Ubasuteyama
About Ubasuteyama
A lord in Shinano hates old people and exiles anyone who turns sixty. On the night of August 15 a farmer is supposed to turn his mother over to the officers. He loves her, takes her toward the mountain, then hides her under the floor of a barn. A neighboring lord demands that a silk thread be passed through the crooked hole of a crystal, or he will use force. The mother tells her son to smear honey at one opening and send an ant, tied to the thread, in from the other. The lord rewards him. A second demand: tell which of two identical mares is the mother. He asks her again, answers, and when offered a wish asks for his mother's life. After that the old are not sent away.
Cast & crew
More about Ubasuteyama
Sanae Yamamoto made the silent black-and-white short under the title Kyoiku senga: Ubasuteyama, an educational line drawing. The Japanese Animated Film Classics archive lists it at 18 minutes.
Themes
Preservation
The Japanese Animated Film Classics project holds a viewing copy of the 18-minute short.
Scenes
- The son hides his mother under the barn floor instead of leaving her on the mountain.
- An ant carries the thread through the crystal.
Also available
- Japanese Animated Film Classics (work 42190)
