KAKASHI

A TV programme just featured the popularity of Japanese anime and manga abroad.　It seems that anime and comic events are held in the USA, Europe and even in African countries, attracting many visitors.

I have known for some time that DRAGONBALL, Pokemon and ONEPIECE are popular overseas, but it seems that NARUTO is also quite popular.

I have previously written in an article that the Japanese ninja that people overseas expect and the real ninja that actually existed in the past are quite far apart.

However, NARUTO pays no attention to such facts and blends ninja and ninjutsu into a complete fantasy world.　The split is rather refreshing…　This ninjutsu + science fiction style structure may be one of the reasons why ‘NARUTO’ became a worldwide hit.

 

The way the characters are named is also interesting: the main character, Uzumaki Naruto, translates directly as ‘spiral/whirlpool’. (In INABANA.jp, the names are given in the order of family name + first name.)

Reading just that, you might think, “What’s that?” But when you compare it with the story, you realise that it is a mysterious and atmospheric name.

Now, here is the main topic of today’s discussion. I’m sorry if you’re an anime fan, but this is not about anime or manga.

Hatake Kakashi, Naruto’s instructor and boss.
He is not as popular as Naruto and Sasuke, but he is an important character with a serious role.

 

So this ‘Hatake Kakashi’. The literal translation is ‘Hatake’ for the family name. And the first name is ‘Scarecrow’.　Today we are talking about scarecrows.

Japan used to be an agricultural country. 80% of the population were farmers, and the production of rice and wheat was an important industry, supporting the very foundations of the country. Rice was the staple food of the Japanese people, but for a long time it also functioned as a speculative commodity.

The use of scarecrows in rice cultivation at a time when modern technology was not yet available was a natural progression.

As we know, scarecrows exist in agrarian cultures all over the world.
The details may differ from country to country, but the basic principle of making a life-size doll by dressing it on a wooden frame seems to be largely the same.

 

Scarecrows are built to keep out birds that harm the fields and rice paddies, but the birds are not stupid. On the contrary, they have a very high level of wisdom and quickly learn that the scarecrow is a motionless puppet.　Humans have devised various ways to protect the fields since ancient times, but it is impossible to hope for a one-sided victory in a battle against nature.

Even today, the scarecrow continues to stand alone in the rice paddies, perhaps because it is still somewhat effective, or perhaps because it is a cheap and easy means of protection (although it is not seen as often as it used to be).

A scarecrow standing alone in the rice paddies… The scarecrow looks idyllic and peaceful in the daytime, but at night it looks a little eerie, as if someone is watching you in the dark.

Perhaps for this reason, scarecrows are sometimes depicted with a horror image overseas. It also appears as a regular member of the Halloween family…

 

In Japan, scarecrows do not have a dark image attached to them.

The Japanese equivalent of Halloween is the Obon festival in mid-August.
Is this because the Japanese Obon is a ‘homecoming of ancestors’ souls’, and therefore no obake (ghost) appears?

Ah, I remembered one thing after writing this far!
There seems to be some difference in the perception of ‘ghosts’ in Japan and overseas (mainly in the Western world).　However, this will be written independently as an article for a later date… Enjoy.

 

Back to the story… The Japanese scarecrow has an image of a deity living with it.
In modern agriculture, few people believe in such a thing, but in ancient times, scarecrows have long been familiar to farmers as ‘deity of the rice fields’.

The reason for this is that they protect the rice fields from birds and animals, and prayers and thanksgiving were offered to the ‘deity of the rice fields’ around June when rice planting was finished and around October when the rice had been harvested.

There is another reason why Scarecrow deities are said to be deities.
The Scarecrow deity also had a name.

 

The name of the deity of rice fields is “久延毘古 / Kuebiko”.
He appears as a mythological passage in Kojiki, Japan’s oldest history book.

The article ‘Mystery of the fallen God – part.2’ introduced previously. The deities who appear in this are ‘Susanoo’ and his sixth grandson, ‘Okuninushi’.　One day, when Okuninushi was ruling the country, a very small deity came from across the sea in a leaf boat.

Okuninushi asked, ‘What name of deity are you? Where did you come from and what do you want?’ But this little deity did not speak at all, so he was at a loss to understand anything.

The ‘frog deity’ under his command advised him that Kuebiko might know, so he asked Kuebiko, the deity of rice paddies, who told him that the deity was Sukunahikona.

 

Okuninushi spoke to the little deity, calling him Sukunahikona, and eventually Sukunahikona began to speak and later assisted Okuninushi in his reign…

In this story, Kuebiko, the scarecrow, plays only a partial role in teaching the name of the little deity from another country, but conversely he is a knowledgeable deity who knew things that even the king-deity of the country did not know.

Scarecrows stand in the rice paddies morning, noon and night, watching the world all the time.　This image of the Scarecrow as knowing everything about the world is probably what deified the Scarecrow.

 

The scarecrow cannot play a leading role due to his humble appearance and the low profile of what he usually does.

However, his presence, although inconspicuous, is indispensable for peace and fruition.　And at the same time, there is a very deep knowledge and consideration rooted in it.

The author of Naruto may have reflected these peculiar and significant characteristics in Hatake Kakashi.　This would make the story even more profound and enjoyable…?