Ubasute is a long-established and controversial tradition in Japanese culture and means abandoning elderly individuals to the secluded corners of the forest. Although this custom receives confirmation in Japanese legends, there is no conclusive evidence that it was widely practiced. The Ubasute tradition was also depicted in the movie “The Ballad of Narayama”. In today’s Japan, this tradition is being revived, albeit in different forms.
Ubasute, at the same time “obasute” It is also called; This term means abandoning an older woman. Another similar term is parent abandonment. “oyasute”is. Ubasute is considered a form of killing old people and usually refers to the act of leaving the person on a mountain top or in a deserted place. Mount FujiThe dense forests of the northwest are known as a popular area for this practice.
Today, this tradition is A metaphor that makes you question society’s attitudes towards elderly individuals and has created more controversy due to the increasing elderly population and economic difficulties in Japan. Ubasute is not just a tradition, but also a concept that encourages reflection on old age, family ties and the values of society.
Legends of the Ubasute Tradition
Ubasute, It has inspired many legends. Even though these stories are about abandoning a relative, they emphasize the respect for family. One of the most well-known legends, Ubasuteyama It is a story called. In this story, a child takes his mother to the top of a mountain to abandon her; However, his mother marks the path with a bone to make it easier for her son to return. This event is a powerful symbol that shows that the mother knows everything but still loves her son.
Another story originating from India tells of a king who hated the elderly. This king passes a law stipulating the exile of everyone over the age of seventy. One of the king’s ministers, out of love for his mother, hides her in a secret room. After many years pass, the ruler of the neighboring kingdom sends a riddle; If the king fails this riddle, his lands will be invaded.
The king asks his minister for help, but the minister cannot find the answer to the riddle. Thereupon, he consults his old mother and helps her solve the puzzle. Thanks to his mother’s wisdom, the minister receives answers to many riddles. As a result, the neighboring ruler agrees to become an ally, and when the king learns the source of the minister’s knowledge, he grants honor to the elder by repealing the law of exile.
Is Ubasute Tradition Myth or Reality?
UbasuteThe lack of concrete evidence that it was widely practiced in the past has mostly relegated it to the category of folk tales. However, these stories seem to lead to similar practices occurring today. For example, there was a report in 2015 that a 63-year-old man abandoned his sick brother in the mountains.
Additionally, in 2018, a woman was arrested for abandoning her elderly father. Due to increasing poverty, the number of people sending their elderly relatives to hospitals or nursing homes is increasing day by day. Both the high elderly population and the economic recession indicate that this old tradition will become more widespread over time. Japan’s finance minister says the elderly should “hurry up and die” to reduce the country’s rising welfare bill.
Ubasute Application in Popular Culture
Ubasute application in the 305th episode of the Radiolab program “Death” It is discussed in detail around the theme. This tradition also appears as a metaphor for the treatment in modern Japan of elderly individuals, who have higher than average suicide rates.
Ubasute’s origins, 1956 novel by Shichirō Fukazawa Narayama’s Song’It extends up to . This work inspired three different films: Keisuke Kinoshita’s 1958 The Song of Narayama, Korean director Kim Ki-young’s 1963 Goryeojang, and Shohei Imamura’s Narayama, which won the Palme d’Or in 1983. Song of.
The concept of Ubasute has also been examined in the Western context. For example, the tragicomedy The Old Law, written in the 17th century by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger, and Anthony Trollope’s 1882 dystopian novel The Fixed Period, address this theme.
In his 2007 novel Boomsday, Christopher Buckley introduces the concept of ubasute as a political ploy to prevent the collapse of the social security system as a result of the increasing number of the aging population in the United States reaching retirement age, angering the religious right and the Baby Boomer generation.
Additionally, the Ubasute theme forms the main story of the “Half a Life” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the 103rd episode of the Dinosaurs series, a tradition similar to ubasute, in which elderly people who reach the age of 72 are thrown from a cliff into a tar pit, is described.
There is also a reference to ubasute in the musical Pacific Overtures. In the song “Four Black Dragons,” a panicking merchant agrees to abandon his mother in a city evacuated for fear of the American navy. However, when he is reminded that the merchant’s own son may do the same thing when he grows old, he decides to save his mother by taking her on his back.
The theme of Ubasute is also covered in chapter 19 of Folktales of Japan. Additionally, the song “I Don’t Mind” by the Decemberists includes a depiction of this practice: “Here you go into the woods with your mother on your back…” Additionally, the concept of Ubasute is central to the main story in Volume Three 158 of the Usagi Yojimbo comic book .
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