Minuma Benten: Culture is a lot about what is encouraged and condemned. 

“Don’t go for the money, cherish the little things in life” is an oft-told message in Japanese folklore, which is both a curse that limits Japanese people’s potential and also a blessing that distributes happiness evenly across income groups. 

So here’s one such tale, called “Minuma Benten”

Long ago, there was a packhorse handler called Hirakichi. One day, he spotted a beautiful woman in a traveler’s outfit walking wearily in front of him. 

She said she was heading to Minuma Pond which was on the Hirakichi’s way home, so he mounted her on his horse and took her there. 

At the pond, the woman thanked Hirakichi and disappeared into the water. 

Hirakichi lost his head over the mysterious lady and stopped by the pond almost every day, hoping to run into her. He was so obsessed he forgot all about his fiancé.

One day, Hirakichi started carving a flute out of the bamboo he cut down near the pond as if he was possessed. When he blew the flute, the beautiful woman appeared with a sitar and played along. 

She handed Hirakichi a pretty box and said, “Do not open this box. The happiness in it will escape,” and disappeared into the pond again. 

As she said, Hirakichi experienced tremendous luck and became rich enough to live off of passive income in no time. 

But as he sat in his expansive room alone every night, Hirakichi realized he had no one to celebrate his success with. 

One night, he finally opened the box of happiness, and out came a white snake; it slithered off into the pond and only a white scale was left in the box. 

Hirakichi’s business quickly withered like a wilting flower, and he was back packhorse-handling again in no time. Hirakichi’s fiancé had been waiting for their hearts to rekindle. They married each other and lived happily ever after. 

So what’s the moral?

Maybe it’s this: chasing the dream is fine. Just don’t leave all the dreamers behind. Because even if you strike gold, what’s the point if there’s no one to high-five?

Also—when a mysterious water lady tells you not to open something? Believe her. Especially if it hisses.

Woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).