Japanese Folk Tales

Shippei Taro

This folktale does not belong to me, it belongs to the rightful owners/storyteller/author. Media and art is not mine as well, credits to the artist. I am only retelling folktales, and I do not intend to proclaim that these are my pure/original work. Credits to the rightful owners. 

A priest was travelling when he passed by a small village. Since he was quite exhausted from his journey, he decided to find a place to rest in the small village. When he was searching for an inn, he heard people sobbing and mourning. He walked closer and saw a crowd of people gathered around a young girl. The whole crowd was crying, which confused the travelling priest. 

The priest approached a villager and asked, "Why is everyone crying?"

"My daughter is about to be sacrificed in seven days," The man sobbed. "To whom?" the priest questioned the man.

"To the deity that lives in a nearby shrine, he is a mysterious one," The man wiped his tears. "If we wouldn't give a sacrifice, a curse would befall on our yearly harvest." When the priest heard this, he was taken aback. "Goodness me, I will take your daughter's place instead!" He exclaimed with pity.

The priest the went on his way to the mysterious deity's temple. As he went closer, he saw a group of strange-looking creatures forming a circle. "Have you seen Shippeitaro? His very existence worries me." "I know, he might as well ruin the sacrifice ritual." 

The longer the priest listened to their conversation, the more he realised that the creatures seemed to worry a lot about this 'Shippeitaro'. 

The priest started to wonder, "Who is this 'Shippeitaro'? He seems like he could do something about the situation at hand." The priest contemplated for a while before walking towards a nearby village. "Maybe finding this 'Shippeitaro' can help prevent the poor young girl from being sacrificed."

The priest then left the mysterious temple in search for Shippeitaro. He then arrived in a nearby village, where he asked the villagers if they knew anyone named 'Shippeitaro'. After asking a bunch of people, he asked an old man. "Do you perhaps know anyone named Shippeitaro?" The old man gave out a chuckle. The priest was a bit confused by this. "Shippeitaro is my dog." Then old man showed the confused priest his dog, which had white fur and was as big as a calf. 

"May I borrow you dog for a while, mister?" The priest asked the old man. "Yes, you may," the old man replied. "For what reason though?" "It is quite a long story, I will explain once I return!" And with that, the priest took off to the deity's shrine.

The priest went back to the shrine, but the strange creatures were still in the shrine. The strange creatures were starting to become impatient, as they tried to wait for the young girl to be sacrificed to them. But as soon as they saw Shippeitaro, their faces turned pallid due to the horror of seeing the mighty white dog. Shippeitaro started sniffing the air around him, and then growled at the strange creatures. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he plunged towards the horrified creatures and began to rip them into shreds until they moved no longer.   

Shocked and surprised, the priest stepped cautiously towards the remains. He then realised these strange creatures were only baboons, who disguised themselves as deities so that they would receive sacrifices and sneeringly cause terror and fear to the villagers. 

From that day onwards, the villagers no longer had to make offerings thanks to Shippeitaro.

I apologise since I wasn't able to update often... 2020 was already tough when it began, and it just gets more and more difficult every passing day. With the pandemic going on, I advise all of you to stay at home and be safe! Don't forget to wash your hands and be healthy! This is a very difficult and crucial time for everyone. Let's all appreciate the front liners of this pandemic, since they are face to face with the virus. Stay home and stay safe everyone!!

- lizbeth