Hanasakajijii I: The Floating Dog
“And so it happened long, long ago…”
So begins “Hanasakajijii”, a tale of the man who made flowers bloom. A Japanese folk tale, passed in the oral tradition, about a man who comes to great fortune and brings prosperity to his land, ending a long drought. The source of his fortune: An abnormally large dog.
According to the tale, an old woman washing her linens in the river notices an abnormally large dog (I chose an Akita) which has been set afloat on the river, and helps it to shore, rescuing it and giving it a home with her and her husband. The two embrace the dog as their own and are rewarded for their kindness when one day the dog unearths a large fortune. Their jealous, cantankerous neighbor borrows the dog in hopes that it will bring him fortune as well; instead the dog reveals a pool of garbage and vile insects beneath the treacherous yard. Angry, the villain shoots the dog through the side and burns the body.
Hanasakajijii II: A Great Wind, More Sushi
The ash of the burnt canine fells the neighbor and, drifting into the kindly old man’s yard, raises a great tree and causes flowers to bloom, ending the town’s drought.
My retelling of this story was inspired partly by the Ham Lake fire. The cherry blossoms here blooming on a burned branch and the Japanese Chin offering a feast of sushi represent the new growth and hope that come even after a devastating loss and difficult times.