Momotaro: Unity through Food and Common Knowledge

Momotaro (1938), the story of the Peach Boy, is a Japanese folktale that has been retold and passed down through generations. It is about a young boy who appears from a giant peach and is taken under the care of an old couple who lived by the mountains. The couple named the boy Momotaro, translated as Peach Boy, and raised him as their own child. At age 15 Momotaro journeys through the sea with his companions, the dog, the monkey and the pheasant, towards the land of Ogres and wages war against them to protect the people of Japan. Momotaro became a heroic symbol by defeating the ogres, returning all the treasures back home. This classic folktale has been retold such as in Arai Goro’s 1951 abridge picture book version with more visual images to tell the story. Momotaro, once a local figure and turned into a well-known national figure in Japan, has been applied to different situations in order to appeal and unify the masses. In films such as the animation Momotaro’s Sea Eagles (1943), a propaganda film regarding Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor, and Noriaki Tsuchimoto’s documentary about the aftermath of mercury contamination on the people, Minamata: The Victims and Their World (1971), both took Momotaro as the ideal leader to galvanize people in partaking in their cause. The use of millet dumpling in the folktale establishes a commonality between Momotaro and his followers which is the catalyst of the development of the relationship between them. It is the consumption of dumplings that provided them with strength to fight and it serves as a contract between Momotaro and his loyal servants. However, it is not only food that creates such unity, but also the use of the folktale in films such as Momotaro’s Sea Eagles and Minamata that impels Japan as a nation to come together. Having something familiar such as the story of Momotaro, reminds people of Japan the values they regard as important and using that to work towards a common goal.

In Iwaya Sazanami’s 1938 version of Momotaro, Momotaro comes across the dog who offers his servitude and asks for a dumpling in return. Momotaro gives it half a dumpling as a payment for accepting the dog’s offer. The same thing happened between Momotaro and the monkey and the pheasant that comes a long his way. He gives them half a dumpling before proceeding their journey together to the Ogre’s Island. This interaction between Momotaro and the animals illustrates the authority Momotaro has over his companions. At first he threatens them of being killed if they get in his way, and later giving them half a dumpling. This establishes a clear distinction of the relationship between all of them, Momotaro being the commander, and the three animals being his loyal servants. The millet dumpling acts as a unifier because by accepting the millet dumpling, they have already agreed to the conditions that they must join Momotaro’s cause. In the 1951 version of this tale, this exchange was excluded from the picture book. Instead it illustrates Momotaro sitting along with the dog, monkey and pheasant, and “shared his millet dumplings” (Arai Goro, 3). Momotaro is depicted as friendlier compared to Iwaya’s version, because in the earlier version a barter takes place between Momotaro and the animals; half a dumpling in return for service. However, in this 1951 version, there seems to have more familiarity with their relationship. The picture book allows its readers to have more freedom in terms of interpreting the images illustrated. Since it can be interpreted in different ways, it is easier to take the story and put it in a specific context. In Iwaya’s version there is no mention of Momotaro physically defeating the ogres. It was his servants, with the orders of Momotaro, who defeated them. On the contrary, in the 1951 version Momotaro is illustrated fighting the ogre (Arai Goro, 4). Even though both stories slightly differs from each other, it is the dumplings that provided them with strength, bringing them all together.

The use of the Momotaro folktale in other media such as an animation film, stimulates a sense of nationality among its viewers who are familiar with the tale. The 37-minute feature film Momotaro’s Sea Eagles (1943) directed by Seo Mitsuyo, is a propaganda film to support the Japanese home front’s victorious attack on Pearl Harbor during the WWII in December 1941. Targeted to a younger audience, the film uses Momotaro as Japan’s hero against the Americans because it is a character that children recognize. It can be seen that the soldiers are cute, delicate little critters that are generally loved by children, making it easier to appeal to them. For this reason, Momotaro and his army naturally becomes the good guys and whoever opposes them are the bad guys. Similarly, Momotaro whose built and voice is still very much like a child, still exudes bravery and competent leadership thus influences its younger viewers’ perspective in that they too, like Momotaro, can have the power to lead a nation like Japan. Being unfamiliar with the folktale may not necessarily hinder someone from understanding the film’s plot, but perhaps familiarity with it can bolster the sense of nationalism. Assuming that the viewers of this film are all familiar with the context of Momotaro, it can help unite them simply because of the established knowledge about the folktale. Having a common knowledge and agreement about something can strengthen the unity of a nation. As a result both children and adults that viewed the film may feel stronger towards Japan because it is their national hero, Momotaro, that lead to Japan’s victory. In both the film and Iwaya’s 1938 version, Momotaro embodies the idea of Japan’s emperor. Momotaro possess the characteristics of an emperor, commanding his soldiers and leading his nation to victory. He may have not physically taken part of the war in both text and film, but he oversees what was going on and as shown in the film, as he gives commands to everyone on board, the animals listens attentively with confidence for their leader. The animal soldiers also possess the ideal nationalist ideology; to sacrifice one’s self for the better of the country. By having Momotaro play the role of the leader during WWII, children will want to embody his characteristics and serve Japan.

The film preserves some of the folkloric elements of the tale such as the animals manifested with human qualities. Seo explores these qualities further in the film by showing the dog’s and the monkey’s interactions with each other, such as the scene when the dog and the monkey were playing with jenga on the plane, teasing each other. This comedic relief alleviates tension in what is supposed to be a heavy topic of war. These simple interactions accentuates their human qualities making them that much more relatable to its young viewers. Such display of these qualities influences children to strive for such qualities to make their nation proud. The film also incorporates a well-known character, Bluto, from an American cartoon called Popeye the Sailor Man. Since Popeye was a well-known cartoon show in Japan during that time, children can immediately detect Bluto as the bad guy. Furthermore, one scene shows one of the monkeys eating a millet dumpling, and flexes its arm to show its muscles gained from eating it, similar to how Popeye eats spinach for strength. This reference to Popeye enables children who are familiar with the cartoon, draw a connection that Bluto is the villain, Popeye is the hero. This makes Momotaro’s side the protagonist because his soldiers had to eat dumplings for strength just like how Popeye has to eat his spinach. This boosts Japan’s national unity because there is a common enemy recognized by many. Knowing where the villain originally came from is not essential in identifying who the evil side is, but it helps viewers recognize the connection instantaneously. Moreover, it is good to note that even though the American’s are portrayed as humans in the film, they lack the human characteristics that the animal soldiers possess. It serves as a juxtaposition between the two sides, depicting the Japanese side as more human like and competent during war, naturally making them better than the Americans. The Americans were dehumanize and are portrayed as drunkards to justify Japan’s view that the Americans lacked leadership and are incompetent on defending themselves. In addition, the alcohol consumed by the Americans serves no benefit to them unlike Japan’s dumplings. The overconsumption of alcohol and portraying Americans as drunkards, reiterates the idea that American soldiers lack cooperation with their comrades on board. It is possible that Bluto was used as the ‘leader’ for the American’s side in the film in order to send the message that even though the Americans are big and rugged compared to the tiny animals, they lack the clever wits of the Japanese. No matter how physically strong you are, it is no match against intelligence.

The use of the folktale of Momotaro in different mediums echoes what characteristics and morals the Japanese value. As a folktale, Momotaro is timeless. Its events took place a “very, very long ago” (Iwaya, 9), with no specific location. This allows the story to be transferred to different times, and still be relevant to what is taking place. Going back to the film Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, the application of the folktale in this propaganda film extends Japan’s bushido ideology of honor and bravery. In the folktale, Momotaro and his servants displays the way of the warrior to save the people from the Ogres. These same values are applied during the time of WWII and reinforced repeatedly in the film creating a national agreement of “us versus the other” and sends this message to future generations. A scene from Minamata (1971) directed by Noriaki Tsuchimoto, shows demonstrators of people who were affected by the minamata disease gathered at a train station in Osaka to protest against Chisso Factory. One of the spokesperson alludes to the island where the “blue and red ogres” (Tsuchimoto, 1971) dwell, whom they must confront and defeat. By taking Momotaro and applying it in their cause brings the people together because they each assume the role of Momotaro, and the factory as the evil Ogres. Or perhaps the spokesperson can be seen as Momotaro, and the rest of the demonstrators as the servants, all aiming at one goal. The people voicing out their complaints against the factory enhances our understanding that Momotaro has the values that are important to the Japanese. In order for these demonstrators to succeed they must display the same courage as Momotaro did.

The formation of communities in both Goro’s and Iwaya’s interpretation of Momotaro folktale is rooted from food. The same can be said in Seo’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, where it explicitly shows community building between the animals and juxtaposes it with the lack of community on the American side. By taking this well-known tale and applying it to a real world dilemma in Minamata exposes the injustice faced by its people, and pushes them to come together and fight. The development of small relationships can lead to the growth of bigger communities.

Momotaro and Minamata

Momotaro is a Japanese folk character. In the folk tale, he was born of a peach floating in water. An Old Man and an Old Woman bring him up. When he becomes fifteen years old, he, together with a spotted dog, a monkey, and a pheasant, goes to the Orges’ Island to defeat Orges and save those islanders. In the movie Momotaro’s Sea Eagle, Momotaro is a commanding officer of an aircraft carrier. The troops succeed in the conquest of Demon Island by bomb attacks. In both the folk tale and the movie, Momotaro is not alone; he develops a community of his followers to support himself in the attack. Food is a tool used by to unite “people” in a common struggle.

In the Momotaro stories, food is a symbol of best wishes, responsibilities and trust in the development of community. In the folk tale, Momotaro has three followers – a spotted dog, a monkey and a pheasant. Momotaro forms his own troops by giving each of his followers half of a millet dumpling made by his parents. The homemade millet dumplings are a symbol for the wish of returning home. Momotaro’s parents made him those millet dumplings and expect him to win the war and come back home safely. By sharing the millet dumplings with the three animals, Momotaro is sharing the wish of returing home successfully and safely with his followers. Since Momotaro is sent down by the command of the god of Heaven, he has his responsibilities as a child of his parents and also as a leader of his people. He views saving those suffering people on the Orges’ Island as one of his responsibilities. By sharing the millet dumplings with the three animals, Momotaro is sharing his responsibilities for those islanders and his trust with his followers.

The movie shows nothing of Momotaro’s family and depicts him merely as a commanding officer. Momotaro loses his responsibilities as a child and is only left with the responsibilities for his people. Though Momotaro appears to be alone and does not have much communication with the troops, he is still the spiritual leader of the army. Instead of giving real food, he gives an encouraging speech to the animals. His encouragement is the food for his follower’s soul, supporting his soldiers to defeat their enemies. His troops include rabbits, monkeys and pigs. Before the bomb attack, a rabbit gives some food to a pig, conveying her best wishes and trust.

While the folk tale and the movie both use food to transmit wishes and trust, not like in the folk tale where food is a tool to develop followers, in the movie food is passed from one soldier to another, showing the audiences that the soldiers are solidly united. The folk tale depicts the development of community in details while in the movie the community has already formed. Since the movie is derived partly from the folk tale, it is taken for granted for audiences who know the folk tale that Momotaro has developed a community of “warriors”. Without knowing the folk tale, one might feel confused about who Momotaro is and where the troops come from.

Though the Momotaro movie relies on the folk tale, the movie is different from the folk tale in the background of the story and their targeted audiences. The omitted passing food scene in the movie also helps to show the change from a simple folk tale to a military movie. Unlike the folk tale, the Momotaro movie is closely related to reality. In the folk tale, there is no specific description about the space and time that the story happens, but only some description like “Very, very long ago”, “in a certain place”. However, in the movie the Orges’ Island represents the Pearl Harbor. Momotaro leads the troop to attack Orges’ Island symbolizes Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor during WII. The movie conveys a strong belief of Japanese people that Japan is going to defeat the United States just like Momotaro defeats the Oni. In other words, the Momotaro movie is to spread Japan’s military thoughts during WII to audiences, particularly children.

As the media changes from folk tale to movie, the targeted audiences also change from everyone to children in particular. Partly based on the folk tale, the Momotaro movie also borrows American animation figures like Bluto, a villain in Popeye stories. He becomes a captain addicted to alcohol in the Momotaro movie, giving audiences an image of irresponsible captain. For people who know the Popeye stories, Bluto has one more image – “a bad guy”. The Momotaro movie uses Bluto to represent the American army in order to show audiences that Momotaro and his troops are going to defeat those bad guys to maintain justice. Since the targeted audiences are children, the movie uglifies Bluto to make children tend to favor Momotaro more.

By sharing homemade millet dumplings, Momotaro develops his own troops. Similarly, in Minamata movie poisonous fish brings the Minamata disease victims together because the chemical factory Nitsuchi refuses to acknowledge its actions of poisoning the sea and causing the disease. In both the Momotaro stories and the Minamata movie, food is a unifier to form communities of voyage. However, the journeys differ in the roles that water plays in Momotaro and Minamata. Water, as the food for life, is an unstable factor since it is affected by human actions.

Momotaro is the leader of the community that he develops while in Minamata the disease is “the leader” that brings the victims together. Momotaro is a waterborne food sent down by the command of the god of Heaven. He rallies his troops to protect humans from Orges. In the Minamata movie, poisonous fish in water polluted by human actions carries Minamata disease. The Minamata disease victims go on a journey to protect themselves. What Nitchitsu does to the victims is equal to what Orges do to the islanders. Orges can be viewed as human actions that destroy the nature and finally harm humans in return.

Since ancient times, water is the place that gives life; water is the food for life. Similarly, Momotaro comes from water and the Minamata disease spread through water. In Momotaro stories water generates lives while in Minamata water destroys lives. “The water that bears the Boat is the same that swallows it up.” Human intervention of the nature turns the water from a “mother” that generates live into a “killer”.

Food helps to unite people with the same goals together to protect other people or themselves. However, food may also become harmful when humans do harm to the nature.

Entrées of Consolidation

When we eat, we establish a direct identity between our culture and the natural world. Food reflects social identities and membership in social groups.  It not only unifies people from all aspects of life, it serves as a facet of society and socialization throughout the world. People are able to gather together when food is present. It allows us to feel relaxed and socialize with one another even if there are stark differences between groups. Food allows us to strengthen social ties and serves as a unifier not only within cultural groups themselves, but between those groups. It reduces cultural differences to a minimum, reducing the disparities seen between groups of various races, ethnicities and even socioeconomic standing. This unification can be seen in the tales of Momotaro or Peach Boy, a Japanese folk hero whose stories have remained incredibly influential in Japan for the past three centuries. Food serves as a main unifier throughout the various adaptations of Momotaro. Whether they are in literature or film, food is used to symbolize community and functions as a method by which Momotaro can contract animals to help him with his quests. Throughout these variants of the story food remains a common element; food as a method to portray nationalism. The characters in the story represent different elements of Japanese society and are united by food.

In the original Momotaro story published by Iwaya Sazanami, food, specifically millet dumplings, play a crucial role in Momotaro’s development into a hero. At the very beginning of the folk tale, Momotaro’s adoptive parents discover him in a giant peach. They are “both so astonished at this appearance that they were frightened out of their wits, and they fell down” (15). The peach symbolizes life in Japanese culture and thus Momotaro’s appearance brings new life into the lives of the old couple. He is portrayed as coming from Heaven and thus has a mission on earth that he must fulfill. Once he reaches the age of fifteen, he feels an intense desire to go “wage war against them [the oni], to catch and crush them and bring back all their treasures” (19). He bids his family farewell but not before his father prepares “suitable food for a warrior on a journey” (21). This food, Kibi-dango or millet dumplings, may not seem out of the ordinary, but in reality it is these dumplings which are the means by which Momotaro can ultimately be successful at the end of his journey. As he goes about his quest, he gives half a millet dumpling to each animal he encounters on his journey. The dog, monkey, and pheasant each, in turn, become his honorable retainers and thus accompany him to the Ogres’ Island to defeat the oni. The dumplings serve as ways to bring the group together and to maintain respect and loyalty to each other. At first, the animals are incredibly aggressive towards each other but after receiving their dumplings, “all three animals were the best of friends and obeyed Peach-Boy’s commands, heart and soul” (32). The humility and esteem the dumplings bring the group into a familial connection. Prepared by Momotaro’s parents who love him dearly, these dumplings spread their love for him to the animals that end up becoming unconditionally loyal and respectful to him. His “influence of a great General is a great thing!” (32). Thus, with his new army, he is able to overcome the demons. The millet dumplings are what lead to the intense camaraderie between the group and shed light into the ability of food to bring together people from all different backgrounds for a common cause. Food is portrayed not only as a labor of love from his parents but also as a method by which Momotaro becomes a hero. With the support of this food, he accumulates all he needs to accomplish his goal and it allows him to reap the benefits of the spoils of victory.

Mitsuyo Seo’s adaptation of the traditional Momotaro lore, Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, utilizes some of the same food elements seen in the traditional tale. However, this adaptation is not used solely for the purpose of entertainment but takes on a slightly darker, propagandist twist. In the film, the millet dumplings don’t have the same emotional effect as seen in the original tale, but they seem to still have a significant effect on Momotaro and his minions. The millet dumplings, as seen in the hands of a monkey, give a reaction similar to the one seen in the American Popeye cartoons. They give him the strength and fearlessness needed in order to complete his mission for his country.

 

                     The similarities between Popeye and the monkey in Momotaro’s Sea Eagle

The dumplings are also used as rewards for the retainers and are part of the spoils, which they take after defeating the demons. The benefits of the dumplings are evident as the soldiers overrun the demons’ ships and decimate their forces. This sweeping victory aims to showcase the Japanese superiority over their American counterparts. It lifts the attack on Pearl Harbor to a mythical level; Momotaro leads pheasants, monkeys, and dogs into a fight against evil demons. The millet dumplings are more complex in Sea Eagles; the sense of love and camaraderie seen in the traditional story takes on a much larger nationalistic meaning. The nationalistic approach sheds light on the dumplings effects versus those that of the effects of the alcohol on the captain of the demon ship. While his fleet gets destroyed, he squirms around in his drunken squalor helpless to stop the invasion. The stark contrast between Momotaro and the demon captain is apparent in that the captain continues to drink while Momotaro executes his plan to perfection. The captain is not only a drunkard but is also incredibly overweight. These two characteristics are obvious propaganda tools portraying the American diet as unhealthy while that of the Japanese is lauded for its benefits to its soldiers (such as with the monkey). Overall, food in Sea Eagle represents more than just a “superman drug,” it represents the desire for Japanese global dominance in World War II. The dumplings serve as the unique aspect of Japanese culture that is untouched by Western influence; this distinctiveness aims to show the Japanese as good while the Americans are portrayed in a much more negative light.

            Noriaki Tsuchimoto’s documentary Minimata: The Victims and Their World aims to show the negative effects that food has on communities as a whole. Unlike the Momotaro stories, this documentary shows the unity that families and communities have during times of intense suffering. Throughout the entire film, the audience is exposed to residents of Minamata and the mercury poisoning caused by the fish contaminated by Chisso fertilizer factory. The families suffer from deformities and other critical diseases and thus are subject to intense hardships due to lack of government effort and the slow response by the factory itself. The food itself is the reason why the people are in such a bad state yet they continue to share their food because of the rich culture and sense of community that is felt through these eating interactions. The endurance and love they show each other is inspiring, but the conditions for life is so fatefully tragic due to the seemingly endless amounts of mercury found in the nearby water sources. The food that they need to survive is what is actually killing them. This vicious cycle only continues even when they go to the shareholder meeting because of the lack of compassion Chisso shows for its victims. This film is a window into the anger, grief, and agony that lasted a lifetime for the people involved. Family members share the agonies endured by their loved ones before they died of the disease and show the consequences that the food around them had on their lives. However, throughout all the suffering and tragedy, the community grows closer together; the people unite under a common goal, much like in the Momotaro stories, and work hard together to overcome any obstacle in their way. The film serves as a disturbing reminder of the indifference of corporate entities to human welfare and stands as a testament to the power of community in overcoming that indifference.  

The theme that becomes apparent in all three works is the ability of food to be a uniting factor within and between communities. Food establishes bonds and maintains those same bonds throughout the test of time because of its cultivation, preparation, and consumption which all represent a cultural act. Food serves as a representative of unity and community. Whether it be the coming together to fight against demons or to fight against an insensitive, corrupt company, the fact of the matter remains the same: food is the facilitator of modern culture. Without food, we are left with a fragile society that lacks the intrapersonal relationships needed for a fully functioning humanity. Food is no longer just a normal material object; it is a symbol of the synthesis required for the successful advancement of a nation.   

Peach-Boy: Food as an Instrument of Community Creation

Monkey eating dumpling in Sea Eagle

In the stories and fables centered on the hero Momotarō or Peach-Boy, food works as a symbol of solidarity as well as authority. Momotarō is a typical heroic character: noble, righteous, and a protector of the interests of the less powerful. In the fables about his exploits, he and his retainers protect Japan from various evil forces, usually in the form of ogres or demons. These two sides are often distinguished via the symbol of food, whether it is the millet dumplings that Momotarō gives his retainers in the original tales or the alcohol that is heavily consumed by the bumbling captain of the demons’ ship in a wartime cartoon. In addition, these relationships are portrayed differently in the various Momotarō stories based on the time period in which they were written. These changes are reflected in the treatment of food within the films and texts. Food and the act of consuming it is a powerful indicator of community and relationships, a fact, which is reflected quite frequently in the myths of Momotarō.

In almost every story of Peach-Boy, there is an appearance of millet dumplings. In the original fable, Momotarō gives these dumplings to the dog, monkey, and pheasant that encounters on his way to Ogres’ Island. After receiving and eating these dumplings, the respective animals become retainers or servants of Momotarō. Thus food is acting as a direct agent of producing community. These dumplings, which were made by Momotarō’s loving parents, represent the mutual acceptance between the hero and the animals to become connected in some way. Food that was originally shared between family members, Peach-Boy and his parents, is now being given to these new characters, suggesting that they are perhaps joining his family or community in some way. Sharing and eating food together is something that everyone in a community, whether it is one of friends, family, coworkers, or etc., does together. Therefore when Momotarō performs this ritual with his new retainers it represents that they have overcome their differences (as each animal initially attacks the Peach-Boy) and decided to join together in some kind of relationship, in this case one of a lord and his retainers. In this case, food also works to build a community because it shows the Momotarō is responsible for the dog, monkey, and pheasant. He provides for them in the form of the dumplings, which are supposedly the best in all of Japan in return for their future service to him. Even in future versions, such as Momotarō’s Sea Eagle, a World War II propaganda film, food is used as a sort of reward for the retainers. For example, in one scene, after the forces of dogs, monkeys, and pheasants have successfully attacked the enemy, one of the monkeys is rewarded with millet dumplings and drink. He has performed his duty to the community, which in the film includes all of Japan in addition to his captain Momotarō, so he therefore deserves the delicious food. Food holds the community together because it incentivizes acting on behalf of the rest of the community. Food is not only a symbol of kinship but is also an agent of community-creation. Another example of food acting as a force to bring characters together in the Momotarō canon is the giant peach from which he is born. Old Woman and Old Man find a giant peach from which Peach-Boy, the son that they always wanted but never had, emerges. Once again, food is directly acting as a means of bringing people together into a community; the peach delivers Momotarō to the old couple allowing a family to form. In addition, being born from the peach also establishes Momotarō as a special character. While his parents are named Old Man and Old Woman and the rest of the characters are also similarly typified, Peach-Boy has a unique name based on his strange birth. Food not only creates communities, it also helps determine the roles of each member. The millet dumplings and peach from the original Momotarō stories are strong examples of food as the basis of a community. Without either one, Momotarō could not have existed because he would have no family to raise him and no retainers or servants to help him on his quest to get rid of the Ogres.

In addition to being a symbol and vehicle of the creation of communities, food also acts as a means of differentiating between different groups, notably Momotarō on the side of righteousness and the ogres or demons on the side of evil. In the original fable, the side of good enjoys the millet dumplings. The old couple makes them for their son, Peach-Boy, who gives them to his retainers as a sign of acceptance and as a reward for joining his quest. The Ogres on Ogres’ Island, with whom he battles, do not get any of the dumplings. Instead the Ogres are said to kidnap and eat people. The differences in cuisine determine that the two forces are not part of the same community, but are in fact distinct and opposing communities. Although this seems counterintuitive when taken along the idea of food as a force for producing community, it is still useful. Community is a group of people who have something in common, whether it is family relationship, aligned interests, or simply friendship.  This suggests that if one community with certain interests exists, than another community with different interests likely exists as well. So though food does not bring the Ogres and Momotarō and his band together, it is still creating community, two communities, in fact. Thus food discerns between differing groups as well as bringing people together to form these groups. In Sea Eagle, we can see another example of food as a distinguishing force. While the Japanese forces of animals use food as an incentive and a source of fuel to perform well, the demon forces on Demon’s Island (thinly veiled caricatures of American forces in Pearl Harbor) are useless, bumbling drunks who cannot perform their duties as successfully as their enemies can. In one scene, one of the Japanese monkey soldiers eats some kind of dish in the cockpit of the plane and immediately gains strength similar to the scenes in the Popeye cartoons where he eats spinach. As mentioned previously, another monkey is rewarded with millet dumplings and a bubbly drink after he returns home safe and victorious from the attack.  Therefore, in this community, aka the Japanese forces serving under Momotarō, food is a productive and helpful thing that holds them together. Meanwhile, on the demons’ ships, their clumsy, blundering captain, who looks like Bluto, the evil character in the Popeye cartoons, is depicted as a useless alcoholic with a copious amount of bottles falling out from his clothes. Hence, the community of Japanese animal soldiers has a very different relationship with food and drink than the community of American demons. The demons have a very dysfunctional relationship to food while Momotarō’s forces have a very healthy one. Food and the way the members of a group interact with it, can show how each group is different than the next because the way that it helps various communities form is always unique.

            Minamata: The Victims and Their World, a documentary that tells the story of a village poisoned by the dumping of mercury by the nearby Chisso Corporation into the water, also shows the important connection between food and the essence of a community. The villagers suffer from a horrible disease as a result of their food supply of fish, which have all been infected with the illegally dumped methyl mercury in the ocean. Therefore, like the demons, the villagers of Minamata do not have a positive relationship to food and rather than helping to build the community, it is literally killing it. The villagers decide to confront the Chisso Corporation who burdened them with the terrible disease. These villagers compare their plight to the quest of Momotarō and even compare the home of the corporation to Ogres’ Island from the Momotarō stories. This places the community of affected villagers in the shoes of the heroic or righteous side (Momotarō) versus the side of evil (Ogres). The villagers, who originally had a rewarding relationship with food, as they were mostly fishermen who provided themselves with their own food have been reduced to the sad state of being tormented by the same very food. The community of Minamata villagers has been unified to fight against a common enemy as a result of their connection with food. The food that made their peers and loved ones sick has provoked a communal response against those who caused the misfortune. Therefore, just like Momotarō and his band of animal soldiers, these villagers seek out justice.

Food is something that is important in all cultures and in all groups of people, In general. It brings us together as well as differentiates us from those who do not share our interests. Food, as seen in the various depictions of the Momotarō myth, is the basic building block of communities. When we sit down at the dinner table with our families and share a meal, we are not so different from the Peach-Boy giving pieces of his millet dumplings to a certain dog, monkey, and pheasant. We are relying on food as a vehicle of building connections and of creating community.

The Use of Pastiche in Momotaro’s Sea Eagles

Momotaro is a traditional Japanese folktale that has been altered with different iterations and representations across different time periods. As with many folktales, Momotaro transmits a “moral”, or lesson to the audience, advocating humble beginnings and a strong sense of community that seems to be the interweaving thread between the traditional tale and its succeeding adaptations. These lessons however, may also be molded and slightly altered from the traditional to produce a revised version of the story that better reflects the time period. Such is the case in Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, an animated propaganda piece that is an adaptation of the traditional Momotaro folktale. In this case, the revision to the original tale can stand by itself as an animated short, but it is at the intertexual level that enhances the animation by giving the story context and offering a point of contrast that adds humor and poignancy.

Both the traditional folktale and Mitsuyo Seo’s film adaptation use food as a device to distinguish between the “good” and the “other” as well as play a crucial role in fostering a strong sense of nationalism. In the folktale, the bag of millet dumplings is used as the building blocks of community formation. Initially, the dumplings are a form of sustenance provided by Momotaro’s adoptive parents as he embarks on his journey to Ogre Island. Even in this sense the dumplings serve as a symbol of the relationship he has with his parents and the sense of familial and community formation is introduced. These millet dumplings continue to represent the development of unity throughout the story as Momotaro uses these as the means for assembling allies for the fight against the ogres. By giving each of the millet dumplings to the animals he encountered on his journey, Momotaro not only asserts himself as the inherent leader, but the millet dumplings are used to build a relationship and create ties. The food presented by Momotaro to the animals adopt the role of representing their unwavering loyalty to the cause as well as demonstrates Momotaro sharing his strength among his follower, illustrating the dumplings as a symbol of camaraderie and unification under Momotaro’s leadership. The use of the millet dumplings in this sense, determines food as being the central motif and symbol of community unification under a common objective of fighting for justice. The dumplings and the metaphor of the animal’s allegiance to Momotaro not only indicate a uniting factor but additionally it demonstrates how food serves as a symbol of national identity. Furthermore it indicates how these symbols can then be used to create powerful emotions among individuals and unite them under one common cause.

In Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, the motif of millet dumplings is preserved as these dumplings play an equivalent role as a symbol of strength and mirrors the sensibility of food as a means of unification. This is portrayed in the scene where the monkey consumes the dumplings that Momotaro has provided, gaining physical strength and a new capability to destroy the enemy. As the film is a propaganda device made during the war effort, its objective is to promote the idea of nationalism. The motif of millet dumplings successfully achieves this by distinguishing itself from Western culture and being distinctly Japanese. Furthermore, it can be interpreted as a metaphor of the reinvigoration of the nation as a whole because the depiction of the millet still holds the same sense of nationalistic pride and communal fortitude as portrayed in the original tale.

Popeye like biceps after consuming millet dumplings.

The sequence of the millet dumpling scene in Momotaro’s Sea Eagles parallels that of the spinach invigorating scene that appears all too many times in the Popeye animation series. In the same fashion that Popeye consumes his spinach, the monkey eats millet dumplings and he has the immediate response of enlarged biceps and a new strength to fight. The theme of unity through the depiction of food may not be as evident as it is portrayed to be in the original tale, moreover, it may seem as though the millet dumplings are portrayed in a way that merely demonstrates food as a from of sustenance. However, the use of food in the film still aptly displays itself as introducing the theme of unification through the ideas of “good” and “evil” and the association food has to each of these. The use of millet dumplings as being analogous to the use of spinach in Popeye also offers another layer of intertexuality and introduces to what extent Momotaro was inspired by the American animation. The extent to which Seo was influenced by or perhaps merely satirizing the American animation is important to note, as it highlights the extent to which the propaganda film had an impact on Japanese moral at the time. This apparent influence of the Popeye series is further extended as the enemy portrayed in the Momotaro animation is eerily similar to Bluto, the archnemesis of Popeye. This Bluto clone is the central character that represented the “oni” of Ogre Island as well as the American enemy. Immediately, the use of a character that has already been characterized as the “bad” in a popular American animation delineates the American enemy further as being the enemy and strengthens the national identity of Japan and Momotaro’s navy. Additionally, the use of food as a device to further distinguish this difference is evident by associating Momotaro’s navy with something as culturally specific as the millet dumplings, which are starkly contrasted against the alcohol that the American enemy consumes. This underscores Seo’s use of food as a device to foster national identity and pride as well as to distinguish the contrast between “good” and “evil” to foster the sensibility of solidarity against an enemy.

Not only is the use of food as a means of strength to defeat an enemy the similarities of the animated sequences, but the similarities also lies in the temporal and geographical locations of both animations. Popeye, though the character is by no means a nationalistic hero in the same sense that Momotaro is portrayed to be in Japanese culture, is still depicted to be an American Navy soldier and the animation is during a time of war, much like Seo’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagles. Furthermore, the distinction between good and evil are directly associated with food and utilizing food in a way that strengthens the figure to defeat the enemy. Contrastingly, however, food used in the animations does not work in the same way in community building as illustrated throughout the renditions of Momotaro. The spinach used in Popeye also lacks the same effect of portraying the nationalistic pride that is incorporated in the adaptation of Momotaro and the use of millet dumplings. Food in the most fundamental sense is a form of sustenance as displayed in the Popeye animation series, while in Momotaro food is also portrayed as such, it is also symbolic gesture, more specifically, the millet dumplings in Momotaro serve as a metaphor to symbolize reward and power, and to emphasize its role as a unifier in face of a greater evil.

L: original Bluto in the Popeye series
R: “Oni” or American enemy in Momotaro’s Sea Eagles

Although not all folktale revisions must be read with the traditional version in minds, they are all best understood when placed alongside the traditional texts. Seo Mitsuyo’s reinterpretation of the original Momotaro tale as well as his use of pastiche with his incorporation of the Popeye animations series delineate that the intertexuality adds substance to the analysis of the contemporary film, which reweave the folktale using the threads of the written folktale traditions. One such tradition includes the treatment of food and how it has been employed in both Seo’s animation and the traditional tale of Momotaro to construct forms of community and national identity. Both the film and traditional folktale of Momotaro demonstrate this use of food as a vital factor and motif of the community formation and ultimately a symbol of national identity and unification.

Momotaro: Community through Cuisine

Is food simply a means of nutrition and sustenance? Or does the act of eating and sharing food with another individual actually act as a connecting force? In many ways, when food is consumed with others, a bond can be created because meals that are shared are tied within a sense of family and community. Having meals with a family or a group of people is a common fixture of the cultures in the world, and food is a main focus that distinguishes different cultures. However, the most important aspect of food is the ability of the cuisine to bring people together. In fact, in the Japanese culture, food is a definite unifier. Food is utilized in different areas rather than just the dinner table. For example, food is inscribed in the famous Japanese folktale, Momotaro. Momotaro is a popular Japanese hero, and within Momotaro’s story, food is incorporated within the plot and unites characters in a communal and familial manner. The traditional story of Momotaro has been reused in various literal and visual works that include the film Momotaro’s Sea Eagles by Mitsuyo Seo and the text of Iwaya Sazanami’s rendition of Momotaro. Although the many versions of Momotaro focus on him being a superb leader, one aspect that is integrated in these stories is the idea that the sharing of food is a superb consolidating force which can build camaraderie, even with similar results of the lead of a great commander.

Iwaya Sazanami’s Momotaro, which is folkloric in text, is a traditional representation of Momotaro. The role of food in this version of Momotaro becomes present through the offerings of Momotaro’s guardians, the Old Man and the Old Woman. As Momotaro is about to depart on his journey to defeat the Ogres of Ogres’ Island, the “Old Man also set about preparing suitable food for a warrior on a journey” (Sazanami, p. 21). The elderly couple prepares millet dumplings to send off with Momotaro as nourishment on his voyage, but this exchange of food also represents the deep familial affection of the Peach-boy’s guardians. To send off Momotaro with the simple millet dumplings seems to be such a humble offering for the beloved son, but in fact the focus on the offering being food is simply emphasizing the ability of food to act as a unifier and a portrayal of love and care. In the later sections of Sazanami’s Momotaro, the millet dumplings continue to represent communal relationships between other characters. Upon meeting his first animal comrades, the Dog, Momotaro receives the Dog’s compliance to accompany him on his journey after Momotaro presents the hound with half of “the best millet dumplings in Japan” (Sazanami, p. 25). However, in this relationship, Momotaro clearly has more power as before the offering of the millet dumpling and the Dog’s compliance; Momotaro had to intimidate the Dog through violent proclamations as the Dog falsely assumed greater dominance upon the initial point of encounter. Upon meeting the last two animal comrades, the monkey and the pheasant, Momotaro also receives the animals’ compliance to join his squadron after the offering of half of a millet dumpling. This parallel means of obtaining each member of his group represents the formation of camaraderie through each of the animals’ common initiation into the group by the consumption of food: the humble millet dumpling. This sense of the communal bonding ability of food is different from the bonding of Momotaro and his guardians in respect to the type of relationship that exists. Since Momotaro possessed the power in his relationship with his animal comrades the offering of food promotes his control, while in his relationship with his guardians the offering of food promotes their love. This distinction between the offerings of food in Sazanami’s Momotaro exemplifies the familial and communal connections of food and the creation of the consequent relationships.

Mitsuyo Seo’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagles is a film that reuses the idea of the folktale Momotaro with a focus on the ability of food to form communities, and even introduces the capacity of food to generate nationalism in Japan. To begin with, in Seo’s visual representation of Momotaro, millet dumplings are also the source of food, which is consumed as rations in Momotaro’s army. In this case the millet dumplings are a source of sustenance to prepare the animal army in their mission to destroy Demon Island, but also depict the millet dumpling as a source of strength, camaraderie, and national pride. In one scene, two animal troops consume their ration of millet dumplings right before entering combat in Demon Island. One of the monkey troops suddenly gains strength from the dumpling as a bicep erupts from his arms signaling that his strength will carry out into the battle. Often at times, when adversities are ahead for an individual, familiar food is a reliable source of preparation for the hardship as food provides strength and comfort in believing that the hardship is conquerable. Seo’s choice of including the millet dumplings in his revision of Momotaro shows that he favors Japanese cuisine in great respect because the dumplings reflect national pride. The sense of nationalism is also present through the animal army’s foe, the inhabitants of Demon Island, which represent the same Western adversaries faced in Japan’s fight in WWII. The timely release of the film in 1943 coincided with the Second World War and the camaraderie created within the film between Momotaro’s army is meant to carry over into a boost in national pride and morale for Japan’s real world success in combat. This depiction of millet dumpling in the wartime propaganda similarly serves as a communal unifier, likewise to the traditional reflection of Sazanami’s Momotaro, but Seo’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagles conveys a message of food that is also interested in garnering national support and pride.

The influence of Momotaro even reaches such mediums as documentary film. In Noriaki Tsuchimoto’s film, Minimata: The Victims and Their World, the epidemic of Minimata disease in Japan in the 1950s is illustrated. Although food also provides a meaning in this documentary like the other treatments of Momotaro, the implications are equivocal. The consumption of mercury poisoned fish and shellfish inflicts the disease upon the suffering victims, while the sharing of food is also what forms communities in the first place. Once understanding this interpretation of food, one can then observe the films reflection of story of Momotaro. In one section of the documentary, the victims travel to Osaka, Japan, the site of the annual Chisso executive shareholder meeting to protest and plea for reparation to the suffering people in the town where the epidemic struck. One protestor alludes to a location in the story of Momotaro, Ogre Island, and places it in parallel with Osaka. To the victims of the disease, they feel as if they “have arrived in the land where the blue and red ogres dwell” (Tsuchimoto, Minimata: The Victims and Their World). This reference to the well-known narrative situates the victims in a familiar, yet unpleasant field as Ogre Island represents suffering and oppression of Japanese people. Ultimately, this comparison of tragic lands constitutes a heightened degree of communal support and togetherness within the mistreated victims of Minimata.

All three representations of the story of Momotaro spotlight the ability of food to construct communal relationships, but do so in ways that result in different themes of community. In Sazanami’s interpretation, the offering of millets dumplings from guardian to son conveys a tender familial bond, and the offering of the same cuisine from general to troops conveys a commanding communal bond within the rank. Through Seo’s interpretation, the consumption of the Japanese dumpling snack as nourishment before battle against the foreign enemies’ reveals a communal connection of the animal army in the form of national pride and camaraderie. In Tsuchimoto’s translation, food offers an ambiguous meaning. Through the consumption of the poisoned fish, food acts as the cause of suffering through the Minimata disease. However, the daily consumption of food within Minimata also acts as the initial aid in creating a sense of community within the town, as the sharing of food with one another is always an active effort of communal relationships. The themes of communal unification generated through the three portrayals of the famous Japanese folktale accomplish similar yet distinct goals, and all successfully achieve these goals with the material and symbolic representation of food.

Tampopo: The Power of Comfort Food in Forging Personal and Communal Bonds

In the bubble era ramen western, Tampopo, Itami Juzo depicts Tampopo’s journey to have the best ramen shop in the city. The structure of the film is interesting in that seemingly unrelated vignettes related to food are interspersed between scenes of this overarching plot. This screenshot is from the scene in which a husband sees his wife on her death bed. In an attempt to revive her, he orders her to go make dinner for their family. Surprisingly, the wife recuperates and shakily cooks a pot of fried rice. After serving her family, she dies with a smile on her face; glad that her last act was spent satisfying her family’s culinary needs. I believe this scene is one of the most significant because it stresses the power of comfort food in forging personal and communal bonds.

 

A family enjoys the last meal made by their dying mother.

 

Analyzing the mise en scene, the mother is the closest to the camera, signifying her important role in feeding her family. Her family is captured in a medium shot at eye level. This angle allows the audience to sympathize and connect more with the family’s emotions. The family clearly indicates their gratitude, since both the husband and his little girl are gazing at their dying mother in admiration. The scene also features the train motif, which foreshadows the mother’s transition from life to death.

This vignette parallels Tampopo’s story in that they both feature lowly, humble foods. This movie was released when Tokyo was in the process of becoming a global city. This process gave rise to a postmodernism ideology, in which people believed that it was in society’s best interest to constantly throw out old things and focus on the future. This post-modernist perspective was strongly emphasized in Japanese culture. With food, Japan emulated French haute cuisine during this time period. Therefore, Itami chose to feature the lowly ramen and fried rice dishes to enhance the cultural status of traditional Japanese comfort foods and prevent those aspects of their culture from being thrown away. This scene builds upon the idea that beautiful concepts such as love and familial bonds can be produced from humble beginnings.

This scene also highlights Itami’s idea of female social roles in Japan. In Tampopo, he features several women as nurturing, food providers. For example, in this screen shot, the mother is literally on her death bed, yet she manages to recover enough strength to create a delicious family style meal and serve her family. In this final act, she manages to not only nourish her family, but also give them hope that she might survive. The act of nourishing her family also allows her mental state to be at peace with her death. She dies with the satisfaction of knowing she has given her kin the pleasure and biological nourishment that comes with food. The profound, multi-layered sentiment connected to providing food is echoed in Tampopo and the breast-feeding mother at the end of the movie.