Japanese TV Commercials and Traditional Folktale (1)

I've introduced some Japanese TV commercials before.
- How Japanese People Think of English
- Can You Buy Your Dream With Money?
- Have You Met an Alien Before?

And again, I'm gonna show you a cool commercial in this post! It has subtitles but it's in Japanese. So I translated them into English for you guys. To begin with, I have to tell you about one of the old stories in Japan, called 桃太郎（ももたろう） /momotarou/Peach Boy.

All Japanese people must have heard of 桃太郎 in his or her childhood. Roughly, the story goes like this: An old lady found a giant peach floating down a river. The old lady and her husband discovered a child inside the peach when they tried to eat it, and the child was welcomed by them as their son. The child was named as 桃太郎. Years later, 桃太郎 came to know that their village was often attacked by ogres. And he decided to leave his village to fight them. On his way to the ogres' island, he met a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. These animals agreed to help him in his quest. And yes, they succeeded in putting the ogres down.

Okay, now enjoy the video! :)



これはまだ桃太郎（ももたろう）が、犬（いぬ）、サル、キジに出会（であ）う前（まえ）の話（はなし）・・・
This is the story of when Momotarou hasn't met the dog, the monkey, and the pheasant yet.

桃太郎（ももたろう）は１人（ひとり）で鬼（おに）に挑（いど）みました。
Momotarou challenged the ogres to fight by himself.

しかし、鬼（おに）は想像（そうぞう）以上（いじょう）の力（ちから）を持（も）っていました。
However, the ogres had a greater power than he expected.

敗（やぶ）れた桃太郎（ももたろう）は、ある剣（けん）の達人（たつじん）を訪（たず）ねました。
Beaten Momotarou visited a master swordsman.

その男（おとこ）の名（な）は、宮本武蔵（みやもと　むさし）。
The name of that person is Miyamoto Musashi.
*Miyamoto Musashi is a very famous swordsman in Japan.
(More information: Who Is Musashi Miyamoto?)

桃太郎（ももたろう）は武蔵（むさし）のもとで修業（しゅぎょう）を積（つ）み、
Momotarou received his training from Musashi,

やがて互角（ごかく）で戦（たたか）えるようになりました。
and then, became able to prove himself a good match for Musashi.

最後の日　武蔵は桃太郎に剣を授けました。
The last day, Musashi gave him a sword.


Actually, 宮本武蔵 doesn't appear in the story of 桃太郎. But it makes this commercial special, and interesting. I'll show you the following episodes in the next post! :)

If you have any questions feel free to ask me. ：）