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{{short description|Mythical practice of senicide in Japan}}
{{italics title}}
{{Refimprove|date=February 2009}}
[[File:Yoshitoshi - 100 Aspects of the Moon - 97.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''Ubasute no tsuki'' (The Moon of Ubasute), one of the 100 works in the series ''[[One Hundred Aspects of the Moon]]'', by [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]]]]
{{nihongo3 | "abandoning an old woman" | 姥捨て |'''Ubasute'''|also called '''''obasute''''' and sometimes '''''oyasute''''' {{lang |ja|親捨て}} "abandoning a parent"}} is a mythical practice of [[senicide]] in [[Japan]], whereby an infirm or [[old age |elderly]] relative was carried to a mountain, or some other remote, desolate place, and left there to die.<ref>{{cite news|last1= Hoffman |first1= Michael|title=Aging through the ages |url= http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/09/12/general/aging-through-the-ages |access-date=19 August 2016| work = The Japan Times|date=September 12, 2010}}</ref> [[Kunio Yanagita]] concluded that the ubasute folklore comes from [[India]]'s [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] mythology.<ref>{{cite book | last = Kunio | first = Yanagita | title = Tōno Monogatari (遠野物語) | publisher = [[Shueisha]] | volume = 264 | location = Japan | date = 1991 | isbn = 978-4087520194}} </ref> According to the Kodansha Illustrated Encyclopedia of Japan, ''ubasute'' "is the subject of [[legend]], but…does not seem ever to have been a common custom."<ref name = Encycl>{{Citation | title = Japan, An Illustrated Encyclopedia | publisher = Kodansha | place = Tokyo | year = 1993 | page = 1121}}.</ref>
==Folklore==
In one [[Buddhism in Japan|Buddhist]] allegory, a son carries his mother up a mountain on his back. During the journey, she stretches out her arms, catching the twigs and scattering them in their wake, so that her son will be able to find the way home.
A poem commemorates the story:
{{quote|<poem>
In the depths of the mountains,
Whom was it for the aged mother snapped
One twig after another?
Heedless of herself
She did so
For the sake of her son
</poem>}}
==In popular culture==
* The practice is discussed in some detail in ''[[Radiolab]]'' episode #305, "Mortality". Ubasute sometimes appears as a metaphor for contemporary Japan's treatment of the elderly, who are noted for [[Suicide in Japan|above-average suicide rates]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/2862051.stm "Suicide 'epidemic' among Japan's elderly"] [[BBC News]]</ref>
* The practice of ubasute is explored at length in the Japanese novel ''The Ballad of Narayama'' (1956) by [[Shichirō Fukazawa]]. The novel was the basis for three films: [[Keisuke Kinoshita]]'s ''[[The Ballad of Narayama (1958 film)|The Ballad of Narayama]]'' (1958), Korean director [[Kim Ki-young]]'s ''[[Goryeojang]]'' (1963), and [[Shohei Imamura]]'s ''[[The Ballad of Narayama (1983 film)|The Ballad of Narayama]]'', which won the [[Palme d'Or]] in [[1983 in film|1983]].
* ''[[The Old Law]]'', a 17th-century [[tragicomedy]] written by [[Thomas Middleton]], [[William Rowley]], and [[Philip Massinger]], as well as [[Anthony Trollope]]'s 1882 [[dystopia]]n novel ''[[The Fixed Period]]'', explore the concept of ubasute in a Western context.
* The characters of [[Christopher Buckley (novelist)|Christopher Buckley]]'s 2007 novel ''[[Boomsday (novel)|Boomsday]]'' introduce the concept of ubasute as a political ploy to stave off the insolvency of [[Social Security (United States)|social security]] as more and more of the aging US population reaches retirement age, angering the Religious Right and Baby Boomers.
* The concept of ubasute forms the basis of the storyline for the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[Half a Life (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Half a Life]]".
* In episode 103 of ''[[Dinosaurs (TV series)|Dinosaurs]]'' they describe a ubasute-like dinosaur custom where elders are hurled off a cliff into a tar pit at the age of 72.
* The musical ''[[Pacific Overtures]]'' contains a reference to ubasute. During the song "Four Black Dragons", as a city is being evacuated for fear of an American naval force, a panicked merchant is willing to abandon his aged mother during the evacuation, but the merchant is reminded that his son could do the same when the merchant is just as old. The merchant reluctantly picks up his mother and carries her on his back.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}
* Episode 19 of ''[[Folktales from Japan]]'' depicts this tale.
* The [[Decemberists]] song "I Don't Mind" has a depiction of ubasute – "So here's you with your mom on your back, going into the woods..."
* The practice is the main story featured in the comic book [[Usagi Yojimbo]] Volume Three #158.
==Places==
[[Image:Kamuriki Yama 2012 01 06.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Ubasute Mountain]]
[[Image:ObasuteYama_20050424.JPG|250px|thumb|right|Ubasute Mountain]]
* {{nihongo|''Ubasute-yama''|[[w:ja:姨捨山|姨捨山]]|}} is the common name of {{nihongo|''[[Mount Kamuriki|Kamuriki-yama]]''|冠着山|}}, a mountain ({{convert|1252|m|disp=or||}}) in [[Chikuma, Nagano]], Japan.<ref>[http://www.naganoken.jp/mount/hokushin/sakaki-chikuma/kamurikiyama.htm 冠着山 長野県の山] 信州山学ガイド] {{in lang|ja}}</ref><ref>Hoffman</ref>
* [[Obasute Station]], [[Chikuma, Nagano|Chikuma]], [[Nagano Prefecture]], Japan
* According to folklore, the [[Aokigahara|Aokigahara forest]] at the base of Mount Fuji was once such a site, where its reputation as a [[suicide site]] might have originated.<ref name="economist-30jan2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21689651-fewer-japanese-are-killing-themselves-deep-woods|title=Suicide in Japan: Deep in the woods: Fewer Japanese are killing themselves|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=January 30, 2016|page=45}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Ättestupa]]
* [[Granny dumping]]
* [[Lapot]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* ''Japan, An Illustrated Encyclopedia'', Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo, 1993, p.&nbsp;1121
==External links==
* [http://www.eubios.info/TRT3.htm What Japan can Offer to International Bioethics]
* [http://www.geocities.co.jp/HeartLand-Gaien/7211/Japanese/ubasutej.html Folktale] in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], English version: [http://www.geocities.co.jp/HeartLand-Gaien/7211/kudos6/ubasute.html]
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[[Category:Japanese folklore]]
[[Category:Senicide]]
[[Category:Death in Japan]]
[[Category:Old age in Japan]]