Momo Taro is a tale about a married couple that could not have a child. They really wanted to have a child and one day a peach pit came to them down a stream and from this a child was born. The child was know as the peach boy.
Momo Taro is a well know Japanese tale about how a child was brought to a couple in a peach pit/leaf/peach. In fact Momo in Japanese means peach and Taro is a common and popular name for a boy. I came across this tale three times while doing this collection project. I was first told this tale by my grandmother, who was able to give me the above description. My mother also told me that tale, but she had more gaps in the tale, and finally Nicky from class was asking about this tale and if I had heard of it. I find it very interesting that my grandmother and mother would know this tale.
I think my mother knows the tale because she can put herself in the place of the married women in the tale. She was unable to have children, and so her and my father adopted both myself and my sister. We are like the boy that was delivered in the peach to the married couple in the tale.
I also couldnt not help but notice that this is kind of like the English story of James and the Giant Peach. In this tale the boy travels away from evil caretakers and travels by way of peach from England to New York. I think that this is very interesting that two tales have such similar main characters and similar points and morals.
I find that the meaning of the tales is that if you are patient that you will be able to have what you most desire. I also think that these tales are also told so that you know to be thankful for the fact that you have family and that they should also be thankful for you.
Annotation:
Seki, Keigo. Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 25. Nagoya Japan: Nanzan University: 1966