"Schippeitaro" made me want to write a story about some sort of vision quest. I've read about vision quests in anthropology and some other previous readings and that's what I was kind of imagining when the boy saw the cats dancing around in the woods. I think it would be fun to play around with that idea and maybe write an inspirational, more spiritual and serious story than I've really done before.
I also really liked "The Magic Kettle" and think writing something based off of this story could be fun. I like the idea of a magical item that turns into an animal or some form of companion. I could write a story about a lonely, depressed man or woman that finds solace in the kettle companion maybe.
I think I could write a story based on "How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished" too but I would spin it in an entirely different direction. I think my characters would turn themselves into humans and get jobs in town to support their little family though, rather than pretending their spouse is dead for money. I also think my version would be more of a happy love and support type of story because I didn't like that the tanuki betrayed his wife.
I noticed a trend in these stories that tanukis apparently can't swim and that's how they ultimately meet their end, so I think I'd like to write a story about a tanuki seeking out a swim coach and learning to swim. I think it could be an inspiring story about the main character fighting against nature to do something "unnatural" to him.
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| (Japanese Racoon Dog [tanuki]; online source, oyatsubox.com) |
Source
"Japanese Fairy Tales", retold by Andrew Lang, online source.
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