From Bamboo to the Moon : Unpacking Japan's Oldest Love Story

 It's mythical Friday, my darlings, a day where you sit back, headset on with 'Would Have Been You' by Sombr playing in the background while we run into the beautiful and soothing fields of Asian myths. I really love reading about their myths and stories because they're always so fun and interesting. I do something dramatic whenever I research these stories: I search and search and search for the perfect song that makes me feel like I am on a train running away from my estranged husband to find love on a faraway island. The excitement, the tension, the fear—I feel it all because of how imaginative I can be, and I bring all those emotions in when I write. So, my darlings, let us go way back to the late 9th and early 10th century, change the song to 'Constellations' by Jade LeMac, we are about to float.

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is the oldest fictional narrative containing elements of Japanese folklore. The author is unknown, though he probably wrote it for fun, sneaking into his parents' chamber to smuggle ink and staying up all night letting his imagination run wild. He then shows it to his friend, who thinks it's too amazing to hide, and writes it on thousands of scrolls, distributing it to all of the villagers to read. This is just me thinking aloud, pardon me; let's get back. The story is also known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Princess Kaguya is the dazzling princess under the limelight in today's blog post. 💃💃

There was once an old bamboo cutter known as Taketori No Okina. He and his wife had no child, and they were poor. His only source of livelihood was harvesting bamboo, so every day he would go to the bamboo forest to cut down bamboo trees, which he used to make various articles for sale. One fateful day, he goes to the forest, and while he is working, he sees a strange and shining stalk of bamboo. Out of curiosity, he cuts it open and sees the most beautiful child to ever be witnessed by any man. She was as small as his thumb, and she shone as bright as the moon. This was obviously a gift from God to his family because he and his wife have been praying to God for a child. He decides to take this shining child home to his wife. Being Nigerian, this was a hard thought; I have so many questions. How was the child put into a bamboo tree? She was also as small as a thumb. I will definitely be scared, like, girl, get up and confess! Whence cometh thou?!. 

The old man and his wife decided to raise this tiny, shiny girl, and they named her Nayotake-no-Kaguya-Hime, meaning shining princess of the young bamboo. From that time onwards, whenever Taketori went to the bamboo forest to cut down bamboo, he always found a small mound of gold inside the bamboo, and he grew rich in little to no time. Within three months, Kaguya-Hime grew from a tiny, shiny princess into a young woman with an extraordinary beauty that was blinding; she was a child of light (light of the world, purrrrrr). Although her parents tried to hide her from the eyes of people, the fame of her beauty and radiance spread abroad, and men from far and near traveled just to behold her beauty and proclaim their love for her. It's actually giving the three wise men coming to find Jesus in the manger. These men waited day and night, under the rain and under the sun, winter and summer, just to see Kaguya and talk to her, but she wasn't interested in meeting any of them. They went to her parents to persuade her, but they also refused. Months passed, and some of the men, seeing how unfruitful their quest was, gave up and decided to go home, except for five noble men: Prince Ishitskuri, Prince Kuramochi, the Minister of the Right, Abe no Miushi, Grand Counselor Otomo no Miyuki, and the Middle Counselor Isonokami no Marotari. 

These men didn't waver; they stayed without food or water for many days and nights, writing letters and poems to the princess, hoping she would give them a chance, but Kaguya remained uninterested. I would have given up since, honestly, why would I starve myself for someone that I don't know?. The only thing I know about her is how enchanting her beauty is, Is that not more reason to eat and be healthy so that she doesn't meet a skeleton when she finally gives in? Some people sha. They finally persuaded her father to talk to her, to listen to them, and to give one of them a chance. Kaguya, for the love she has for her father, decides to give them a chance and choose a suitor among them, but she gives them five impossible tasks, and whoever completes them gets her hand in marriage. She gives the first nobleman the task of getting the stone begging bowl of the Buddha in India. The second nobleman gets the task of bringing a jeweled branch from the mythical Island of Horai. The roots of this tree were of silver, the trunk was made of gold, and the branches bore white jewels. The third nobleman gets the task of going to China to get the skin of the fire rat. The fourth nobleman gets the task of searching for the dragon that carries on its head the stone radiating five colors and getting the jewel from the dragon's neck, and the fifth nobleman gets the task of finding the cowry shell that is inside the stomach of a swallow. At this point, if I were in their shoes, I would go home and sleep, eat all the food I haven't eaten in months, and move on with my life, but do they give up? No, darling, they carry on.

The noblemen were disheartened by the impossibility of these tasks, but remembering the love they had for the princess, they decided to carry out the tasks. The first noble, realizing that traveling all the way to India was stressful and dangerous, decides to go to a temple in Kyoto and takes a stone bowl from the altar. He then pays the priest a large sum of money for it and wraps it in a gold cloth patiently for three years. He takes the bowl to Kaguya and her father after three years, and Kaguya takes it, expecting it to glow with holy light, but it doesn't, and the first nobleman's deceit is exposed. My question is, for those three years, wouldn't he have been able to go to India and back instead of embarrassing his entire lineage?. The second noble travels to a faraway island. Having found out that Mount Horai was a fable and not real, he builds a small home and employs the best jewelers for 2 years to construct a branch made of white jewels perfect enough to suit the princess . When they were done, he journeyed home and made himself look wearied and tired and went to Kaguya's father with the jeweled branch. Kaguya's father is moved by how tired he looks and summons Kaguya. Her father goes ahead to praise the noble and the jeweled branch, but Kaguya reveals that the branch is artificial. The nobleman, as shameless as he can be, begins to narrate a fake story of how he was on his way to Mount Horai when he was met with a great storm and tossed about for many days. He was then swept ashore on an island where he met horrible demon creatures who wanted to eat him, but he later made friends with them, and they helped him repair his boat. He continued on his journey to Mount Horai, and he found the tree. While he was narrating this story, the jewelers who helped him make the jeweled branch arrived to ask for their pay because he didn't pay them. I would have asked the ground to open up and swallow me. Kaguya rejects him and sends him away, after 2 years of torturing himself, chai.

The third noble had a friend in China who he called to send him the skin of the fire rat. The uniqueness of the fire rat is that no part of the animal can ever be burnt with fire, which the nobleman wasn't aware of. He got it from his friend and paid him a large sum of money; he later sent it to Kaguya's father to present it to Kaguya. She tested it by putting it into the fire, and it burned to ashes. Hence, the third noble was also sent home. The fourth noble was also as unlucky as the rest; he sent his servants to find the dragon and get the jewel from her neck. They searched far and near for a year without success. The noble got angry and decided to go by himself. He got caught in a storm, which left him on a deserted island, injured and worn out. His supposed love for the princess turned into hate, and he swore never to go near her house ever again. I believe among all the noblemen, he was the only sensible one, even if it took a long while for his sense to get updated.

The fifth noble was the worst of them all. On his quest to find the cowry shell from the stomach of a swallow, he fell from a great height and died. What will you tell your ancestors when you get to heaven? You fell in love, and it wiped away your sense of reasoning?. By this time, the fame of Kaguya's beauty had reached the ears of the Emperor of Japan . 

Will she fall in love with the Emperor, and will he win her heart?

The story is quite long, and I wouldn't want to bore you guys, so let's continue it next week. 🧡🧡

What do you guys think? Was Kaguya-Hime too harsh, or were the men just delusional?