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58-513: It is best known as the place in fairytale where Urashima Tarō was invited after saving a turtle, where he was entertained by the Dragon God's princess Oto-hime and his minions, but when Urashima returned back to land after what he thought was a few days away, centuries had passed. Ryūgū or Ryūgū-jō is the fabulous mythical residence of the Ryūjin (Dragon God) or Sea God, or the princess Otohime . It

116-411: A crane and flies up to the sky. In another, he grows gills and leaps into the sea, whereby he regains his youth. In another version Urashima ate a magic pill that gave him the ability to breathe underwater. In another version, he is swept away by a storm before he can rescue the turtle. In another version, Irashima does stay with Otohime and they conceive a child. [1] The full name Urashima Tarō

174-508: A composite consisting of older traditions from the Nihon Shoki and Man'yōshū , combined with the near-modern Otogizōshi storybook plot, Chamberlain preferring to incorporate details from the ancient texts, while eschewing embellishment from the Otogizōshi. Chamberlain has also published a versified version of the tale. In Chamberlain's fairytale version, "Urashima" (not "Tarō") catches

232-707: A long time, but in the particular case of the Urashima legend, its Dragon Palace was not firmly considered to be underwater until quite late in the modern period. In most familiar versions of the Urashima legend nowadays in Japan, the Ryūgū lies undersea, but in early and otogizoshi versions , the fisherman traveled to Hōrai ( Mount Penglai , the Elysium in Chinese tradition), a floating island. During

290-410: A man called Urashima Tarō. They answer that they had heard someone of that name had vanished at sea long ago. He discovers that 300 years have passed since the day he left for the bottom of the sea. Struck by grief, he absent-mindedly opens the box the princess had given him, from which bursts forth a cloud of white smoke. He is suddenly aged, his beard long and white, and his back bent. From the sea comes

348-407: A mock-up. Ryūgū Shrine derives its name from Ryūgū-jō. Located on Cape Nagasakibana (also known as Cape Ryūgū) in southern Kagoshima , it is said to be where Urashima Tarō traveled to Ryūgū-jō. Locals honor Ryūjin and turtles as protectors. Urashima Tar%C5%8D Urashima Tarō ( 浦島 太郎 ) is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale ( otogi banashi ), who, in a typical modern version,

406-420: A mysterious box called tamatebako whose lid he was told never to open. When Tarō returned to his hometown, everything had changed. His home was gone, his mother and father had perished, and the people he knew were nowhere to be seen. After not remembering the princess's warning, he lifted the lid of the box. A cloud of white smoke arose, turning him to a white-haired old man. The story remained as one of

464-550: A tortoise ( sic ) while fishing on his boat, and releases it. The tortoise reappears in her true form as the Sea-God's daughter, and invites him to the Dragon Palace. There the couple are married and live happily for 3 years, but Urashima misses seeing his parents and his brothers. The Dragon Princess reluctantly allows him to leave, giving him a box he is instructed never to open, for it will cause him never to be able to return to

522-578: A turtle caught by others, 2) Boat arrives to convey him to Horai , 3) The four seasons assuage rather than provoke his homesickness, 4) The villagers in recognition of his longevity give him proper cremation , 5) Smoke from the tamatebako reaches Horai and Princess Otohime is grief-stricken. The tale of "Urashima Taro" in Keigo Seki 's anthology (translated into English 1963), was a version told in Nakatado District, Kagawa . In this variant, Urashima

580-521: A version from the Otogizōshi . The four seasons also figure in F. Hadland Davis 's synopsis (1912). The usual bird which sings in spring is the bush warbler , not actually a nightingale. More precise translations from the otogizōshi text are given elsewhere. Whether in the ancient (Nara Period), feudal period or standard modern versions of Urashima , he believes he has spent 3 years at the otherworld or Dragon Palace, but more than 300 years had elapsed in

638-506: Is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a sea turtle , and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace ( Ryūgū-jō ) beneath the sea. There, he is entertained by the princess Otohime as a reward. He spends what he believes to be several days with the princess. But when he returns to his home village, he discovers he has been gone for at least 100 years. When he opens the forbidden jewelled box ( tamatebako ), given to him by Otohime on his departure, he turns into an old man. The tale originates from

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696-541: Is a sunken city or not. The akahon illustrations were appropriated by Masayuki Kataoka's English translation (1886), which describes the Dragon Palace as visible "far below" the water, to which the man carried by the reptile "descended". Ryūgū was described as a "Dragon Palace beyond the blue sea", in Basil Hall Chamberlain 's translation (1886). Here the "Dragon Palace" is illustrated as a complex of buildings atop an island, with fishes clad in kimono walking about

754-587: Is also equated with the " fish-scale palace " ( iroko no goto tsukureru miya ) which was the Sea God Watatsumi 's palace mentioned in the Kojiki (8th century). The Ryūgū is well-known as the supernatural place in the fisherman's fairytale Urashima Tarō , and most Japanese now consider it to be a place which is supposed to lie under the sea. Actually, Ryūgū that appears in other narratives and fairytales ( otogi banashi ) had been considered to be underwater for

812-515: Is interpreted to be a metaphor for a silver-colored structure. In the Ryukyuan religion , Ryūgū-jō ( Okinawan : Ruuguu ) is the source of fire for all family and village hearths. The Japanese name for the deep-sea dwelling giant oarfish is ryūgū-no-tsukai ( リュウグウノツカイ ) , literally lit. "messenger/servant of Ryūgū" or "Messenger from the Sea God's Palace". This real species of fish may have been

870-407: Is localized as being from "Kitamae Oshima". It incorporates both the motif of the turtle being caught while fishing, and that of Urashima transforming into a crane at the end, which are found in the Otogizōshi . Here, it was a three-tiered jeweled hand-box ( 三重ねの玉手箱 , mitsugasane no tamatebako ) , that is to say, a stacked box that was given to Urashima. When he opened the lid, the first box (on

928-436: Is remembered as a man who disappeared long ago, and would be over three hundred years old if still alive. Forgetting the promise, he opens the box, whereupon a beautiful figure like a fragrant orchid is carried away to the heavens with the clouds, and he realizes he can never meet the princess again. Still, the couple are somehow (supernaturally) able to exchange poems. These poems are recorded in phonetic man'yōgana . In

986-442: Is sorry to see him go, but wishes him well and gives him a mysterious box called tamatebako which will protect him from harm but which she tells him never to open. Tarō grabs the box, jumps on the back of the same turtle that had brought him there, and soon is at the seashore. When he goes home, everything has changed. His home is gone, his mother has vanished, and the people he knew are nowhere to be seen. He asks if anybody knows

1044-400: Is the Dragon Palace, and on the four sides of the palace, each gardenscape is in a different season. Urashima decides to return to his home after three years and is given a memento box ( かたみの筥/箱 , katami no hako ) in parting. He arrives in his hometown to find it desolate, and discovers 700 years have passed since he last left it. He cannot restrain his temptation to open the box which he

1102-627: Is the school song "Urashima Tarō" (浦島太郎) of 1911 which begins with the line " Mukashi, mukashi Urashima wa, tasuketa kame ni tsurerarete (Long long ago was Urashima, by the turtle he rescued taken to the sea)", printed in the Jinjō shōgaku shōka  [ ja ] (1911). This song's author was long relegated to anonymity, but the lyricist is now considered to be Okkotsu Saburō  [ ja ] . Another school song "Urashima Tarō" (うらしまたろう, lyrics by Ishihara Wasaburō  [ ja ] and music by Tamura Torazō  [ ja ] ) appeared in

1160-558: The Fudoki for Tango Province ( Tango no Kuni Fudoki , 丹後国風土記 ) that survived in excerpts, the Man'yōshū and the Nihon Shoki . More recent editions of these texts tend to favor the "Ura (no) Shimako" reading, although some consider this debatable. It has also been proposed that it was not until the Heian Period that the misreading "Urashima (no) ko" became current, because names with

1218-482: The Nihon Shoki , Urashimako of Mizunoe is mentioned in the entry for Autumn, 7th month the 22nd year of reign of Emperor Yūryaku . Aston 's translation assigns this the year 478 A.D. The entry states that Urashimako (child Urashima, child of Urashima, etc.) of Mizunoe while fishing on a boat, caught a turtle which transformed into a woman. They went into the sea, and reached Mount Hōrai (glossed in kana as Tokoyo ), where they saw immortals ( 仙衆 (ひじり) ) . As to

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1276-496: The Hyades cluster) who address him as the "husband of Kame Hime (Princess Turtle)". The remainder is mostly the same as the typical tale. After three years, the man develops a longing for his parents and homeland. The princess is saddened, but imparts him with a jeweled comb box ( 玉匣 , tamakushige ) , forbidding him to open it if he wished ever to return to her. He returns and finds no trace of his home or family, except that he

1334-514: The Nihon shoki was written. In the mythology concerning the two princes Hoderi ("Fire Flash") and Hoori ("Fire Fade") in the Kojiki , the latter younger brother adventures to the Sea God's palace and emerges triumphant, and sires the line of emperors. The story has been often retold as fairytale, e.g. as "The Princes Fire-flash & Fire-fade". The Sea-God's palace, a "palace built like fishes' scales",

1392-590: The Otogi Bunko group. And the expression tamatebako or "jeweled hand-box" familiar to modern readers is also seen in the main text of Group I, and not the other groups (the interpolated poem excepted). The picture scroll in the collection of the Bodleian Library , Oxford University also belongs to Group I. Hayashi Kouhei has highlighted the characteristics of the Group I texts as follows: 1) Urashima purchases

1450-508: The Yōnen shōka (1900). Although written in stilted classical language , Miura considered this version the more familiar. Long before the versions in 19th century textbooks, there had been the otogi-zōshi versions from the Muromachi period . Conventionally, commentators using the term otogizōshi are referring by default to the text found in the Otogi Bunko (or "Companion Library"), since it

1508-457: The 1918–1932 period. An English translation has been provided in Yoshiko Holmes's thesis. Long ago, a man named Urashima Tarō of unidentified profession (or, in recent textbooks often a fisherman ) found a turtle on the beach being toyed with by a group of children. He purchased the turtle and released it in the ocean. Two or three days later, while he was fishing on a boat as always,

1566-555: The Edo era, pictorial depiction of Ryūgū above the waves remained fairly conventional. A work may illustrate Ryūgū above water, yet describe it textually as underwater, as in a burlesque gesaku work of 1782 . In the Meiji era, akahon ehon  [ ja ] or "redbook picture books" of the 1880s, as well as Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 's (1886) print are examples of Ryūgū illustrated above water, but they are lacking in textual detail on whether it

1624-408: The ancient and standard modern versions (700 years in the feudal period versions). The Mizukagami (1195) gives a more precise reckoning; Urashima supposedly returned in the 2nd year of Tenchō (825 AD), 347 years later. This matches the claim in Nihon shoki that he disappeared in the year of Yuraku 22, conventionally assigned the year 478. But it also means he did not come back until a century after

1682-494: The ballad-form by Chamberlain. In this version, the woman of the Immortal Land (Tokoyo) appears as the daughter of the Sea God ( Watatsumi no kami ). Basil Hall Chamberlain (1880) indicated the presence of a temple dedicated to Urashima at Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama , which housed several relics such as Urashima's fishing-line, and the casket (tamatebako). But when Ernest Satow went there with Chamberlain on 2 May 1880, there

1740-503: The bottom of the sea, to the Palace of the Dragon God ( Ryūgū-jō ). There he meets the Emperor and the small turtle, who was now a lovely princess, Otohime . The palace had a view to the four seasons, a different one on each side. Tarō stays there with Otohime for three days, but soon wants to go back to his village and see his aging mother, so he requests permission to leave. The princess says she

1798-465: The country, rewrote the Urashima tale under the title " The Dream of a Summer Day " in the late 19th century, working off of a copy of Chamberlain's "Japanese Fairy Tale Series" version. As always with folklore, there are many different versions of this story. There are other versions that add a further epilogue explaining the subsequent fate of Urashima Tarō after he turns into an old man. In one, he falls to dust and dies, in another, he transforms into

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1856-406: The creature transforms into a beautiful woman. She identifies herself as someone from the household of immortals, and proposes to take him to the place of immortals, which may be Horaisan ( Mount Penglai ) or "Tokoyo-no-kuni" ("Timeless Land" or "Land of Eternity"). They are greeted by first seven, then eight children, who represent the constellations of Pleiades and Taurus (or more precisely

1914-412: The dozen tales included in the 4th edition of national language reader textbooks also known as Sakura tokuhon  [ ja ] used from 1933 to c. 1940, thus continuing to enjoy wide recognition; for this reason Urashima could be considered one of the core stories of the so-called Japanese "national fairy tales". A number of renditions exist, where they are set to music. Among the most popular

1972-409: The grateful turtle came and told him he would carry him on his back to the underwater Dragon Palace ( Ryūgū ). At the palace, the princess ( Otohime ) thanked him for saving the turtle. After an unspecified number of days, remembrance of his mother and father made him homesick, and he bid farewell to Otohime. The princess tried to dissuade him from leaving, but finally let him go with a parting gift,

2030-524: The legend of Urashimako ( Urashima no ko or Ura no Shimako ) recorded in various pieces of literature dating to the 8th century, such as the Fudoki for Tango Province , Nihon Shoki , and the Man'yōshū . During the Muromachi to Edo periods , versions of Urashima Tarō appeared in storybook form called the Otogizōshi , made into finely painted picture scrolls and picture books or mass-printed copies. These texts vary considerably, and in some,

2088-516: The like') according to Meiji Era akahon ehon ("red book" editions). The use of materials such as pearl or crystal on the exterior is given in Brauns' translation (Englished by Lang), alongside the interior hall being illuminated by fish scales. Masayuki Kataoka's English translation (1886) describes a Dragon's Palace with a crystal dome, which a researcher considers a novel, unfamiliar feature. Kataoka's translation, upon comparison, differed greatly from

2146-516: The origins of the mythical jinjahime  [ ja ] , which also claimed to be a "messenger/servant of Ryūgū". This ( 神社姫 , lit. 'shrine princess') , was a type of the so-called "prophet beast" ( yogenjū ) during the Edo period , which prophesied bountiful harvest followed by epidemic . The Katase-Enoshima Station in Fujisawa , Kanagawa Prefecture is a structure built to resemble Ryūgū-jō, as

2204-434: The palace. When he returns to his home village, his absence turns out to have been 400 years. Urashima now wishes to go back to the Dragon Palace but he does not know the means, and opens the box. He turns into a white-haired, wrinkled old man and dies. The ending by death concurs with older tradition, and not the otogi-zōshi storybook. Lafcadio Hearn , who lived in Japan and translated or adapted many ghost stories from

2262-456: The phrase that they go "into the sea" implies, the Mount Hōrai as conceived here may be a submarine island, a suggestion made by Japanese literature professor Ōkuma Kiichirō  [ ja ] . A poem reflecting upon the legend of Urashima of Mizunoe occurs in the Man'yōshū . The piece is ascribed to Takahashi no Mushimaro . Early translations include the prose rendition by Aston, and

2320-477: The sad, sweet voice of the princess: "I told you not to open that box. In it was your old age ...". A summary of the Urashima tale from one of the nationalized textbooks ( Kokutei kyōkasho  [ ja ] ) will be given below. The base text used will be Urashima Tarō (うらしま太郎), from the 3rd edition of the Kokugo tokuhon  [ ja ] or "national language reader", a widely familiar textbook used during

2378-461: The sandy shore. Chamberlain had freely substituted more ancient text material into his retelling of the Urashima fairytale. Chamberlain also interchangeably uses "Sea God's Palace", probably with the archaic god-name Watatsumi in mind. Eventually, the Dragon Palace undersea became the standard in modern tellings of the Urashima tale. A canonical example by the Taisho Era, according to one researcher,

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2436-412: The story ends with Urashima Tarō transforming into a crane. Some iconic elements in the modern version are relatively recent. The portrayal of him riding a turtle dates only to the early 18th century, and while he is carried underwater to the Dragon Palace in modern tellings, he rides a boat to the princess's world called Hōrai in older versions. The Urashima Tarō tale familiar to most Japanese follows

2494-511: The story from this nationally designated textbook series. One day, a young fisherman named Urashima Tarō is fishing when he notices a group of children torturing a small turtle. Tarō saves it and lets it go back to the sea. The next day, a huge turtle approaches him and tells him that the small turtle he had saved is the daughter of the Emperor of the Sea, Ryūjin , who wants to see him to thank him. The turtle magically gives Tarō gills and brings him to

2552-511: The storyline of children's tale author Iwaya Sazanami  [ ja ] in the Meiji period . A condensed version of Sazanami's retelling then appeared in Kokutei kyōkasho  [ ja ] , Japan's nationally designated textbook for elementary school, and became widely read by schoolchildren of the populace. Modern versions of Urashima Tarō, which are generally similar, are demonstrably based on

2610-445: The suffix -ko ("child") came to be regarded as female, even though it once applied to either gender. When the texts were written for the kyōgen theatre, the character's name underwent further change to Urashima Tarō, with -tarō ("great youth") being a common suffix in male names. Or perhaps the name was borrowed from Tarō kaja  [ ja ] who is a stock character in kyōgen. The Man'yōshū ballad mentions not only

2668-525: The text of the akahon picture books, though he had blatantly appropriated and reworked their illustrations. Here, there is a long distance from the gatekeeper to the palace proper, and Urashima is guided by a pretty glass ball that rolls of is own accord. A notable feature of the Dragon Palace according to the "feudal" ( otogizōshi ) versions is the view to the "four seasons on four sides", though this has been eschewed in Chamberlain's translation. However,

2726-416: The top) contained a crane 's feather, and the second a puff of white smoke that turned him into an old man, and the third a mirror, which made him see for himself that he had suddenly grown old. The feather from the first box then attached itself to his back, and Urashima flew up to the sky, encircling his mother's grave. The story entitled "The Fisher-boy Urashima" (1886) retold by Basil Hall Chamberlain ,

2784-455: The type text, differs considerably from the typical children's storybook published in the modern day: the protagonist neither purchases the turtle from others to save it, nor rides the turtle. Group I texts are more similar to the modern version, as it contains the element of Urashima purchasing the turtle to save it. Additionally, this group explicitly gives the princess's name as Otomime (or "Kame-no-Otohime") whereas she remains unnamed in

2842-472: The view to the four seasons is incorporated in Mrs. Ozaki's translation: cherry blossom in bloom to the east (spring), buzzing cicadas to the south (summer), multi-colored maple leaves to the west (autumn), and snow-covered ground to the north (winter). This is presumably based on a text edited by Iwaya Sazanami  [ ja ] , probably the text of Nihon mukashibanashi (1896), which corresponds roughly with

2900-574: The woman of the Immortal Land, but her father as the Sea God ( Watatsumi ). Although this Sea God cannot be automatically equated with the Dragon God or Dragon King, due to the influence of the Chinese mythology of Nine Offspring of the Dragon in the Tang period , it has been speculated that the turtle princess must have been the Dragon King's daughter in even those early versions. The otherworld Urashima visited

2958-586: Was cautioned not to open, whereupon three wisps of purple cloud appear and turn him into an old man. It ends with Urashima Tarō transforming into a crane, and his wife reverting to the form of a turtle, the two thereafter revered as myōjin ( Shinto deities). There are over 50 texts of the Urashima Tarō otogi-zōshi extant. These variants fall into four broad groups, clustered by their similarity. The Otogi Bunko text belongs to Group IV. The Otogi Bunko version, despite its conventional status as

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3016-454: Was identical in content. It has even been suggested by Shūichi Katō that this Umakai originally adapted this tale into Japanese from a similar Chinese tale. In this version, the protagonist is referred to as "Urashimako of Mizunoe" (or "Urashimako of Tsutsukawa  [ ja ] in Yosa-gun ". Urashimako catches a five-coloured turtle and keeps it in his boat, and during his sleep,

3074-465: Was not given to the character until the 15th century (the Muromachi period ), first appearing in a genre of illustrated popular fiction known as otogizōshi , and in the kyōgen play adaptation. The story itself can be found in much older sources, dating to the 8th century (the Nara period ), where the protagonist is styled either "Urashima no ko" or "Ura (no) Shimako", attested in earlier sources such as

3132-532: Was not the "Dragon Palace" ( Ryūgū ) until the otogi-zōshi versions appeared. The heroine then became Otohime, the younger daughter of the Dragon King. As for the relative dating of these texts, an argument has been advanced that places the Fudoki version as the oldest. The argument dates the Tango fudoki to shortly after 715, but the compilers refer to an earlier record by Iyobe no Umakai  [ ja ] , which

3190-512: Was nothing left to see except the statue of Kannon (Kanzeon), the bodhisattva of mercy. Bush warbler Bush-warblers (or bush warblers ) are small insectivorous songbirds of the genera Cettia , Horornis , and Bradypterus . They were formerly placed in the " wastebin " Old World warbler family . None of the genera as traditionally delimited are believed to be monophyletic . Due to their external similarity convergently acquired by strong selective pressures due to

3248-593: Was number 8 in the "Japanese Fairy Tale Series", printed by Hasegawa Takejirō , the issuer of many such chirimen-bon or "crepe-paper books". Although the illustrations are not credited in the publication, they have been attributed to Kobayashi Eitaku . There is no single base text in Japanese identifiable, although it has been conjectured that Chamberlain adapted from "a popular version" and not straying far from it except adding explanatory or instructive passages for young readers. Others have determined it must have been

3306-478: Was printed and widely disseminated. In the Otogi Bunko (or "Companion Library") version, a young fisherman named Urashima Tarō catches a turtle on his fishing line and releases it. The next day, Urashima encounters a boat with a woman on it wishing to be escorted home. She does not identify herself, although she is the transformation of the turtle that was spared. When Urashima rows her boat to her magnificent residence, she proposes that they marry. The residence

3364-418: Was the edition by Mori Rintarō (novelist Mori Ōgai ) and others, published 1920–1921, whose illustration shows Urashima and the turtle peeing underneath at the palace. "The walls of the Palace were of coral, the trees had emeralds for leaves and rubies for berries" (Chamberlain), roughly coincides with the inner chambers being fashioned with sangoju kin no tagui ( 珊樹樹金の類 , lit. 'treelike coral, gold, and

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