![]() They eventually persuade the old man to have Kaguya-hime choose from among them. Narrative ĭiscovery of Kaguya-hime, late 17th century depictionĪmong the suitors are five nobles: Prince Ishitsukuri ( 石作皇子), Prince Kuramochi ( 車持皇子), the Minister of the Right Abe no Mimuraji ( 右大臣阿倍御主人), the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Miyuki ( 大納言大伴御行), and the Middle Counselor Isonokami no Marotari ( 中納言石上麻呂). The motif of flight to the moon was closely tied to the Daoist cult of immortality, which enjoyed considerable popularity among the early Heian nobility indeed, Daoist legends shaped "the earliest stratum of immortality legends in Japan," which in turn "formed the germ of" The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. For the original audience of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the moon that Kaguya-hime ascended to was a mythical topos, much like Hо̄rai or the undersea Dragon Palace. The concept of travel between the moon and the earth might superficially resemble science fiction, but it held no such associations in the belief systems of the Heian period. Some modern commentators regard The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter as proto- science fiction, although few mainstream scholars would endorse this interpretation. It is also debated whether the tale was written by one person or a group of people, and whether it was written in kanbun, Japanese kana, or even Chinese. The author of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is also unknown, and scholars have variously attributed the work to Minamoto no Shitagō (911–983), to the Abbot Henjō, to a member of the Inbe clan, to a member of a political faction opposed to Emperor Tenmu, and to the kanshi poet Ki no Haseo (842–912). Other sources suggest the tale was written between 871 and 881. A mention of smoke rising from Mount Fuji in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter suggests that the volcano was still active at the time of its composition the Kokin Wakashū indicates that the mountain had stopped emitting smoke by 905. A poem in the Yamato Monogatari, a 10th-century work that describes life in the imperial court, invokes the tale in reference to a moon-viewing party held at the palace in 909. The oldest surviving manuscript is dated to 1592. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest surviving monogatari, though its exact date of composition is unknown. ![]() The story is also known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya ( かぐや姫の物語, Kaguya-hime no Monogatari ), after its protagonist. At the tale's end, Kaguya-hime reveals her celestial origins and returns to the Moon. After she grows, her beauty attracts five suitors seeking her hand in marriage, whom she turns away by challenging them each with an impossible task she later attracts the affection of the Emperor of Japan. The story details the life of Kaguya-hime, a princess from the Moon who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. Written by an unknown author in the late 9th or early 10th century during the Heian period, it is considered the oldest surviving work in the monogatari form. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter ( Japanese: 竹取物語, Hepburn: Taketori Monogatari ) is a monogatari (fictional prose narrative) containing elements of Japanese folklore. "The Receding Princess" from The Japanese Fairy Book, 1908
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