Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Saru no Mukosama, Saru no Nyōbō, Monkey Bridegroom, 猿婿入り
Category: Monkey
The Myth
Sarumuko, or the Monkey Bridegroom, is a traditional Japanese folktale found in many regions of Japan. It belongs to the widespread tradition of stories about marriages between humans and supernatural or animal beings. The tale usually begins when a farmer promises his daughter to a monkey in exchange for its help with agricultural work. In some versions, the farmer desperately needs water for his rice fields during a drought. A monkey overhears him wishing that someone would irrigate the fields in return for a daughter’s hand in marriage, and promptly brings water to the fields. In other versions, the monkey plants seeds, weeds the fields, or performs other difficult tasks. Bound by his promise, the farmer must offer one of his daughters to the monkey. The elder daughters refuse, but the youngest agrees to marry it and goes to live in the mountains.
In the eastern Japanese version, the bride is eventually permitted to visit her family during the Girls’ Festival in the third month. Before leaving, she prepares rice cakes and asks her monkey husband to carry a heavy mortar on his back. Along the way, she also asks him to retrieve a branch of mountain cherry blossoms growing beside a deep pool. As the monkey reaches for the branch, the weight of the mortar pulls him into the water, where he drowns. Before dying, he laments that his own death matters less to him than the sorrow his wife will feel. The daughter, however, secretly wishes for the mortar to remain above the monkey and the monkey beneath it, then flees home. Other versions substitute wisteria flowers or persimmons for the cherry blossoms. Some even describe the monkey dressing formally in traditional robes before descending from the mountains to claim his bride.
In western Japan, the daughter often defeats the monkey on the very day of their wedding. She has him carry a large water jar intended as part of her marriage possessions. When they reach a river, she deliberately drops her hairpin or mirror into the water, prompting the monkey to climb in and retrieve it. Water fills the jar on his back, making it impossible for him to escape, and he eventually drowns. In both regional versions, the youngest daughter uses her intelligence to overcome a dangerous marriage imposed upon her and return safely to her family. The story shares themes with the medieval Japanese tale Fujibukuro no Sōshi, in which a farmer’s promise leads to a daughter being taken by a monkey, only for her to be rescued by a skilled archer and his dogs.
Sources
“Sarumuko.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1063422280.html