The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad

Long ago, in the little fishing village of Mizu-no-ye in the province of Tango, on the coast of Japan, there lived a young fisherman named Urashima Taro. His father had fished before him, and the son had inherited all his skill and more. Urashima was the best fisherman in the whole district and could bring in more bonito and tai in one day than his friends caught in a week.

But in the village he was known even more for his kind heart than for his fishing. He had never in his life hurt any creature, large or small. When he was a boy the others had laughed at him, because he would never join them in teasing animals and always tried to stop their cruel games.

One soft summer evening, coming home after a day at sea, he found a group of children shrieking and shouting in great excitement. When he went to see what the fuss was about, he saw that they were tormenting a tortoise. One boy dragged it one way, another dragged it the other, a third hit it with a stick and a fourth banged on its shell with a stone.

Urashima felt very sorry for the tortoise and decided to rescue it. “Look here, boys,” he said, “if you go on treating that poor tortoise so roughly, it will soon die.”

The boys paid no attention to his warning. “Who cares if it lives or dies?” said one of the bigger ones. “We don’t. Go on, everybody!” And they treated the tortoise worse than ever.

Urashima thought for a moment about how best to handle them. He decided to coax them, so he smiled and said, “I’m sure you’re all good, kind boys. Won’t you give me the tortoise? I would like it so much.”

“No,” said one boy. “Why should we? We caught it ourselves.”

“That’s true,” said Urashima, “but I’m not asking you to give it to me for nothing. Your Ojisan, your uncle here, will buy it from you. Will that do?” He held up some coins strung on a cord through the holes in their middles. “Look, you can buy anything you like with this, much more than you can do with a poor tortoise. What good boys you are to listen to me.”

His offer finally persuaded the boys to stop hurting the tortoise. One by one they came up to him, and their ringleader held out the tortoise. “All right, Ojisan, you can have it if you give us the money.” Urashima handed over the coins, and the boys ran off calling to one another and were soon out of sight.

Then Urashima stroked the tortoise’s back. “Poor thing, poor thing! There, you’re safe now. They say a stork lives a thousand years and a tortoise ten thousand. You have the longest life of any creature in the world, and those cruel boys nearly cut it short. Luckily I came by. Now I’m going to take you straight back to your home in the sea. Don’t get caught again, because next time there may be nobody to save you.” As he talked he walked quickly down to the shore and out onto the rocks. He put the tortoise into the water, watched it disappear, and then went home, for he was tired and the sun had set.

The next morning Urashima went out in his boat as usual. The weather was fine, and sea and sky were blue and soft in the summer haze. He pushed out dreamily, casting his line as he went, and soon left the other boats behind until they were out of sight, while his own boat drifted farther and farther over the blue water. He felt unusually happy that morning, though he could not have said why, and he found himself wishing that he, like the tortoise he had freed, had thousands of years to live instead of a short human life.

Suddenly he was startled out of his daydream by a voice calling his name: “Urashima, Urashima!” It floated over the sea, clear as a bell and soft as the summer breeze. He stood up and looked all around, thinking another boat must have caught up with him, but there was no boat anywhere on the wide water. No human being could have called him. Then he saw that a tortoise had come up alongside his boat, and to his surprise it was the very tortoise he had rescued the day before.

“Well, Mr. Tortoise,” said Urashima, “was it you who called me just now?”

The tortoise nodded several times. “Yes, it was I. Yesterday, thanks to your honorable shadow, my life was saved, and I have come to thank you and tell you how grateful I am.”

“That is very polite of you,” said Urashima. “Come up into the boat. I would offer you a smoke, but being a tortoise you probably don’t smoke,” and he laughed at his own joke.

“He-he-he-he!” laughed the tortoise. “Sake is my favorite drink, but I don’t care for tobacco.”

“I’m sorry I have no sake on board,” said Urashima, “but come up and dry your back in the sun. Tortoises always like that.” So he helped the tortoise into the boat, and after they had exchanged a few courteous speeches the tortoise asked, “Have you ever seen Rin Gin, the palace of the Dragon King of the Sea?”

The fisherman shook his head. “No. The sea has been my home year after year, and I have often heard of the Dragon King’s realm, but I have never seen it. It must be very far away, if it exists at all.”

“Really? Then you have missed one of the most wonderful sights in the universe. It lies far away at the bottom of the sea, but if I take you we will soon be there. I will gladly be your guide.”

“I would love to go, and it’s kind of you to offer. But remember that I am only a poor mortal. I can’t swim like a sea creature such as you—”

The tortoise interrupted him. “You don’t need to swim. Ride on my back and I will carry you with no trouble at all.”

“But how could I possibly ride on your little back?”

“It may sound silly, but you can. Try it now and see!” As the tortoise spoke, Urashima looked at its shell and saw, to his amazement, that the creature had grown so large that a man could sit on it easily. “This is strange indeed!” he said. “Then with your permission, Mr. Tortoise, I’ll climb on. Dokoisho!” And he jumped onto its back.

With a perfectly calm face, as though nothing unusual were happening, the tortoise said, “Now we will set off at our leisure,” and leaped into the sea. Down through the water it dived. For a long time the two strange companions travelled through the sea, yet Urashima never grew tired, and his clothes did not even get wet. At last, far off, a magnificent gate came into view, and behind it the long sloping roofs of a palace.

“Ya!” cried Urashima. “That looks like the gate of some great palace. Mr. Tortoise, what is that place?”

“That is the great gate of Rin Gin, and the big roof behind it is the Sea King’s palace itself. Don’t you think we got here quickly? Here we are, and from here you must walk.” The tortoise went ahead and spoke to the gatekeeper, who was a fish. “This is Urashima Taro from the country of Japan. I have had the honor of bringing him to visit this kingdom. Please show him the way.”

The gatekeeper led them through the gate, and the red bream, the flounder, the sole, the cuttlefish and all the Dragon King’s chief lords came out bowing to welcome the stranger. “Urashima Sama, welcome to the Sea Palace, home of the Dragon King of the Sea! Three times welcome, since you have come from so far. And thank you, Mr. Tortoise, for all your trouble in bringing him.” Then the whole company of fishes became his guides. “Please follow us this way.”

Being a poor fisher lad, Urashima had no idea how to behave in a palace, yet strange as everything was, he felt neither shy nor awkward and followed calmly into the inner palace. At its doors a beautiful Princess came out with her maidens to greet him. She was lovelier than any human being. Her flowing robes were red and soft green, like the underside of a wave, with threads of gold glinting in the folds; her black hair streamed over her shoulders in the style of a king’s daughter of many centuries ago, and her voice sounded like music over water. Urashima gazed at her, too amazed to speak. He remembered that he ought to bow, but before he could, the Princess took his hand, led him into a beautiful hall and seated him in the place of honor.

“Urashima Taro, it gives me the greatest pleasure to welcome you to my father’s kingdom,” she said. “Yesterday you set a tortoise free. I have sent for you to thank you for saving my life, for I was that tortoise. If you wish, you may live here forever in the land of everlasting youth, where summer never ends and sorrow never comes, and I will be your bride, and we will live happily together always.”

As he listened and looked at her lovely face, Urashima’s heart filled with wonder and joy, and he answered, half wondering whether he was dreaming, “Thank you a thousand times. There is nothing I could want more than to stay here with you in this beautiful land. I have often heard of it, but I never dreamed I would see it. It is the most wonderful place I have ever seen.”

As he spoke, a procession of fishes in trailing ceremonial robes came slowly and silently into the hall, carrying coral trays of fish and seaweed dishes more delicious than anyone could imagine, and set the feast before the bride and bridegroom. The wedding was celebrated with dazzling splendor, and the whole Sea King’s realm rejoiced. When the young couple had shared the wedding cup three times three, music played, songs were sung, and fishes with silver scales and golden tails came in from the waves to dance. Urashima enjoyed himself with all his heart; he had never sat down to such a feast in his life.

Afterward the Princess asked whether he would like to see the palace, and she showed him all the wonders of that enchanted land where youth and joy go hand in hand and neither time nor age can touch them. The palace was made of coral and decorated with pearls, and its beauty was beyond words. But more wonderful still to Urashima was the garden around it, where all four seasons could be seen at once. To the east, plum and cherry trees were in full blossom, nightingales sang along pink avenues and butterflies drifted from flower to flower. To the south, the trees stood green in the fullness of summer, and the cicada and the cricket chirped loudly. To the west, the autumn maples blazed like a sunset sky, and the chrysanthemums were at their best. When he looked north, Urashima jumped, for there the ground was silver-white with snow, snow weighed down the trees and bamboos, and the pond was thick with ice.

Every day brought new joys and new wonders. Urashima was so happy that he forgot everything, even his home, his parents and his country, and three days went by without a single thought of them. Then his mind came back to him. He remembered who he was and that he did not belong in this wonderful land. “Oh dear, I must not stay here,” he said to himself. “I have an old father and mother at home. What has become of them all this while? How worried they must be that I haven’t come home. I must go back at once, without letting another day pass.” And he hurried to get ready.

He went to his wife and bowed low before her. “I have been very happy with you, Otohime Sama,” for that was her name, “and you have been kinder to me than words can say. But now I must say goodbye. I must go back to my old parents.”

Otohime Sama began to cry. “Are you not happy here, Urashima, that you want to leave me so soon? Why the hurry? Stay with me just one more day!”

But Urashima had remembered his parents, and his worry about them was stronger than his wish to stay. He would not be persuaded. “I must go. Don’t think I want to leave you; it isn’t that. I must see my parents. Let me go for one day and I will come back to you.”

“Then there is nothing to be done,” said the Princess sadly. “I will send you back to your father and mother today. Instead of trying to keep you one more day, I will give you this as a token of our love. Please take it with you.” She brought him a beautiful lacquer box tied with a silk cord and red silk tassels.

Urashima had already received so much from her that he felt uneasy about accepting another gift. “It doesn’t seem right to take anything more after all your kindness, but since you wish it, I will. Tell me, what is this box?”

“It is the tamate-bako, the Box of the Jewel Hand, and it holds something very precious. You must never open it, whatever happens! If you open it, something dreadful will happen to you. Promise me you will never open this box.”

Urashima promised that he would never, never open it, no matter what happened.

He said goodbye to Otohime Sama and went down to the shore, where the Princess and her maidens followed him and a large tortoise was waiting. He climbed onto its back and was carried away eastward over the shining sea. He kept looking back and waving to Otohime Sama until he could see her no more and the Sea King’s land and the palace roofs had vanished in the far distance. Then he turned his face eagerly toward home and watched for the blue hills to rise on the horizon.

At last the tortoise carried him into the bay he knew so well and up to the very shore he had sailed from. Urashima stepped onto the sand, and the tortoise swam back to the Sea King’s realm.

But what is this strange fear that grips Urashima as he stands and looks around? Why does he stare at the people passing by, and why do they stop and stare back at him? The shore and the hills are the same, but the faces are all different from the ones he knew. Puzzled, he hurries to his old home. Even that looks changed, but a house stands on the spot, and he calls out, “Father, I’m home!” He was about to go in when a stranger came out.

“Perhaps my parents have moved somewhere while I was away,” thought Urashima, but he began to feel strangely uneasy. “Excuse me,” he said to the man, who was staring at him, “until a few days ago I lived in this house. My name is Urashima Taro. Where have my parents gone?”

A bewildered look came over the man’s face. “What? You are Urashima Taro?”

“Yes, I am Urashima Taro.”

“Ha, ha! You mustn’t make jokes like that. It’s true that a man called Urashima Taro once lived in this village, but that story is three hundred years old. He couldn’t possibly be alive now.”

Urashima was frightened. “Please don’t joke with me. I’m very confused. I really am Urashima Taro, and I certainly haven’t lived for three hundred years. Four or five days ago I lived right here. Please tell me what I want to know.”

The man grew more and more serious. “You may or may not be Urashima Taro; I can’t say. But the Urashima Taro I’ve heard of lived three hundred years ago. Perhaps you are his ghost come back to visit your old home?”

“Why are you mocking me? I am no ghost. I’m a living man. Can’t you see my feet?” And don-don, he stamped on the ground with one foot and then the other, for the ghosts Urashima knew from stories were said to have no feet.

“All I know is that Urashima Taro lived three hundred years ago. It’s written in the village records,” the man insisted.

Urashima stood there lost and troubled, looking all about him. Everything did look different from what he remembered, and a terrible feeling came over him that the man might be telling the truth. It was like a strange dream. The few days he had spent in the Sea King’s palace had not been days at all but hundreds of years. In that time his parents and everyone he had ever known had died, and the village had written his story down. There was no point in staying. He must get back to his beautiful wife beyond the sea.

He went back to the beach carrying the box the Princess had given him. But which way should he go? He could not find the way alone. Then he thought of the box. “The Princess told me never to open it, because it held something very precious. But now that I have no home and have lost everything dear to me here, and my heart is thin with sadness, surely if I open it I will find something to help me, something to show me the way back to my Princess over the sea. There is nothing else I can do. Yes, I will open the box and look inside!” So his heart agreed to disobey, and he tried to persuade himself that breaking his promise was the right thing to do.

Slowly, very slowly, he untied the red silk cord, and slowly and wonderingly he raised the lid. And what did he find? Only a lovely little purple cloud, which rose from the box in three soft wisps. For a moment it covered his face and hovered over him as if unwilling to leave; then it drifted away like mist over the sea.

Up to that moment Urashima was still a strong and handsome young man of twenty-four. Now, in an instant, he became very, very old. His back bent double, his hair turned snowy white, his face shriveled into wrinkles, and he fell down dead on the beach. Poor Urashima! He could never return to the Sea King’s realm or the lovely Princess beyond the sea.

Where this story comes from

“The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad” is the third tale in Yei Theodora Ozaki’s Japanese Fairy Tales. Ozaki sets it in Mizu-no-ye in the province of Tango. Her narrator emphasizes duty to parents and describes ghosts without feet. These are features of her telling, not statements about what every Japanese person believes or values.

The Princess is named Otohime Sama, her father’s palace is called Rin Gin, and the forbidden gift is the tamate-bako, the Box of the Jewel Hand. Ozaki closes her version by speaking directly to her young readers about obedience; this telling ends with Urashima on the beach.

Read the original: Japanese Fairy Tales (Project Gutenberg)

Reading guidance: older children with adult discussion. The tale includes cruelty to an animal, the discovery that loved ones have died, and the hero’s sudden aging and death.

Two clocks and an unexplained warning

The palace garden displays spring, summer, autumn and winter at once. That delight is also a clue: this place does not obey the ordinary succession of seasons. When three days become three hundred years, the earlier wonder turns into the cause of Urashima’s loss. The village remains recognizable enough to bring him home, yet nobody there can recognize him.

It is too simple to say that curiosity alone ruins him. He opens the box while grieving and trying to find his way back. Otohime warns him of danger but does not explain the different passage of time before he leaves. Readers can take a promise seriously while asking whether he had enough information to understand his choice. The thousand-year animal lifespans in his speech belong to the tale’s imaginative world, not natural history.

Draw parallel timelines for the palace and the village. Mark the rescue, the marriage, the return and the opening of the box. Then rewrite Otohime’s farewell with the information you think Urashima needed. Would that change his decision to leave?

Think about it

• How does Urashima persuade the boys to give him the tortoise?
• Why does Urashima decide to leave the Sea King’s palace?
• Why do you think the Princess told him never to open the box? Would you have opened it?

You may also like

• The Happy Hunter and the Skillful Fisher — another journey to the Sea King’s palace
• My Lord Bag of Rice — a warrior visits the Dragon King under Lake Biwa
• The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die — a Japanese tale about wishing for a very long life