Crane Wife − Marriage to a Supernatural Spouse in Japanese Folktales

Abstract

The well-known international theme of the marriage between a man and a fantastic being is stylized both in myth and in the oral literature of Japan. In this paper, we have tried to determine the characteristics of the genre, comparing the stories with those from European and Serbian oral heritage.
The oldest Japanese chronicles contain myths about the holy marriages of gods. Among them are zoomorphic creatures, mainly snakes. If the story features a snake god, he transforms himself into a man and visits a woman under cover of darkness. The serpent goddess spends more time in the human form but must return to its original form when it is due to give birth. When a man breaks the taboo and reveals her identity, she leaves, and this act causes cosmological consequences.
In the 1930s, interest in folk tales grew in Japan. Those dealing with marriages with fantastic creatures were especially popular, but the attempt to typologically define these stories reveals their ambiguity. The usual classification into stories with and without a happy ending is problematic because stories with a happy ending belong to a different type, the “supernaturally born hero” type. Folk tales that do not end happily include those that feature a fantastic groom and more numerous tales that tell of a supernatural bride. Folk tales about fantastic husbands may contain elements of mythical holy marriages, but much more often, they deal with unwanted marriages with supernatural animal. The bride is a devoted youngest daughter whose wit and resourcefulness help her eliminate her repulsive spouse. Many folk tales, with a concise plot and stable cyclic structure, describe the marriage between a man and an animal wife. The grateful animal motif is usually incorporated in the initial part. The animal insists on becoming the man`s wife without revealing her identity. But when he breaks the taboo by looking at her secretly, their marriage inevitably falls apart and she leaves.
The fantastic wife is a target of the constant attention of Japanese folklorists. Some sympathize with her, considering her to be an enigmatic, benevolent woman, who symbolizes oppressed women in feudal Japan. Others go a step further, recognizing the concept of the Jungian Great Mother. The popularity of this fantastic creature rests on a deep-rooted, yet misguided image. People tend to believe that her character symbolizes a humble wife and a naive victim. However, the woman takes the initiative right at the beginning, and breaks down all stereotypes about meek femininity.
When we take a closer look at individual segments of these stories, motifs, psychological profiles, socio-political circumstances, at the time when the stories were written, etc., it becomes clear that folk tales, which at first resembled many other related stories outside Japan, actually reveal much more complex layers, and suddenly become unique, going beyond the framework of a widely recognizable oral treasure.