The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013 Movie)

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Fetch the Smelling Salts, I'm Alice.

[00:00:14] And I'm Kim and this is a podcast all about historical dramas from movies and TV shows

[00:00:19] to miniseries from every era and all around the world.

[00:00:24] And I have some sake, which can only mean one thing.

[00:00:30] We have a Japanese movie to talk about.

[00:00:35] Not just a Japanese movie but another studio jibbley film.

[00:00:39] We love these, I love Super Jibbley.

[00:00:41] Love it.

[00:00:42] Because you can't spell Miyazaki without sake.

[00:00:47] If you can't spell Miyazaki.

[00:00:51] And this isn't even a Miyazaki movie.

[00:00:53] No, it's not.

[00:00:54] But it's okay.

[00:00:55] Studio jibbley and we love it and it is.

[00:01:00] Today we're talking about the tale of Princess Kakia.

[00:01:02] So I've seen this in the movie The Cinema.

[00:01:05] Years ago, I hadn't watched it again since so I had a really nice time rewatching it.

[00:01:10] And it reminded me of all the other studio jibbley films that I actually do need to catch up on.

[00:01:14] Yeah, it's surprising how many there are actually if you think about it.

[00:01:18] So this one is directed by Isa Otaqahata.

[00:01:21] I write off the bat, apologize for all of my horrible Midwestern American pronunciations

[00:01:26] of everything.

[00:01:28] That's my disclaimer for the rest of the episode.

[00:01:30] But this one is directed by Isa Otaqahata and he did some of the lesser known but really

[00:01:35] fun ones.

[00:01:36] What else did he do?

[00:01:38] So he did Pom Poco which is the one about the raccoon dogs.

[00:01:42] Oh right.

[00:01:44] And he did my neighbors the Yamatas.

[00:01:47] I'm not seeing those.

[00:01:48] Which is also done in kind of a style with a very white background so it stylized in

[00:01:54] a way that is a little bit similar to this which is interesting.

[00:01:57] I don't even remember the first time I saw this movie but I listened to a podcast, an

[00:02:03] episode of Stuff You Missed in History about the high-am period in Japan and specifically

[00:02:11] about this thing that I'm going to talk about a bit later called The Pillow Book by a lady

[00:02:17] called Say Shonegon and it's all about court life, it's all about them outfits.

[00:02:26] And it gave me enough Jane Austen feels that I went out and I bought the book, I'm obsessed

[00:02:34] with this book.

[00:02:36] And so when the movie came out I was very excited about that.

[00:02:40] I'm the one who picked this movie, one because it was on Netflix, two because I needed

[00:02:45] another reason to drink sake because I hadn't had any sacrifices.

[00:02:48] Our Princess Malinoki episode and three because it gave me a really good excuse to talk about

[00:02:54] high-am culture in court life.

[00:02:57] I think all of these are wonderful reasons to pick this movie and I'm just going to jump

[00:03:04] into the summary.

[00:03:05] Do it.

[00:03:06] Okay.

[00:03:07] The film begins with a bamboo cutter coming across a bright light shining from inside

[00:03:13] a bamboo stock.

[00:03:15] So he approaches the strange phenomenon only to find a tiny little girl inside the bamboo

[00:03:20] shoot.

[00:03:21] So taking this as a blessing from heaven, he brings her home to his wife and they decide

[00:03:26] to raise her as their own.

[00:03:28] So what's even stranger is that as soon as his wife holds the little girl she turns into

[00:03:34] a cute real like a real baby who like keeps growing right before their eyes.

[00:03:39] So that's actually a really cute scene where she kind of like tumbles like the little girl

[00:03:43] like tumbles out and becomes a baby.

[00:03:47] And so it's so cute.

[00:03:48] So eventually the village kids see her and they nickname her Little Bamboo because of

[00:03:54] how quickly she grows.

[00:03:55] Little Bamboo.

[00:03:56] Little Bamboo.

[00:03:57] Yeah, I know this is cute little scene right where they're like trying to get her to

[00:04:01] come to them and they're like,

[00:04:02] Little Bamboo.

[00:04:03] Little Bamboo.

[00:04:04] And then the father's like princess, princess.

[00:04:07] So one day while accompanying her father to cut bamboo, the little girl wanders off

[00:04:12] and comes across some baby wild boar.

[00:04:16] Now mama boar isn't happy and she charges at her but thankfully little bamboo is saved

[00:04:22] by an older village boy called Suttemaru.

[00:04:24] So they have a little meat cute.

[00:04:27] That's weird though because like I don't like to think of it that way because she's

[00:04:30] like two days old.

[00:04:31] I know, I know but then she like grows right in front of him and so we are.

[00:04:36] So while it's looking for her the bamboo cutter finds another glowing bamboo shoot this

[00:04:42] time filled with gold pieces.

[00:04:44] This is exactly how babies should be made.

[00:04:48] I know.

[00:04:49] Should get them from bamboo and then you should get gold.

[00:04:53] Yeah, you need to just get all the money you need to spend on them.

[00:04:57] Totally.

[00:04:58] Wait, so that's not what happened to you?

[00:05:00] You didn't get gold.

[00:05:01] I mean I've never even tried to cut down a tree to look for money.

[00:05:07] So maybe I need to get out there and bear as a lot of parks.

[00:05:11] Oh shoot, come on we can do it together when I come visit.

[00:05:15] So he keeps this little secret to himself, not even selling his wife.

[00:05:19] So as time goes on, Little Bamboo her parents and her newfound village friends enjoyed her

[00:05:25] idyllic life in the countryside.

[00:05:27] However, one day the bamboo cutter comes across another magical bamboo shoot.

[00:05:32] This time filled with resplendent ropes and just like shoot out all over the place.

[00:05:37] So he takes this as a sign that heaven wants him and his wife to raise Little Bamboo as a

[00:05:42] princess in the capital.

[00:05:44] So using the goal he found earlier, he builds his fancy mansion for his family and relocates

[00:05:51] them.

[00:05:52] He's that Little Bamboo is forced to leave a country life in France behind and start a

[00:05:56] new life as this like newly fashioned noblewoman.

[00:06:01] So her father even engages, this person called Lady Sagami, to teach Little Bamboo the ways

[00:06:07] of nobility.

[00:06:10] And then we have a kind of montage.

[00:06:13] I'm just going to say you know they had an opportunity for a good montage.

[00:06:17] I did think of you.

[00:06:18] I thought of you during this period because I think this is like a nice chill slow drawn

[00:06:24] out montage.

[00:06:25] It was yes exactly, it's a nice chill one you know so it's a high-end montage.

[00:06:29] That's true.

[00:06:30] So we have this like mini montage of her like learning to play the Koto and being reluctantly

[00:06:35] taught how to move and act and write you know like a proper noblewoman.

[00:06:41] The pretty soon Little Bamboo comes off age and her father arranges for Lord Akita to formally

[00:06:47] name her.

[00:06:48] She's Dan named Princess Carguilla and a banquet is thrown in celebration of this.

[00:06:54] However during the banquet the princess overhears some of the noble men ridiculing her family

[00:07:00] for trying to pass off a country girl as a noblewoman.

[00:07:04] You run back to the countryside only to find her friends have all moved away as they

[00:07:09] have had to let the land lie fallow.

[00:07:12] She walks away in despair and like collapses like face down into the snow.

[00:07:18] That sounds like it's like boop.

[00:07:21] However when she wakes up she's back at the party so was it all just a dream?

[00:07:27] Do you think it was actually a dream or I think she can astral project?

[00:07:32] Yeah you're right actually yeah yeah because I was trying to figure out what what does this mean

[00:07:37] right she couldn't I mean they couldn't have just found her and then brought her back

[00:07:41] and then put her back in that room where she's just like falling asleep all in that period

[00:07:47] of time.

[00:07:48] There's plenty of magical stuff going on yeah.

[00:07:50] Yeah a magical princess so exactly so pure right she just astral projects.

[00:07:55] So eventually the princess is accepted by the local nobility and tales of a beauty spread

[00:07:59] across the land to the point that five noble men attempt to court her like they literally

[00:08:05] race to her house.

[00:08:07] So each of them try to win her over by comparing her to mythical treasures because clearly that's

[00:08:13] the way to a woman's heart and just want to be compared to things.

[00:08:19] Yeah after being objectified sight unseen.

[00:08:22] Yes exactly so they haven't seen this woman right it's heard of her and she's like we heard

[00:08:27] your heart run run run run run run run yeah and then like yours hot as this thing and this

[00:08:34] this hot as a bowl yeah you're as hot as a rat for baby.

[00:08:43] So princess Kaguya doesn't want to marry anyone and she tries to outsmart that by telling

[00:08:48] them that she will marry whoever actually manages to bring her the mythical object they

[00:08:54] have compared her with so all the men leave pretty dejected and even lady sagami is like

[00:09:01] nope it's good to shit I can do this anymore and resigns from her post.

[00:09:06] So it seems like the princess finally has some peace however she still misses her all life

[00:09:12] and freedoms and bags to be able to see the cherry blossoms bloom.

[00:09:17] I too would like to see the cherry blossoms bloom someday.

[00:09:20] I would love to go to Japan and see the cherry blossoms bloom we have some cherry blossoms

[00:09:25] on our not on our street but we have some cherry blossoms around Edinburgh though yeah so

[00:09:30] you know but but it's not the same I want to go to Japan and see all the cherry blossoms

[00:09:35] bloom.

[00:09:36] So anyway her mother and her may they take the princess to do so she goes and she's happy

[00:09:44] and on their way back their carriage is stuck because of some commotion on the road.

[00:09:49] So princess Kaguya here someone calling out Sute Maru's name and she looks out of the

[00:09:55] carriage and sees her old friend and she calls out to him and there's this like awkward

[00:10:01] and infuriating long pause where they just stare at each other and she's like and she's

[00:10:10] like can't you know when she kind of goes back into like the carriage and this eventually

[00:10:14] you know as long enough to basically cause Sute Maru to be caught for stealing a chicken

[00:10:20] and bloody beaten up for it too.

[00:10:22] Oh was that what he was beaten up for? I thought he was looking at her.

[00:10:27] No because they were chasing after him already so he and his friends before that his friends

[00:10:31] were like calling kind of come on come on you know so he was stealing his chicken.

[00:10:34] I did not consider that he and the chicken didn't know each other now.

[00:10:39] So three years pass and suddenly two of the earlier suitors return reclaiming that they have

[00:10:46] brought back the treasure the princess has asked.

[00:10:50] So the first is Prince Kudamachi who claims that he has brought back a jewel branch from

[00:10:56] Mount Panglai and just as he's telling the princess how he did all this crazy things to hunt it down

[00:11:01] some craftsmen arrive demanding payment because it was a fake so needless to say the prince

[00:11:10] noaps out much to princesses glee.

[00:11:13] Anyway second suitor Lord Abbey comes back which with what he claims to be the fur of the

[00:11:20] fire rat. Now the princess tests this by asking him to throw it into the flames because real

[00:11:27] fire rat fur won't burn so reluctantly Lord Abbey does so and of course it bursts into flame

[00:11:36] showing this to be another fake haha I know and then we also told that the third suitor

[00:11:43] eventually gives up his quest because he got scared of the ocean exactly yeah he's like

[00:11:49] and then another one dies in this really comical way.

[00:11:57] I feel bad but I don't really.

[00:12:00] I laugh too much at this part I know he's like trying to get some shell or something right from

[00:12:08] this bird's nest he's like I almost got it I got it and he's like falls and goes like headfirst

[00:12:15] into this barrel. He just died. He's just dead. Talk about getting dunked on.

[00:12:26] Now the final one prince Ishi Tsukuri arrives bearing just a wild flower for the princess as a

[00:12:34] symbol of his devotion. He's the guy who was supposed to have gone and get like Buddha's begging

[00:12:40] more right but he comes back with this wild flower. He then tells her that I was going to get the

[00:12:45] ball but I realized you know I saw this flower and I realized that this is even better. He tells her

[00:12:51] that he just wants to have a simple life in the countryside with her all these wonderful things and

[00:12:57] even us as the viewers like hmm he's pretty sincere no red flags here.

[00:13:04] However before the princess and us can be totally swayed his wife turns up calling bullshit on

[00:13:12] all of this because these are all just lines that he has used before and at which point I write down

[00:13:18] I don't know if it makes me happy or sad to know that even in ancient Japan men were trying to

[00:13:23] pull that sort of bullshit because it was not just with her. Yeah you know it's like so set ahead

[00:13:29] a string of girls. Yeah so anyway eventually the emperor himself becomes intrigued by princess

[00:13:36] Kaguya and once to marry her however the princess refuses and he then turns out at her house and

[00:13:45] tries to kidnap her cute I know it's like yeah he just like literally springs up and over me

[00:13:52] behind and like grabs her but then the princess mysteriously disappears from his grasp and then

[00:13:59] reappears again and it's kind of like then he realizes that she's magical I have to leave her alone.

[00:14:05] However after the emperor leaves the princess reveals to her parents the truth of her past so

[00:14:12] she's actually from the moon you know she's a celestial creature from the moon and she heard about

[00:14:19] earth and has herself exiled there so that she could experience more to life however at the point

[00:14:27] where the emperor was trying to like you know abduct her she prayed to the moon to just leave this

[00:14:33] life she was so miserable anyway right you're leading up to that point ever since she was taken away

[00:14:38] from the countryside. So she prayed to the moon to just take her away and that is when the memories

[00:14:44] of her past life came flooding back. It's a shame that the moon is so literal I know it's like

[00:14:50] keep her awake you know and then she remembers everything as well as realizes that her moon people

[00:14:59] are coming for her on the 15th day of that month because they're like right okay you want to come

[00:15:04] back sure we're gonna come and take you back and she's like no no I didn't mean that you know however

[00:15:11] now she can't do anything she really doesn't want to leave the earth and obviously her parents do

[00:15:15] one want her to either and her father begins fortifying the mansion so while the father is doing that

[00:15:21] the princess returns to a village and somehow again reunites with Sutemaru they vow to run away together

[00:15:29] and fly across the countryside like they literally fly across the countryside right so this was a

[00:15:35] beautiful beautiful scene but I couldn't like it did you have this same issue?

[00:15:42] Yes because we had just met his wife and adorable baby. I know I'm like come on man

[00:15:49] it really soured the whole thing like it's very it's very nice that you're having a little cuddle

[00:15:55] fly around yeah but sir they don't talk about running away and leaving especially because he was

[00:16:02] just saying that their whole group they find it really hard they struggle to get by they are on

[00:16:09] the brink of starvation sometimes and now he's talking about running away and leaving them yeah

[00:16:16] so without a man or like a without that extra person to do work and provide yeah

[00:16:22] is that me and his baby is so cute I know I was so mad so they fly fly fly and when they reach the moon

[00:16:29] they fall back to earth or more like Sutemaru falls back to earth while the princess falls into the sea

[00:16:36] and when he wakes up he is alone in the field he thinks that this was all a dream and then returns

[00:16:43] to his wife and child with a little shame I hope yes meanwhile somehow the princess has

[00:16:48] gotten out of that ocean that she fell into and we're back in the mansion it is the 15th of August

[00:16:55] a procession of celestial beings descend from the moon and puts everyone in the mansion to sleep I

[00:17:02] thought it was kind of nice you know didn't have to fight anybody they just all went to sleep hey

[00:17:06] they're sleeping beauty they even have little fairies come in and I know it's super round yeah so

[00:17:13] the princess knows that she has no choice but to go back and just before she has to put on this robe

[00:17:19] which should make her forget her mortal life she manages to say goodbye to her very distraught

[00:17:25] parents that was very sad yeah yeah you know so after embracing them one last time she dawns the robe

[00:17:32] and returns with these celestial beings however just before reaching the moon she looks back

[00:17:39] and the earth with tears in her eyes how dope would it be to be part of that celestial

[00:17:48] enclave I know just like putting in on that cloud just like give us to the 15th we have to gather

[00:17:54] all the stony faced drummers and dancers yeah yeah we're like mom we're going on the cloud to earth

[00:18:00] and they're like woo woo woo yeah what for I don't care what we're picking up kaggiyah cool whatever

[00:18:06] yeah and just like yeah he's gonna put some people to sleep you're just having a little party right

[00:18:12] just having a party there a little party back so it would be the best part about living on the moon

[00:18:18] they're like all right so who do we have to pick up tomorrow huh huh no yeah yeah it's Jim he's still on

[00:18:24] Mars so yeah that's my summary brilliant good job so just FYI when I said that I was going to talk

[00:18:34] all about the high end period I hope that did not get anybody's hopes up what I think you're going

[00:18:41] to tell me everything I've all my hopes up but I do have a lot of fun things to talk about awesome

[00:18:48] so I did watch the film with subtitles and they call princess kaggiyah either princess usually or

[00:18:54] little bamboo but in the japanese version and in the folktale they commonly refer to her as kaggiyahime

[00:19:04] so that's what I'm gonna call her all right just for clarification just because that's what she's

[00:19:09] called in the folktale or she's also called the moon princess in the folktale so just for consistency

[00:19:15] I'm gonna call our kaggiyahime okay as I mentioned before the film is set in Japan's high end period

[00:19:23] and it's based on a very old folktale that's most likely from the high end period as well so

[00:19:30] I'm gonna talk about high end Japan a bit and then I'm gonna talk about the folktale and the changes

[00:19:36] that the film makes to the folktale and then I'll go back to the high end to talk about some extremely

[00:19:43] dope style history right but first I'm going to tell you a little bit about this movie so we said

[00:19:50] it was directed by isao takahata and written by riko sakaguchi so this was takahata's last film before

[00:19:58] his death in 2018 and it is studio jibli's longest film it comes in it two hours and 17 minutes

[00:20:07] which is three minutes longer than princess mononoki i was gonna say i was like really yeah three

[00:20:13] whole minutes all right okay it's that cloud procession yes and they really milked it i know

[00:20:19] they were like woohoo and thank god we're all better for it and with a budget of five billion yen

[00:20:27] which is around 49 million of your american dollars oh wow it is the most expensive japanese film

[00:20:36] ever produced whoa now this was from a few years ago this stat so that might have changed let us know if

[00:20:44] you know of another japanese film that cost more to produce since since then since 2018 so why

[00:20:52] why was it so expensive that's because the art and animation styles takahata and the art director

[00:20:59] kazuo oga chose to use which is like that watercolor and brushstroke techniques that are

[00:21:06] reminiscent of japanese scroll artwork these things are so fiddly and time consuming

[00:21:14] which is funny because they chose this style to evoke for the viewer a sense of simplicity

[00:21:21] and spontaneous expression as though you're watching the moment being sketched as it own folds

[00:21:28] in an interview in 2015 takahata explained it this way the lines drawn here are not just the

[00:21:35] contours of real things but rather ways to instantaneously capture the expression of those

[00:21:41] things and if there is movement then they are the pictures that vividly capture the force of

[00:21:46] the movement this technique of giving expression to the line and leaving blank spaces so that the entire

[00:21:53] surface of the painting is not filled which engages the viewers imagination is one that holds an

[00:21:59] important place not only in the traditional paintings of china and japan but also in sketches

[00:22:04] in western drawings what i have done is to attempt to bring this technique to animation wow

[00:22:12] wonderful you put i mean and truly the animation is beautiful it's so gorgeous and it does give that

[00:22:19] sense of being drawn right in front of you yeah and so tactile even though it's kind of sparse

[00:22:27] yeah i especially like that the bit where she's running away from the banquet right so she's

[00:22:33] running away from the banquet and then she's like you know throwing off all her fancy clothes

[00:22:38] and then that it seems so simple that the sketch of her running away and all the clothes are

[00:22:44] falling away from her and her hairs is flowing in the wind but she's so distraught that yeah the animation

[00:22:52] is breaking down and she just becomes this blur yes so we also see in the characterization

[00:23:00] this style that's reminiscent of the artwork of the period as well the high end period

[00:23:07] so to talk a little bit about that the high end period in japan so this was between 794 and 1186

[00:23:15] and high end roughly translates to like peace and tranquility so this was known as a peaceful era

[00:23:23] in which art and culture could prosper the capital was yan kyo which is modern day kioto

[00:23:32] but it was often referred to simply as the capital so in the film we just hear them talking about

[00:23:36] going to the capital and that's actually what they would call it then right and the emperor and his

[00:23:41] court were considered the epicenter of japanese culture civilization and refinement

[00:23:49] so the farther you get from him and court life and if the more everything is considered

[00:23:55] hesitant and dumb and people have to worry about uncle things like making sure they don't starve

[00:24:02] and high end culture was influenced by china as well from architecture and dressed art and poetry

[00:24:11] and writing up until this point they're using a lot of chinese writing but this is also a time when

[00:24:17] japanese writing is developed to be separate from chinese writing and used a lot in poetry

[00:24:22] and japanese literature comes into its own so now we get to the folktale of the bamboo cutter

[00:24:29] so this film princess kagia is based on the tale of the bamboo cutter also called taketori monogatari

[00:24:39] which is also called the tale of princess kagia or kagia he may know monogatari

[00:24:45] again full halless pronunciations i'm sure so it is considered the oldest surviving folktale

[00:24:56] and the word for folktale being you guessed it monogatari right and the exact date it was written

[00:25:02] as unknown but some historians put it kind of between eight seventy one and eight eighty one

[00:25:08] we have a few clues about when it was written so it's referenced in another very famous japanese story

[00:25:15] the tale of genji which you might have heard of yeah just kind of impassing yeah are you familiar

[00:25:21] i've heard of it but i don't know it but i've definitely heard of it okay same the tale of genji

[00:25:27] was written sometime just after the year one thousand okay and the tale of the bamboo cutter makes

[00:25:34] a reference to smoke rising from mount fuji and we know that mount fuji stopped smoking by the year

[00:25:42] nine oh five oh what a smart way to like to date something thank you i didn't do it

[00:25:51] i didn't i didn't i didn't even know mount fuji smoked we're not that close

[00:25:57] yeah

[00:26:00] she decided like you know right all right guys it's time to stop now

[00:26:03] but they stopped i don't know if if she's ever gonna start again

[00:26:07] yeah i mean it was a new year's resolution yeah it was a new year's resolution in nine oh five

[00:26:13] and she's kept to it until now i don't think mount fuji is extinct though

[00:26:17] so no right good job on fuji so the best summary i found of like the differences between

[00:26:23] the folktale and the film was on this really random is this uk-based like japanese culture blog where

[00:26:31] they also sell some stuff some japanese stuff called zezatsu.com i'll put that on the instagram

[00:26:39] but you can also find the whole story on wiki source and you can read it for yourself it's not

[00:26:44] that long so i'll give you a little summary of it of the differences between the folktale and the film

[00:26:50] so in the folktale kagia he may was sent down from the moon as punishment she didn't decide to go

[00:26:58] down because she thought it seemed cool because someone else was looking at it and crying

[00:27:04] she did something we don't know what it was bad enough that her punishment was to go live on

[00:27:11] earth and like feel all the earth feels like empathy and there's always a date for her to return

[00:27:19] and like an end to her sentence but as in the film she doesn't remember she's from the moon until

[00:27:25] it's nearly time for her to leave right and instead of using his bamboo gold to move the family

[00:27:32] to the capital the bamboo cutter builds up their house in the village basically they start in this

[00:27:37] little hot shack and he just like expands okay i mean do you have to get planning permission

[00:27:43] definitely not i think as the bamboo cutter he's also the mayor and the notary public

[00:27:49] so they build it into this grand palace type place and men come there to woo her or they just

[00:27:57] poke holes in her fence and do some peeping oh rude peeping yeah you know it's hard to fix holes

[00:28:04] in a bamboo fence yeah and he gets like a rip that hole bit out and like replace it with another

[00:28:11] bamboo just imagine them coming with like a big cartoon drill yeah yeah the bamboo cutters motivations

[00:28:18] are also really different in the story he's a bit more altruistic he's a bit like more of

[00:28:25] a sympathetic character rather than wanting kakia he made to marry to bring himself wealth and status

[00:28:33] which is a big thing in the film he's more concerned because he's old and he's gonna die soon so

[00:28:41] kakia he may won't have anyone to take care of her right okay she does send five dudes on impossible

[00:28:48] trials but they're all referred to as knights and i'm not sure what that would mean and if in

[00:28:54] the context of the time period okay and none of them dies by landing headfirst in a giant pot

[00:29:00] i'm not sure if i'm if i'm happier sad about that i'm pretty sad that was my that was my favorite moment of

[00:29:10] oh no that's not really true it might be it was just how he landed so straight i know look he had

[00:29:17] a quick death okay i don't think the guy suffered so he's fun no it was also the realization that

[00:29:23] that kind of funny gong sound you hear is like him dying and finally also the fact that you

[00:29:36] know this all took so long to animate so they really had a long time to think about it while

[00:29:43] we were making him die that way it all shows a lot of malice toward that character which i find

[00:29:49] very funny yeah yeah and in the folktale when the emperor comes he's not a total creep and kakia he

[00:29:57] may does reject his proposal but she says it's because she's not from his country and therefore cannot

[00:30:06] live in the palace with him okay so he goes back to the capital to his palace and sends her love

[00:30:13] poems and eventually they develop like this really wholesome pen pal relationship on sq

[00:30:20] their best buds basically and when she goes back to the moon she even leaves him a little note

[00:30:26] and a bottle of immortality elixir oh wow yeah it's a pretty good gift yeah but he doesn't drink it

[00:30:35] because he doesn't want to live forever on earth without her so finally there's no story in the

[00:30:44] folktale there's no like secondary plot about her growing up as a scrappy little country child

[00:30:51] and there's no story with anyone called su tomorrow okay to know we at meet cute no no i'm three days

[00:30:59] old now almost got hit by a boormam meet you so i think we can attribute these changes to a sao takahata's

[00:31:07] desire to like make the story more evocative he's also said in interviews that i'm paraphrasing

[00:31:14] this one but that when you first read the tale of the bamboo cutter he couldn't really understand it

[00:31:19] because it didn't explore kagia himi's emotions even though she's supposed to be feeling all the

[00:31:25] fields that's the point of why she's there so he decided to adapt the story to give her more

[00:31:31] opportunities to feel deep human emotions by doing this he also gives us a look at high-end culture

[00:31:38] the huge class divide and the highly intricate style and manners of the urban elite

[00:31:46] speaking of the urban elite there's one great record that we have to give us more insight

[00:31:52] into the wealthy court life that we see in princess kagia and that as i mentioned at the top

[00:32:00] is the pillow book by say shonegon that is so cool i really need to read that book you want to see it

[00:32:06] yes it is awesome so i have i'll let's book i bought a book you guys this is the penguin

[00:32:16] classic sedition there are a lot of different translations this one is translated by merideth

[00:32:21] mckinney i like it the best because it has very very thorough glossary and notes

[00:32:29] and it has pictures yes it has great it has pictures and diagrams which are really helpful of

[00:32:39] the palace and how all of the intricate rooms were connected and how they become more and more

[00:32:45] interior as you get closer to the emperor and it shows you a diagram of the lady's dresses

[00:32:54] which are so wild so that's the one you sent me right that's the one that some looking at it now

[00:32:59] okay put a pin in that because i'll just tell you a little bit about this book so this was basically

[00:33:06] a book of musings a sort of public ish diary by a gentle woman called say shonegon when she was

[00:33:15] in the japanese imperial court under the emperor ichi jo and she was a gentle woman

[00:33:23] which is like is sort of a lady in waiting to the emperor's consort ujihara teishi from say shonegon

[00:33:34] we learn i'm just there's so much to say about the book itself it's just full of so many details

[00:33:41] about mundane life there's people's comings and goings there are a lot of really caddy comments

[00:33:49] so to learn more about the book the pillow book which i won't go more into i recommend listening

[00:33:56] to the podcast stuff you miss in history class specifically the episode say shonegon and the

[00:34:03] high-end court which i think is from december 2013 but from say shonegon we learn wonderful details

[00:34:11] about some of the things we see in kagehime's world in the capital like as she and her parents

[00:34:17] try to emulate that court life first their house is modeled after the emperor's palace with

[00:34:25] these open rooms divided by screens an interior space where kagehime is hidden away from

[00:34:32] crying eyes and a big veranda that's more open to visitors and outside life

[00:34:40] but my favorite thing we see in princess kagehia is the personal grooming and style of dress for

[00:34:46] the gentle women and that's something that's explained in cray cray detail in the pillow book especially

[00:34:54] in the penguin edition of the pillow book you see if you bring it to the picture i sang to you

[00:35:00] earlier which i will post on our instagram you can also find it in the book in one of the many

[00:35:08] beautiful appendices or i'm sure you remember it from the film or you could try you could try

[00:35:13] the internet you know we can't do everything for you yeah listener why don't our listener know how to

[00:35:19] use the internet so you can see from the movie that women wear these flowing robes or gowns in layers

[00:35:28] with each layer showing through underneath yeah you can see it in the sleeves and the edges

[00:35:34] this style came to be known as juni hituai i think it's pronounced which means 12 layers

[00:35:43] although you could wear fewer layers or more layers and this was really useful fashion because

[00:35:49] it could be bloody cold in the palace because it had those thin balls and they just had everything is

[00:35:55] made of paper and wood so they don't have fireplaces that these little browsers to to keep people

[00:36:01] warm with these little fires and because they're so into garden life and being connected to the outdoors

[00:36:09] it's koto it gets really cold in the winter yeah so they they're just piling on as many layers as they

[00:36:16] can but it was also a chance to really stress out and show off your status and your taste

[00:36:24] because you had to layer them in a way that was fierce according to fascione

[00:36:31] and season you cannot be out of season okay each color pattern of robe had a name

[00:36:39] and those in the know knew which ones went with which and when and if you got it wrong

[00:36:46] you could be quietly ridiculed how would you how oh so what do i just be like sprups sprups

[00:36:53] no exactly can you think of anything worse i'm gonna flip to this glossary which includes

[00:36:59] just a whole bunch of different kinds of robe for example there's something called blush clover

[00:37:08] which is a combination color which is pairing maroon over spring shoot green which can only be

[00:37:15] worn in autumn okay another one i'll i'll give you let me pick one so there's another one called

[00:37:21] dried grass or careno literally withered field which is another combination color of yellow

[00:37:28] over light green which could be worn in autumn or winter so you have to keep track of all of these

[00:37:36] own all of them and they're all really expensive throughout a lot of the film we see kagia himes

[00:37:43] wearing this pink robe with little flowers and those are stylized bamboo flowers oh and you don't

[00:37:51] just have these robes to wear they're also of course accessories jackets trains sleeves and trousers

[00:38:02] with skirts not as a tig trousers is it awesome or is it horrifying well i guess if you're

[00:38:13] shuffling around on your knees all the time it doesn't matter so much but if you're trying to walk

[00:38:18] like that that's some extreme bell bottoms yeah no because i'm thinking like q lots you know what i

[00:38:24] mean because i have like a pair of like long flowy q lots which i love i think these actually go

[00:38:33] on the floor oh okay way past the floor no no i'm clumsy i'll just triple by myself so

[00:38:41] but i think we need some kind of online game made out of this right where you have to pair them

[00:38:47] together you know and then then dressed and then you can you can bitch about me silently exactly

[00:38:53] you dress up your avatar yeah and then they're like when was the last time she plucked all of her

[00:38:59] eyebrows off oh oh oh can i say that as an older millennial you know who basically essentially had

[00:39:09] really much plucked all her eyebrows out in the 90s right yeah i was like yes bitch i could totally be

[00:39:19] Japanese normal woman i just don't want to pluck at my teeth but that's alright

[00:39:24] i've at least i've got the eyebrows down i did not have that option my eyebrows are sentient

[00:39:31] and monstrous and they just will not they won't be plucked but i think the teeth blackening is

[00:39:39] actually a really smart idea you just to worry about you know bat teeth yeah who knows what color

[00:39:46] they are yeah especially if you're wearing white makeup um contrast as someone who has done kubuki

[00:39:54] theater i can tell you that shit really emphasizes any yellow in your teeth it's gonna drop that

[00:40:01] in there i know bragg ask me about my kubuki theater days and if you're a lady who's always sitting

[00:40:12] behind a screen but you do get visitors and you want people to see you and know how fashionable you are

[00:40:19] trains and long sleeves are really helpful because you can use them to to stick them out of the

[00:40:27] bottom of the screen so that people know that you're there and so that you can show off your layer

[00:40:36] game nice that's all i have that's brilliant the high-end period can i tell you one more fabulous fact

[00:40:45] about the bamboo cutter oh yes so the tale of the bamboo cutter kagia heme the tale of princess

[00:40:52] kagia this is known all over japan it's taught to school children everybody knows this story

[00:41:01] it's really really old so it's been told and retold a bunch of times and in the modern period

[00:41:08] probably one of my favorite adaptations of this folktale was done in 1986 by sesame street

[00:41:19] and no it is called big bird in japan

[00:41:26] as in big bird big bird like as in big bird

[00:41:29] oh big bird and his dog slash friend barkley barkley

[00:41:39] they go on a tour of japan but they get separated from their tour group in tokyo

[00:41:47] and they meet a lovely woman called kagia heme who decides to help them

[00:41:53] and along the way they learn a bit about japanese culture they learn a bit of language and they

[00:41:58] learn from a group of school children through a play that they do in school the story of the bamboo

[00:42:05] cutter oh that's brilliant i watched it before i watched rewatched the movie this time

[00:42:14] and i watched it with my kids and it was so delightful oh i want to look this up now

[00:42:21] oh god it's worth a watch you can find it on youtube all right great so i don't i'm not going to tell

[00:42:26] you listener what order to watch it in but i do you don't have to force me to watch sesame street

[00:42:31] and go love it yeah so again if you've got your period drama you've got your muppets overlap

[00:42:38] that's kin yes and if you're like kin you can watch the tail princess kagia and Netflix and

[00:42:47] you can hop on over to youtube and watch big bird in japan like you have to listen as you can't

[00:42:52] see this giant smile on my face i'm so happy with this knowledge now and my connection there

[00:42:59] is that big bird is from new york famously yes he gets lost in japan

[00:43:05] we are talking about a japanese movie i'm drinking sake out of a little miniature i heart new york

[00:43:12] oh all comes full circle baby yay do you have any awards for this amazing charming movie

[00:43:21] yes so he so my award is for cutest animated baby butt

[00:43:31] and you're gonna be more specific that is bit you know at the start right so the little princess

[00:43:37] little girl and she turns into like a little baby and then just as that this little sequence where

[00:43:43] kind of like crawling around and a little baby butt is like sticking out um it was it's the cutest

[00:43:51] the cutest thing it was his cutest animation so there we go very cute babies in this film

[00:43:58] there is also you didn't mention this in the summary but there is also a fesant in this movie

[00:44:05] yes there was a fesant and i sent you so i basically i paused the movie

[00:44:11] and i took a photo of my tv screen i was like oh my god fesant sighting

[00:44:18] i can understand why you didn't mention it though because it is tragic for the fesant

[00:44:23] because he gets chased and then fallen on yeah i want to die

[00:44:29] so there isn't just one death in this film there are two that's true that is true we must

[00:44:35] acknowledge the death of the fesant yeah whose name i assume was gary all right what's your award

[00:44:45] my award goes to the emperor okay who might have had the least red flags of everyone in this

[00:44:54] movie at least he was honest and open that is true yeah yeah yeah what you saw is what you get

[00:45:00] with the emperor but he gets my award for worst pickup line which is after he springs up behind

[00:45:09] khaki a he may like a little bamboo shoot and grabs her and she's like eh he says my embrace

[00:45:16] pleases all women i mean if if that doesn't you know score your points i don't know what will

[00:45:25] try it yeah or not don't don't try it don't try it the element of surprise is not what you need

[00:45:33] in your viewing no please do not please do not i mean you might want to try to embrace your

[00:45:40] significant other with consent and then tell them that you know your embrace pleases all women

[00:45:46] and go ahead you know yeah this is the advice this is what you get yeah well this has been really fun

[00:45:57] it's really really fun yeah so if you have any suggestion of anything else any animated movies

[00:46:04] you'd like us to cover anything from Japan you'd like us to cover something from Japan that isn't

[00:46:09] animated that is true yeah yeah you can hit us up on our instagram at fetch smelling salts you

[00:46:16] can also email us at fetch smelling salts at gmail.com we also now have buy me a coffee so you can go

[00:46:25] to buy me a coffee.com and search for fetch smelling salts and that's just a way to help us you know

[00:46:32] maintain our subscriptions to watch all these period dramas well i am gonna go because i think my

[00:46:38] cloud is due to arrive soon oh yeah is it the 15th yet yeah i'm so i better i better get going

[00:46:45] you better go all right cool cool and i mean look oh my god it's coming it's coming it's it's making

[00:46:50] me fall asleep oh here's a drama okay you go sleep i'll hop on that cloud bye bye

[00:47:08] finished