#the tale of bamboo cutter

[a-gnosis]

9: Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke

My ex used to listen to music from Touhou (which, if I've understood things correctly, is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series with pretty girls). I liked the track "Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke", also called "Mokou's Theme", since I thought it was a fitting soundtrack to some of the chaotic, tragicomic scenes in my comics. Much later I learned that the title of that track is a reference to the Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (also known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya).

When Kaguya has to return to her people on the Moon she leaves a letter and some elixir of immortality for the Emperor, who is in love with her. However, the Emperor doesn't want to live for eternity without being able to see her. He orders the letter and elixir to be burned on the mountain that is closest to heaven, hoping that the smoke will reach Kaguya.

[cantheykillmacbeth]

Could Princess Kaguya from Japanese mythology kill Macbeth?

Yes, Princess Kaguya from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter could kill Macbeth!

A celestial princess born from a glowing stalk of bamboo upon it being cut open by a man named Taketori no Okina, she applies for the Gender Clause, Unconventional Birth Clause, and Birth Parent Clause!

Thank you for your submission!

[marysmirages]

Princess Kaguya (2023)

Illustration for japanese 10th century fairytale " The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".

[laurasimonsdaughter]

What if Disney adapted the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter?

I am only vaguely familiar with the context of this story, but I don't think I would give it to Disney. While I'm inclined to say that it would be better adapted into Japanese animation, for Disney vibes without involving Disney, I would latch onto the moon celestial aspect and ask the team from Over The Moon to do it. But beg them to pretty please make it all in their 2D storybook style:

This story is a true tragedy, at least from a mortal perspective, and I think these dreamy, romantic visuals would suit it:

A bamboo-cutter discovers a tiny baby inside a shining stalk of bamboo and he and his wife take her in as their own child.

From that moment on he finds gold inside every stalk he cuts has a nugget of gold inside it.

The baby, Kaguya-hime, grows into a young woman in just three months and is so beautiful that even though her parents try to hide her, men start to come from all over to court her.

Five noblemen are put through impossible trials which they all fail to try and win her hand.

The emperor of Japan falls in love with her, but she won't even have him for a husband, even though she keeps writing with him.

Three years pass and in the summer the mysterious maiden begins crying whenever she sees the moon. At last she reveals she is not of the earth but belongs on the moon and will be taken back there, to parents she has by now forgotten.

Her foster parents try to hide her, the emperor even sends guards to keep away the envoys of the moon who come to fetch her, but of course to no avail.

A chariot comes down for her with the rising of the yellow harvest moon. A messenger tells the bamboo-cutter that Princess Moonlight was sent to earth as punishment for committing a grave fault and that they have sent him the gold in return for the good care she received.

He begs for them not to take him and Kaguya-hime tells him she goes against her will and would rather have stayed with her loving foster parents in their old age, but she must go.

Her foster father is not allowed to go with her. She gives him her embroidered robe as a keepsake. When she is given Elixir of Life to drink she even tries to share it with him, but she is prevented.

Finally she writes a letter to the emperor, encloses the rest of the Elixir of Life and gives this to her foster father, asking him to deliver it. Then she ascends into the sky in the moon chariot.

The emperor has her gift bunt at the summit of Mount Fuji so that the smoke can be seen rising from there to this day.

I think a faithful adaptation should keep it a tragedy, but perhaps there could be just a little bittersweet mixed in with the sorrow for the poor parents. Maybe they can hear their daughter singing to them when they look up to the moon. Or perhaps the ending could be made a little less formal and the princess's celestial parents can come down themselves to get her back and to thank her mortal foster parents for all they have done for her. If I were adapting this I would downplay the part of the emperor a bit and really put the focus on the relationship between the moon princess and both her foster parents.

[showamagicalgirls]

The series that has been occupying my mind lately is Sing! Great Dragon Palace (うたう!大龍宮城) .

This is a late stage iteration of the Toei Mysterious Comedy Series (東映不思議コメディーシリーズ), a programming block that is best remembered by Magical Girl fans for for La Belle Fille Masquée Poitrine (美少女仮面ポワトリン).

It ran for most of 1992, which puts it slightly over the line into the early Heisei (平成) period of Japanese period, just slightly off the core topic of this blog.

But there are two things that make it interesting to me. The first is that it's a live-action musical, which is genuinely pretty unique.

The second is the way it connects back to Japanese literary history. It's heavily patterened after the Urashima Taro (浦島太郎) story, which goes all the way back to the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), the second oldest book of Japanese history.

I have generally considered three Japanese folktales to be the most important predecessors for Magical Girls -- the story of Amaterasu (天照大御神), The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (竹取物語), and Urashima Taro (浦島 太郎).

[isitafairytale]

[fairytale-poll]

BEST MODERN FAIRYTALE ADAPTATION! ROUND 1D, MATCH 1 OUT OF 4!

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War by Aka Akasaka is based off The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter; Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya is based off The Great Race.

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War by Aka Akasaka:

Anyway, an uproariously funny romcom anime in its own right, which takes inspiration from and makes many indirect references and jokes that depend on knowledge of its inspiration. Kaguya's romantic interest, for example, is based on one of the bit-player suitors to princess Kaguya from the original tale, and this enforces the fact that one of the theses of this story is that if you try hard enough and don't lose hope, you can defy fate and expectations. Also funny pink hair girl do funny dance in the memes.

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

Takes the simple story of the animals racing to become the Chinese Zodiac and asks: what is it like to live in a cycle that is inescapable, to be bound to a pattern set in place long ago and live it out over and over? What is it like for the rat who won, but is resented by those he defeated? What is it like for the cat, who was apparently cheated out of a place in the cycle? And what is it like for the god who called the animals in the first place and feels compelled to keep them going around in circles again and again?

[monstergirlgang]

Monster Girl October Tarot day 15: Princess Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter as the 3 of wands card!

Princess Kaguya or Kaguya-hime is a beautiful woman who is raised by Bamboo cutters ever since she was found as a baby inside of a Bamboo stalk. Upon reaching adulthood and being pursued in marriage by the emperor, she reveals herself to be a celestial moon dweller and must return to the moon at the end of her tale. (I wanted to depict her with an astronaut helmet like her design in the game Okami). The 3 of wands card represents foresight, opportunity, progress, and vision. While the story itself is sad, the card meaning can be seen in the character of Kaguya herself, who is able to return to the moon in accomplishment of redeeming some past crime she committed and is able to gain greater wisdom in the process. As much as she loves her friends and family on earth, she knows she must still move forward.

[redsamuraiii]

Ultraman Leo (Ep 32) : Japan Masterpiece Folklore Series - Farewell, Princess Kaguya

A Mid Autumn Festival Special which features a story inspired by the folklore of Princess Kaguya, where her people found her on Earth, living with her adoptive parents, to bring her back to the Moon.

[lovelyllamasblog]

Kiyoko Tsukihime 🌕

Parent: Princess Kaguya

Parent’s Story: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

Powerful Qualities: Independent, Self-Sufficient, and Intelligent

Roommate: Yeh Jia Li

Secret Heart’s Desire: I love to read. Books don’t judge you, they are quiet and there are worlds inside that I love to get lost in.

My “Magic” Touch: I can hear the moon people singing songs and whispering secrets to me while I sleep.

Storybook Romance Status: There are many cute boys at EAH. Though I won’t say who has caught my eye just yet.

“Oh Curses!” Moment: Sometimes the moon can be really loud and I can’t sleep at night. So I’ll still be sleepy in the morning.

Favorite Subject: History of Tall Tales. Learning about other stories is always hexciting!

Least Favorite Subject: Advanced Allusions. I’m not good with words, so I’m always fumbling over them.

Best Friends Forever After: Astrid Blomst and my roommate, Yeh Jia Li.

Pet: My snow white fox, Shiro. He's quite the troublemaker.

[tartetasin]

so project gutenberg had a telling of kaguya-hime lying around

[randomnumbers751650]

My favorite fairy tale is The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. It’s not because of “Story, Japan”, but because I think it’s a really creative one, that took advantage of its context.

I mean, if you’re in this site, you probably heard of at least one character that is an entire reference to it. Scholars date it from the Heian period, 9th-10th century, but what I feel what attracts me to it is how it’s such a unique story for its time.

Bamboo cutter discovers moon princess Kaguya in a bamboo grove and gets rich because the Lunarians are paying him. She grows pretty and famous and that’s where the famous five impossible requests come from, because those five guys wanted to marry her. Even the emperor tries to get her hand, but not even him, who has power all over Japan, attracted Kaguya’s affections. In the end, even if the emperor tries to oppose, nothing can stop the Lunarians to collect their princess and make her forget them, because she was fundamentally different from them.

I’ve read the oldest version in a masters’ dissertation and some things that stand out is how the bamboo cutter, her caretaker, is more of an accomplice to her schemes to get rid of the five guys. This makes her portrayal in Touhou 8 actually closer to the oldest source, ironically – in Imperishable Night, it’s said that Kaguya already had the five treasures with her, so she sent those five guys in a pointless quest (and then the fandom treats her solely as a NEET). Plus the emperor takes his rejection gracefully and develop a friendship with her, expressed in the time’s custom of exchanging poems. It was an actually cute moment and the reason he mobilized his army to defend her was to protect a friend.

The tale is titled “Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”, so it’s more of a story not about her directly, but the people about her. This takes me to Studio Ghibli’s adaptation of The Tale of Princess Kaguya, making a story directly about her. And, boy, it’s really sad. Kaguya’s life is suffering there, and growing up is a pain. I know that themes of innocence and its loss are big in Japanese culture, but it hits like a truck there. I have to admit I didn’t understand at first the scene where she imagines herself flying with her childhood crush (the guy was an adult and married), but now I realize that she was trying to escape her oppressive adulthood imagining a life in which everything would be so simple. And then her speech in the end was heartbreaking.

After that I even read a child’s version that had many elements tone down and added comedy – like the fifth treasure guy, instead of dying by falling, just fall unconscious and forgets completely who Kaguya is. But even in this version, they didn’t remove the element that makes this story unique, and that’s in all adaptations is how she has to leave for the moon. This shows that Kaguya is fundamentally different from the other people. The Lunarian doesn’t even bother with the emperor’s army, they don’t even hurt them and go straight for Kaguya. Not only that, but the moment she dons the Lunarian regalia, she forgets her time on Earth. She essentially stops being human.

From what I know, Lunarians are suppose to represent beings from a perfect realm, where there is no change, there is no impurity. All the things that made Kaguya Kaguya on Earth must be vanquished so that she can return to the moon. And, due to her nature as a Lunarian, she has no choice but to fulfill her destiny. It’s funny how in most stories Lunarians tend to be antagonists, but I feel this is because of the fundamentally incompatible nature between Humans and Lunarians.

And that’s what allows us to reflect in our humanity. It must be reminded that the story was likely first written for an audience of nobles and the upper crust of the Heian court. Maybe it was circulating before that, but this is kind of lost to the fog of history. But imagine that you’re a writer and your audience is the freaking emperor, a man who’s considered to be a descendant of the Sun, therefore essentially a god. And yet, you still have the gall to write a story in which you basically tell the emperor: “REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE HUMAN!”

Because Kaguya wasn’t. But still, I like to imagine that, deep inside, she was still glad for her moments on Earth, both good and bad.

[silicated]

my 5pg comic for @kagumo-zine, make sure to check out the other very talented artists and authors, it's a free digital zine :D

[sepublic]

            The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the story of Princess Kaguya, reminds me of King. A mysterious orphan entrusted to a mortal family. Those who take care of Kaguya are given gold for their kindness; Likewise, Luz treats King with compassion as an older sister, and is given the Light glyph, something that is also golden, by the Titan out of gratitude. King and Kaguya are immortal beings who will eventually outlive the loved ones they met.

        Their stories are destined to end with the moon; Kaguya returns to her home, and in the end, it will be King and the Collector (and if they’re lucky, Hooty as well). The elixir of immortality, Titan’s blood. People who desire King but don’t respect him as a person, so they all fail. A final gift and message to the Collector and Emperor, from King and Kaguya; With hope they can reunite in the future eventually.

[the-spaced-out-ace]

The Tale of Princess Kaguya type au starring Margaret. Can anyone hear me

[deltagalacticdaydreamer]

Wanted to do something for moon day, but didn't have enough time for a full drawing or anything, so I thought I would make this.

Kaguya-hime!

The tale of the bamboo cutter has always been a favorite of mine, so I wanted to make a fun little design for the story.

I wanted to give her a bit of a weirder/alien vibe so I partially based her on a sea bunny.