakness was exploited! Don't you do it!"
Anyway, this goes on for a while until the midnight hour is officially over and the cats
all vanish. The young man officially decides that that's a tomorrow problem and goes back
to sleep. The next morning he's quite hungry and a bit worn-out, but thanks to the morning light
he spots a footpath he'd previously overlooked that leads him to a small village! But before
he can get anything to eat, he's distracted by the sound of an extremely unhappy woman screaming and
crying for help. Alarmed, he asks the apparently indifferent townsfolk what the heck is going on,
and they sadly inform him that he's arrived on the occasion of an annual sacrifice to the Spirit of
the Mountain. The unfortunate girl was selected by lot and will be sealed in a cask and placed in the
very shrine the young man sheltered in for the Spirit of the Mountain to come and consume her.
This is obviously very troubling for the young man to hear, though it does provide some context
for why those cats were so jazzed, but then he remembers something and asks the locals
who or what is a "Shippeitaro". Confused by the apparent non-sequiter in such a grim conversation,
they say that Shippeitaro is the name of the dog that belongs to a local lord. The young man jets
off in that direction, leaving the townspeople rather baffled, and before long he arrives at the
lord's estate and frantically asks if he can borrow his dog. The lord is, unsurprisingly,
rather confused and suspicious of this request, but the young man insists it's a matter of life
and death and it'll only be for one day he promises. The lord reluctantly agrees and the
young man takes Shippeitaro back to the village. He tells the sacrificial girl's parents to hide
her in the closet for the night and secretly stows Shippetarou in the sacrificial cask in
her place. Then he heads back up the mountain and hides in the shrine until the cask is brought up,
and then he and Shippetarou wait for the plot to come find them.
At midnight, under the full moon, the cats reappear, this time accompanied by a huge
black cat that is clearly mondo supernatural and evidently their leader. The Spirit of the
Mountain saunters up to the cask, pops the lock and prepares to devour the girl inside - only to
be absolutely demolished when Shippetarou pops out and glomps him instead. The young man seizes his
chance and springs out, decapitating the demonic cat in one swing of his hitherto-useless sword.
The rest of the nightmare cats freak out and scatter, and Shippetarou and the young man return
to the village at sunrise with the good news. The heroic goodest of boys is returned to his master
and honored with an annual feast in celebration of them not having to do any more blood sacrifices,
and the young man……… is also there. Hey, sometimes heroism is less about proving
one's might and slaying the dragon and more about finding the right tool for the job.
And sometimes the right tool happens to be just the cutest little guy! Yes you are!!