Folk Legend- The Japanese Muramasa Sword

Well the sword, there is a sword called the Muramasa.  It is named after the last name of the family who makes them, although there are a lot of fake ones.  There are five true Muramasa that were given to the five generations of emperors. Well, these swords, before given to the emperors, were tested.  Each sword has killed over a thousand people and were said to be cursed.  Whenever these swords were put into the river, leaves flowing down stream were not cut in half, but they circled the blade in a sort of demonic way as if the blade was drawing in the life force of nearby objects. Well, pretty much, once these swords were given to the emperors, it is said that for a time, the empire thrived because the sword was so strong that greatest general in the army could kill anyone and pretty much conquer everything.  But unfortunately, there is a side effect.  If the general happened to die, which is very possible because they said the sword slowly sucked out the person’s life force, the empire would crumble.  And the scary thing is it’s all in history.  All five generations during, I think the Tokogawa era have fallen.  I’ve seen the swords before. There very, you can say, cold.

Zhi Wei Ko told this story to me.  Zhi is Singaporean royalty with rich knowledge in Asian culture.  He said he learned it from both his father and grandfather when he was younger.  Supposedly, it is normally told to younger children to warn them not to play with sharp objects.  When I asked Zhi about his perception of the story he said, “I do think its true.  I mean, I’ve been around a lot of blades before and these swords have something, you can say, eerie about them.  The way they feel I don’t know.  I felt cold around it.  I would also say there is a lesson from it though.  Just don’t sell your soul to the devil”.

When Zhi told me this story, I did not know what to think.  It seems these swords were powerful enough to put any man into emperorship, but were so damaging to one’s life that it may not have been worth it.  From what he says, it is common knowledge these five generations of emperors existed, but he could not find any real solid documentation revealing the total truth about the swords.  He said it is something that is mostly passed on through generations.  This led me to believe it was said to teach a lesson.  Some things are not worth the risk or as Zhi put it, “Don’t sell your soul to the devil”.

The last two things to analyze about this story is what culture it’s coming from and when it is told.  In the Asian culture, it is mandatory to respect your elders.  When Zhi’s grandfather told him this story, it makes him look wise in the eyes of young children.  This will definitely maintain that sense of respect.  Also, since it is kept within the Asian culture, it forms a sense of identity within the group.  Lastly, this story is not set in modern day.  Instead, it focuses on the ancient history of Asia.  This serves as a way to teach future generations life lessons while maintaining old customs and beliefs.

This story can also be found in the following:

The Japanese Book of the Ancient Sword

Author(s): Ethel Watts Mumford

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 26, (1905), pp. 334-410

Publisher: American Oriental Society

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/59289

“D.B. Cooper was an aircraft hijacker who parachuted out of a plane somewhere over the Pacific Northwest with a ransom of well over $100,000.  After leaving from the Portland airport, Cooper flew to Seattle where he made his demands.  The FBI, who was trying to control the situation, talked the airlines into giving Cooper his money and parachutes.  Soon after receiving his ransom Cooper demanded the pilot fly from Seattle en route to Mexico City.  On his way to the Mexico City Cooper found a way to open up the back of the plane and jumped out somewhere across the river in Southwest Washington.  With the FBI unable to find the whereabouts of Cooper people began to speculate about how he was able to escape the authorities.  The story made news headlines all around the country and rumors and speculation began to spread about what had happened to him after he jumped out of the back of that plane.  This was when the legend of D.B. Cooper officially began.  I don’t know what to believe and have heard all kinds of stories.  Some say he escaped to Canada and others say he died in the forest.  I have even heard that he is living in a small town somewhere here in Oregon and has been able to elude the FBI and disguise himself as a farmer.  While the case of Cooper will probably never get solved every now and then there is some sort of new evidence uncovered, like a bundle of twenty dollar bills or a piece of a torn up parachute.  Maybe one day we will find out what happened to D.B. Cooper but I doubt we ever will.”

My father told me that he had heard all of these stories about D.B. Cooper when he was a teenager.  The actual hijacking took place in the early seventies and my dad, along with his friends, would speculate on what happened to D.B. Cooper.  Some kids would even joke about taking an adventure to find where he landed and look for the ransom.  While the bases of the story is always the same everyone has a different idea of what actual happened to Cooper and what was the reason for being unable to find him.

The story of D.B. Cooper is an example of how folklore, more specifically legends, is able to live on even though the event occurred long ago.  This story is so popular that it has even had several movies made about it.  Most recently the comedy With Out a Paddle was made about a group of friends who traveled to the northwest in search of D.B. Cooper’s ransom money.  The movie concludes with its own version of the story as the three friends end up finding Cooper’s ransom lying next to the skeletal remains of his body.  We can also see the story of D.B. Cooper being explored in Max Gunther’s book D.B. Cooper: What Really Happened, as he tries to uncover how Cooper eluded the police.

The story of D.B. Cooper has almost taken on a life of its own as people continue to speculate on his whereabouts.  Although D.B. Cooper may already be dead his legend will live on forever.

Gunther, Max. D.B. Cooper: What Really Happened. Contemporary Books, 1985.

“From what I heard after the billionaire Walt Disney died he was cryogenically frozen.  What’s even crazier is that some people say his body is currently buried underneath the Pirates of the Caribbean exhibit at Disneyland.  I even heard that he froze himself so one day when the technology is there, he can be unfrozen and brought back to life.”

This is probably one of the most bizarre urban legends I have ever heard.  Although I am not sure if this is a wide spread rumor I feel that living in Los Angeles, just minutes form Disney headquarters, makes this urban legend more prevalent.  This legend seemed so weird to me that I looked it up online and actually found a couple of sites that have a synopsis about this myth.  While the sites said records show that Walt Disney was cremated on December of 17, 1966 he was very secretive about his funeral.  There was even one site that said that no one was allowed to be present when he was buried, not even family.  Leading many to believe that this rumor of being frozen is true.  While this does bring about some suspicion it seems like a little bit of a stretch to say he’s frozen under magic mountain.

“It was another difficult Christmas for the New York business man who wasn’t able to provide for his family because money was scarce.  This once successful entrepreneur had recently been through rough times.  For the last few years his company had been barely getting buy and he worried that this was the year he would have to file for bankruptcy.  Upset from the stress, and the thought that he would no longer be able to provide for his family the man went for a walk.  He walked for miles and ended up in downtown New York at Central Park.  He stood on a bridge looking down at the stream below wishing that there were some way he could get himself out of this mess.  All of the sudden he saw a man standing next to him and they began to talk.  The businessman began to explain about his situation and how worried he was about his family, employees, and the business he worked so hard to build.  After a long conversation the man said that he must be going, but before he left he handed the businessman a piece of paper and told him to read it on his way home.  As they went opposite ways the businessman opened the fold piece of paper and saw that it was a check.  The check was written out for 500,000 dollars and on the top corner it said JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER.  The businessman stood in disbelief, as he quickly realized the man on the bridge was John D. Rockefeller, one of the most successful businessmen of all-time.  On the back of the check the man had written, ‘use this if things go wrong and come meet me at this bridge one years time from now’.  The man carried himself in confidence as he went back home to celebrate the holiday with his family.  With his newfound hope the man new that this would be a successful years, because he had a back up if things weren’t getting better.  The man took the check and put it in his desk, and vowed not to use it unless his business was going to go bankrupt.  The business began to thrive as bankers started to believe in the businessman and his company’s goals.

By years end the company was healthy again and things were looking up.  So when that next Christmas Eve came around, the man went to the bridge to meet Mr. Rockefeller and tell him of his success.  When he got there he saw the man, handed him back his check, and thanked him for everything he had done to help him and his business.  By surprise Mr. Rockefeller acted as if he had no idea what he was talking about.  Just as the businessman was trying to remind Mr. Rockefeller of their meeting one year ago a nurse came up to them and said, ‘I am so sorry, is he bothering you.  He keeps on telling people he John D. Rockefeller.  Like anybody would believe that’.  The man stood in disbelief as he realized that the check, which gave him the confidence he needed to turn around his company, was a fake.  It was at this point that the man realized, that the check gave him back faith in himself that he had lost during those difficult years.  In the end the lesson behind the fake check was worth far more than the dollar value written upon it.

Joseph told me he learned this from a business teacher last semester.  Fitting the setting of a business class, the teacher used this story to try and teach his students about never losing faith.  He told each of them that they would not be in the positions they are now, students at USC, if they were not smart and successful.  He reminded them that they would all face difficult times at some point in their lives but must keep the faith.

This is an example of an urban legend that has substantial meaning behind it.  While it is a great story it leaves the listener with the moral lesson that he can take on and apply to his own life.  Whether it is business or any every endeavor you take on in your life remembers to keep the faith.  When things are not going your way it often times just takes belief in yourself to overcome difficult times.

My father and I were going through a drive through for In-N-Out burger the other day and it sparked a conversation about fast food restaurants.  Across the street there was a Kentucky Fried Chicken, and as my dad saw it he began to tell me a story about how they produce their so-called “real chicken meat”.

While my father was not very sure about all of the details he said that a co-worker of his had told him that KFC produces all of the chicken they use in big laboratories.  Each one is lined with thousands of chickens, which are locked up in cages and kept alive by test tubes that give them nutrients.  This irregular environment causes the chickens to grown up with no feathers, beaks, or even feet.  To save money KFC has found a way to shrink the bones of the chickens allowing them to get more meat form each slaughter chicken.  Some say the government has stepped up and put a stop to this problem, but other say nothing has happened.

I do not know where this information originated from, but it cannot be good publicity for KFC.  While I am not sure if I believe this story or not it is enough to keep me away from every going to their restaurant.  Doing some more research on this topic another fact came to light.  In recent history Kentucky Fried Chicken has changed its name to KFC.  While this seems like a minor problem many say that when the government got involved with the chicken laboratories they only demand that the word Chicken not be mentioned in the name of the restaurant.

This urban legend plays along with the current connotation that fast food restaurants are disgusting, and bad for your health.  With the popularity of KFC and Americans love of gossip this rumor has spread around the country like wild fire.