is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (otogi banashi), who, in a typical modern version, 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 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, 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; a place called Hōrai in older versions.
Folktale or fairy tale
The Urashima Tarō tale familiar to most Japanese follows the storyline of children's tale author in the Meiji period. A condensed version of Sazanami's retelling then appeared in , 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 the story from this nationally designated textbook series.
Plot A young fisherman, Urashima Tarō, is fishing when he notices a group of children torturing a small turtle. Tarō saves it and releases it back to the sea. The next day, a huge turtle approaches him and explains that the small turtle that was saved is the daughter of the Emperor of the Sea, Ryūjin, who wants to meet and thank the fisherman.
The turtle magically gives Tarō gills and brings him to the bottom of the sea, to the Palace of the Dragon God (Ryūgū-jō). There, he meets the Emperor and the small turtle, who is now a lovely princess, Otohime. The palace has a view to the four seasons, one on each side. Tarō stays there with Otohime for three days, but he wants to return to his village and see his aging mother, so he requests permission to leave. The princess says that she is sorry to see him go, but she wishes him well and gives him a mysterious box, tamatebako, which will protect him from harm, but which he must never 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 returns to his village, everything has changed. His home is gone, his mother has vanished, and the people whom he knew are nowhere to be found. He asks whether anyone knows 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 went to the undersea kingdom. Struck by grief, he absentmindedly opens the box. A cloud of white smoke bursts forth. He is suddenly aged, his beard long and white, and his back bent. From the sea comes the sad, sweet voice of the princess: "I told you not to open that box. In it was your old age ...".
Commonly known version
A summary of the Urashima tale from one of the nationalized textbooks () will be given below. The base text used will be Urashima Tarō (うらしま太郎), from the 3rd edition of the or "national language reader", a widely familiar textbook used during the 1918–1932 period. An English translation has been provided in Yoshiko Holmes's thesis.: as primary source No. 13.
The story remained as one of the dozen tales included in the 4th edition of national language reader textbooks also known as 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".
School song A number of renditions exist, where they are set to music. Among the most popular 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 (1911). This song's author was long relegated to anonymity, but the lyricist is now considered to be .
Another school song "Urashima Tarō" (うらしまたろう, lyrics by and music by ) appeared in the Yōnen shōka (1900). Although written in stilted classical language, Miura considered this version the more familiar.
Otogizōshi
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 was printed and widely disseminated.
Otogi Bunko 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 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 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 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). (text image) (transcribed)
Variants and groups 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.
Group closest to modern version
The Otogi Bunko version, despite its conventional status as 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 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 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.
Other modern versions Seki's version in English 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 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 , that is to say, a stacked box that was given to Urashima. When he opened the lid, the first box (on 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., reprinted in:
Versions retold in English The story entitled "The Fisher-boy Urashima" (1886) retold by Basil Hall Chamberlain, 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 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 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 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 Fisher-boy Urashima 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 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.
Variations 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 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, Urashima does stay with Otohime and they conceive a child.
History The full name Urashima Tarō 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 the Fudoki for Tango Province () that survived in excerpts, the Man'yōshū and the Nihon Shoki.