Momotaro the peach boy

Today is a rest day for our muscles. We finally arrived at 11pm+ to our accommodation last night after knocking on many hotel doors! By the time we knocked out, it was 1am+. For the first time since we started, exhaustion hit us and we overslept pass checkout time, haha! There was a strong desire to reprimand ourselves and push forwards to our goal but abit of kindness and compassion at the right time is what is sometimes needed to bring balance and success to our goals. Resting today and updating our website. Early start tomorrow for Himeji!

An overview of the city of Okayama from our hotel. Aside from the famous Korakuen gardens, Okayama castle, Okayama is also believed to be the birth place of the folklore Momotaro.

Momo, meaning peach and Taro, a boy's name, is a common folklore in Japan that represents kindness, bravery, courage and care of the family. While both English and Japanese have many similarities, there is a difference.

Japanese and indeed many Asian folklore feature filial piety as a theme. If folklores are simply a reflection of a culture and cultures are a reflection of history, then my question is, what in social history necessitated the need for filial piety?

- Michelle Yang