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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Japanese:竹取物語; Taketori Monogatari) is a 10th century Japanese folk tale. It is also known as The Legend of Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語, Kaguya-hime no Monogatari).
Narrative
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter primarily details the exploits of five princes to win the hand of the mysterious Kaguya-hime, princess of the Young Bamboo. The main characters in this legend are Taketori-no Okina (竹取翁, the Old Man who Harvests Bamboo), Kaguya-hime (かぐや姫, Princess Kaguya) - a mysterious girl, discovered inside the stalk of a great bamboo plant by Taketori-no Okina when she was a tiny babe, who is said to be from Tsuki-no Miyako (月都, semantically "The Capital of the Moon," or phonetically "The Capital of Tsuki") and who has unusual hair that "shines like gold"), five princes, and the reigning Emperor of Japan or Tennō （天皇, literally Heaven Emperor).
One day while walking in the bamboo forest, the old, childless bamboo cutter comes across a mysterious, shining stalk of bamboo. Cutting it open, inside he finds the baby Kaguya-hime. Rejoicing to find such a beautiful girl, he takes her home and raises her as his own child. At first, Taketori-no Okina tries to sequester her from outsiders, but over time, the news of her beauty spreads.
Five princes come to Taketori-no Okina's residence, where Kaguya-hime has resided ever since she was found in her infancy by the Bamboo Harvester, to ask for her hand in marriage. She is reluctant to marry, so she concocts impossible tasks for the princes to accomplish before they can win her. The various princes set out on these near impossible quests, such as retrieving a colored jewel from a dragon, but unlike in a typical western folk tale, all five princes fail for various reasons. Moreover, one prince attempted even to cheat by producing a fake treasure and was almost successful in his ploy. During this time, Kaguya-hime would cry on moonlight nights, for she knew one day, when the moon was full, she would be forced to leave her home.
Next, the emperor, Tennō, falls in love with the strangely beautiful Kaguya-hime and asks her to marry him, but although he is not subjected to the impossible trials that thwart the princes, Kaguya-hime does not accept his request. Her behavior becomes increasingly erratic until an embassy of "Heavenly Beings" arrives at the door of the Bamboo Harvester's house. It is revealed that the princess is not of this world and must return to her people on the moon. In some versions of this tale, Tennō sets many guards around her house to protect her from the moon people, but when they come the many guards are blinded by the light. The heavenly entourage takes Kaguya-hime back to Tsuki-no Miyako against her will leaving her earthly foster parents and the still-pining emperor in tears. The forlorn Tennō dispatches an army of soldiers to the tallest mountain in Japan, the great mountain of Suruga (Suruga is the ancient name of a region that is now part of Shizuoka Prefecture; it is the region where Mt. Fuji is located). The mission provided by the Tennō to the army is to climb to the summit of the great mountain and to burn a letter from the Tennō to Kaguya-hime there, with the hope that his message would reach the now distant princess. The image of the innumerable soldiers of the Tennō's army ascending the slopes of Mt. Fuji is said in Japanese folk etymology to have been immortalized by naming the great mountain "Fuji-san" (富士山, "Mountain Abounding with Warriors").
Literary connections
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is nearly identical in form to a Tibetan tale of a similar name, and some researchers believe that the Japanese legend may have been drawn from the Tibetan one, perhaps through ancient contacts with China. Of course, the part of the legend that relates to the name of Mt. Fuji is unique to the Japanese version.
There have also been suggestions that it is related to the tale of Swan Lake.
Resources
Donald Keene (translator), The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, ISBN 4770023294
Japan at a Glance Updated, ISBN 4770028415, pages 164—165 (brief abstract)
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