We have explained the background to the Momotaro legend originating in Okayama, but why was Momotaro born from a “peach” in the first place?
Yuko Ban, a researcher at the Kurashiki Archaeological Museum of the Ohara Art Foundation, explained the mystery to us.
Why was Momotaro born from a “peach”?
Why is it said that Momotaro was born from a “peach”?
Ban (honorific omitted)
Why was Momotaro born from a peach in the first place? It is connected to the Chinese belief in the immortals.
Peaches were regarded as sacred fruits that warded off evil.
The Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu), an immortal worshipped in China since ancient times, also cultivated peaches as fruits of longevity. In Taoism, peach-branch bows and arrows were used to ward off evil, and peach branches were used to drive away evil spirits.
For this reason, the belief that peaches ward off evil is thought to have come to Japan from China along with the fruit itself.
Peaches appear in the Kojiki, don’t they?
Ban
That’s the story of Izanagi throwing three peaches at his pursuers to drive them away as he fled from Izanami. This, too, is thought to be based on the idea of “warding off evil.”
Peaches were also used as medicine and were believed to help prevent various illnesses.
Perhaps the idea of warding off evil and the medicinal use of peaches became connected with defeating ogres.
Okayama and its close ties to peaches
The idea that “Momotaro defeats evil ogres” may have been connected to the Chinese belief that “peaches are sacred fruits that ward off evil.”
Let’s take a closer look at the history of Okayama becoming a major peach-producing region.
Peach pits unearthed at archaeological sites
Have peaches been in Okayama since ancient times?
Ban
Peaches were brought from China long ago.
In Okayama, peach pits dating back about 2,000 years have been discovered, from the Yayoi period.
However, the peaches of that time seem to have been too small to eat as fruit.
In the past, the area around the Inukai Bokudo Memorial Museum (present-day Kawairi, Kita Ward, Okayama City) was a port. A large number of peach pits were found at the Joto Site, on the way from there to the Tatetsuki Site. Peach trees may have been planted there.
Peach pits are also unearthed at wells and ritual sites in ancient archaeological sites.
I think they were offered as sacred objects.
Peaches in the past were “pointed”
Peaches used to be small. Did they become the large, round peaches we have today?
Ban
Actually, no.
What shape do you picture when you hear the word “peach”?
You might picture two types: “pointed” and “round.” In old paintings, they are usually pointed.
The peaches depicted in picture books are probably pointed, too. In other words, it is thought that most peaches before the Meiji period were “pointed”.
The accidental birth of the white peach
Did pointed peaches become the large, round peaches we have today?
Ban
They are different varieties from today’s peaches.
The varieties changed significantly in 1899.
In the Meiji period, varieties different from those grown until then were brought to Japan for breeding. It was a time when industrial development and crop breeding were actively promoted.
Industrial development was a policy promoted by the Japanese government during the Meiji period to encourage industry in order to enrich and strengthen the country.
During this period, people sought to create new crops by crossbreeding them with foreign varieties, just as they did with livestock such as cattle.
Fruit was also bred as a national undertaking.
For breeding purposes, three varieties were brought to Japan: Tianjin Shuimi, Shanghai Shuimi, and Banto.
Around this time in Okayama, a fruit-growing researcher named Koyama Masuta lived in what is now Akaiwa City, formerly Kumayama Town.
Koyama Masuta wanted to try growing Tianjin Shuimi, Shanghai Shuimi, and Banto, so he obtained the three peach varieties from China. His apprentice, Okubo Jugoro, planted them in the garden.
Then, the white peach was born by chance from a Shanghai Shuimi seedling.
A seedling is a plant grown from a seed.
This accidentally produced white peach (Honhakuto) became the basis for varieties in Okayama and other prefectures.
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