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The Japanese folktale, The Old Man Who Made Trees Blossom, was retold in Yei Theodora Ozaki's 1908 "Japanese Fairy Tales." The tale's central themes are kindness and goodness are repaid with infinite riches, while wickedness and evil are repaid with eternal punishments.
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The story starts with an elderly couple living on a small plot of farmland with their dog, Shiro. Although they lived happily and peacefully, the one thing that they wished for was a child. Since they couldn't have children of their own, they poured their love into Shiro, who, in turn, provided them with great joy.
Every day, after the elderly man had finished his work out in the fields, he would return to his home. After partaking in a humble meal of rice and vegetables, he would save a portion of his food to feed Shiro his supper. Heading into the backyard, he found Shiro patiently awaiting his master. The elderly man had trained the dog with verbal cues to "beg for his food" in a cute manner. Once Shiro obeyed the verbal cue, he was fed splendidly.
Next door, however, there lived a cruel and wicked elderly couple who would openly verbally berate and throw things at Shiro when he was in sight. If Shiro looked into their kitchen, they would scare him away by giving him cuts and bruises.
At the end of a normal day, Shiro barked continuously for hours and hours until his master, the good and kind elderly man, came to see what his dog was barking at. Being dragged at the bottom of his kimono by his dog, the elderly man watched as Shiro began to dig fervently at the base of a large Yenoki tree.
Upon seeing his dog continue to dig intensively for minutes on end, the elderly man was stricken by an epiphany. Hurriedly, he ran back inside his house to fetch a spade for which he used to dig right alongside Shiro. Upon digging for quite some time, he unearthed a stack of valuable coins. The more he dug, the more he found! Shiro had returned to his master the love he received.
The elderly man and his wife celebrated the riches that they uncovered thanks to Shiro. Even more so than before, both of them showered Shiro with unconditional attention, love, and care. However, the wicked neighbor had witnessed the whole ordeal! He too wanted such riches and called upon the good and kind elderly man so that he could "borrow" Shiro for a bit.
Reluctant but too generous and kind to say "no," the good elderly man allowed Shiro to stay over at the cruel and wicked neighbor's house on one condition: To take good care of Shiro. As expected, the evil elderly man forcibly dragged the dog to his backyard where a different Yenoki tree stood. He forced Shiro's head to the ground, trying to make him dig for gold.
Eventually, Shiro unintentionally dug into the ground, trying to escape the evil man's grasp. Thinking that the dog had sniffed out gold, the wicked elderly man grabbed his spade and started to dig furiously. What the man found beneath the surface, however, was tons of waste. Disgusted by what he found, the wicked elderly man blamed Shiro and struck him with the spade.
Unbeknownst to his master or even the wicked elderly man's wife, Shiro died that day. His body was thrown into the hole, and he was fully buried under the Yenoki tree.
Several days passed by without word of Shiro's return, so the good elderly man sought out the wicked elderly man. Much to his despair and anguish, Shiro's master was told directly by the wicked elderly man that he had killed him for disobeying his commands.
Stricken with grief, the good elderly man asked for the Yenoki tree where Shiro was buried. Not caring about the tree since it provided him with no gold, the wicked elderly man agreed. From that tree, Shiro's master crafted a mortar for which cakes were cooked by the kind elderly couple.
Upon making cakes with the mortar, heaps of additional cakes appeared! The extra amount was so great that the elderly couple could live the rest of their lives without fear of starvation. Oh, what a blessing Shiro gave to his masters even after death! But, of course, the greedy elderly neighbor had something to say about this miracle as well.
Lying to Shiro's master, the wicked elderly man told him that he too wanted to mourn the loss of Shiro and would need the mortar for that purpose. After "borrowing" the mortar, the wicked elderly neighbor never returned it to the original owner. Instead, when the good elderly man came to inquire about the mortar, the wicked elderly neighbor told him that he destroyed it.
Retrieving the ashes of the mortar, the good elderly man returned to his home. On accident, he dropped some of the ashes onto the bushes in his backyard garden. And, although it was autumn, with every tree, bush, and plant wilted, the ashes brought them back to life in a spectacular way. Similar to springtime, everything bloomed magnificently.
Word of the miraculous rebirth of the trees, flowers, and plants spread across the entire region gaining endless visitors. Everyone came to marvel at the majestic sight of a springtime garden in the autumn days.
Upon hearing of this miraculously blooming garden, a worker employed directly under the Daimyo came to visit the good elderly man. The worker revealed that one of the Daimyo's favorite trees had died, and he felt extremely woeful seeing the Daimyo suffer from his loss. As such, the good elderly man was brought to the palace.
The Daimyo questioned the elderly man asking him if he truly was the "old man who made weathered trees flower." The elderly man responded with an affirmative "yes." Upon hearing his response, the Daimyo urged the elderly man to revive his dead cherry blossom tree. The elderly man went off to work by climbing the tree with ashes in hand.
At a certain point, the elderly man ceased climbing and spread some of the ashes upon the tree's bark and branches. Lo and behold, the cherry blossom tree burst to life! Astonished, the Daimyo quickly offered an expensive cup of sake to the elderly man as well as many other precious goods and riches (most of which were silver and gold).
The good elderly man was also gifted the title, "Hana-Saka-Jijii," which translates to "The Old Man Who Makes the Tree Blossoms Bloom." And, of course, once the good elderly man returned home, the evil elderly neighbor coveted his title as well! Asking once again, the evil elderly neighbor seized the magical ashes and went about the streets proclaiming his powers.
The Daimyo overheard the evil elderly neighbor's boastful words and mistakenly believed that it was the same "Hana-Saka-Jijii" who revived his dead cherry blossom tree. Pleased with the results of the ashes, the Daimyo called upon the imposter "Hana-Saka-Jijii" who gratefully answered his lord's summons.
Face to face, the Daimyo noticed that this elderly man looked different than the one he had met before. After being questioned about this discrepancy, the wicked elderly neighbor responded that the other elderly man was simply his disciple and that he was the true "Hana-Saka-Jijii."
In order to prove himself, the wicked elderly neighbor followed the same routine as the one that came before him but failed miserably! Although he climbed the tree the same way and poured the ashes over the dead tree the same way, no miraculous rebirth occurred. Instead, the tree remained dead. Angered by his deceit, the Daimyo ordered the fake "Hana-Saka-Jijii" to be imprisoned for the rest of his days.
This incident caused the end of the wicked elderly neighbor's evil schemes. On the other hand, the good and kind elderly man and his wife lived out the rest of their days harmoniously. For they had no wants due to the riches received from their faithful dog, Shiro, and the Daimyo.
