Ubasuteyama

In a village in Shinano Province, a feudal lord decrees that anyone who reaches the age of 60 must be abandoned in the mountains to die. A young farmer, unable to bear the thought of losing his elderly mother, hides her beneath the floor of his barn instead of following the cruel order.

When a neighboring lord issues an impossible challenge—threading a silk string through a winding hole in a crystal ball—the son secretly seeks his mother's advice. Using honey and an ant, she shows him how to complete the task. The lord is impressed and rewards the son, but another demand follows: to identify which of two identical mares is the parent and which is the foal. Again, the mother's wisdom provides the answer. Grateful, the lord grants the son a wish, and he begs for his mother's life. The lord realizes the value of the elderly and abolishes the cruel practice, ensuring that old people are treated with respect from that day forward.