Torikaebaya Monogatari - Translations and Adaptations

Translations and Adaptations

Yasunari Kawabata translated the tale into modern Japanese "shortly after the conclusion of the Pacific War". This and subsequent translations led to the tale being rehabilitated from its Meiji period reputation of immorality by Tsuneo Morioka, Hiromichi Suzuki and Sen'ichi Hisamatsu in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Torikaebaya Monogatari was translated by Rosette F. Willig into English in 1983 as The Changelings. She had previously translated the tale for her doctoral dissertation. Her translation is based on an annotated edition of the tale by Hiromichi Suzuki, published in 1973 by Kasama Shoin as Torikaebaya Monogatari no Kenkyu. The choice of the translated title has been criticised as seeming to imply that the tale is magical, but Horton has referred to the translated title as "inspired". Willig does not discuss why she chose "The Changelings" as being the title of the tale. "Chūnagon" is always referred to as male in the translation, and "Naishi no Kami" is female, regardless of whether the brother or sister is in the role. Thus, before the siblings switch, Willig's translation refers to the character by their assumed sex, leading to such structures as the Chūnagon feeling confined by "his pregnant condition". One reviewer has described this as "awkward", but relates that pronouns were genderless and so they do not consider this to be the original author's fault. At times, the translation has been said to be too colloquial, such as the Emperor crying "Oh, god!" when he discovers his reticent lady is not a virgin. There are many errors in the bibliography for the translation. The introduction to the story makes many generalisations about Japanese literature, some of which are "misleading", especially the categorisation of Torikaebaya as a "giko monogatari" (imitation epic tale). Gatten has described the translation as "highly readable". Harper describes the prose of the translation as "wretched". Kelsey was disappointed that the foreword was so short and did not include discussion of androgyny in monogatari, but he suggests this may be due to pressure from the publisher to keep the book short. Despite the mixed reception of the translation, The Changelings has been recognised as an important contribution to the field of Heian monogatari study.

Torikaebaya Monogatari was translated by Michael Stein into German in 1994 as Die vertauschten Geschwister (lit. "The exchanged siblings"), and into French by Renée Garde in 2009 as Si on les échangeait. Le Genji travesti.

Saeko Himuro adapted the story as a two-volume novel The Change! (ざ·ちぇんじ!, Za Chenji!?) published by Shueisha under the Cobalt Bunko imprint in 1983. This was adapted as a manga illustrated by Naomi Yamauchi, who worked with Himuro on other series, which was serialised by Hakusensha in Bessatsu Hana to Yume and Hana to Yume c. 1986 and collected in four tankōbon volumes released between 1987 and 88.

Toshie Kihara adapted the story into a one-volume manga called Torikaebaya Ibun (とりかえばや異聞?) (ISBN 978-4-09-191221-3) which was published in February 1998. Torikaebaya Ibun was then adapted as a Takarazuka Revue play staged in 1987, starring Mine Saori (峰さを理?), Minakaze Mai (南風まい?), Hyuuga Kaoru (日向薫?) and Shion Yuu (紫苑ゆう?). It was restaged in February 2010 starring Kiriya Hiromu (霧矢大夢?) and Aono Yuki (蒼乃夕妃?).

Torikaebaya briefly appears in the "Onnagata" story in Death in Midsummer and other stories by Yukio Mishima.

The characters of Maria-sama ga Miteru by Oyuki Konno perform a bowdlerised version of Torikaebaya in the 19th book of the series, published in 2004.