Reading Notes:Japanese Mythology Part A

Izanagi & Izanami

Like most other stories that I've read of this sort so far through this semester, this one also started out the collection by setting a background for what is to come in the following short stories. For an idea of how to potentially rewrite this piece I think that I would want to add more of a background to the two main characters that it is named after. Do they like each other or hate each other? Why do they have these feelings? These are the things that I could explore in such a rewrite. 

The Miraculous Mirror

I liked this section of the story, but thought that the poetic style made it a little bit difficult to read. For that reason, I like the idea of changing it from a poetic style to prose and then possibly changing what happens with the mirror itself. This would add a level of uniqueness as well as making it easier for readers to get through and understand what exactly is going on. 

The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi

I feel like there are a lot of different ways to go with this story and how to retell it. My favorite possibility of what to do with this is to focus on the aspect of character development and to possibly add a back story of some sort to one of the characters such as the old man mentioned at the beginning, for example. It might also be really fun to rewrite the story as a version that gives a more thorough background of the eight-forked serpent and how he came into being. 

The Heaven-Descended

For the rewrite of this story, I am not completely sure which direction I would want to go, but I do have a few ideas at least. I could always look at the character development aspect and focus on Amaterasu and the arrow that is given to him. It could be written from his perspective to give a different point of view than the original one.

The Fortunate Fish-Hook

This story was interesting and also probably one of my favorites up until this point in this particular collection. For a rewrite of this story, I once again think that I would focus on character development but also would want to focus on a specific aspect of the story where he is trying to hunt. I might even change as far as him improving his skill.

The Labors of Yamato- The Rescue of the Princess

Continuing with the theme of rewrites in this particular segment, I think that I would write this from the perspective of the princess that was rescued. By writing it that way, it could show her thoughts and feelings as she goes through the whole ordeal instead of hearing about it secondhand.

I would like to also add a larger scaled rescue in my own rendition

of this story. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography

E.W. Champney and F. Champney's Japanese Mythology