If a turtle suddenly started talking and offered to take you on its back to a magical place.
Would you go?
Think carefully.
On today’s episode of Folktales Gone Wild, we’re gonna talk about one of the most famous
Japanese folktales:
Urashima Taro (浦島太郎).
But not only that, we’re gonna point out some weird things about the story.
Things that don’t make sense.
And then I’ll reveal an ancient, less known version of the story, and the stars will align
and the world will make sense.
First, the modern version.
One day, our young fisherman Urashima Taro sees some kids abusing a poor turtle.
Feeling bad for the turtle, he buys it from the kids and releases it into the sea.
A few days later, Urashima Taro is out fishing and he sees that same turtle swim over.
The turtle speaks.
Urashima Taro is surprised.
The turtle speaks Japanese without a turtle accent.
It offers to take him to Ryugujo (竜宮城), the Dragon Palace under the sea.
The turtle sinks beneath the waves with Urashima Taro on its back, and soon he finds himself
floating in front of a grand underwater palace.
A princess they call Otohime (乙姫) comes out to meet him.
She thanks the kind-hearted fisherman for saving the Japanese-speaking turtle, it must
have been a high-ranking turtle, and repays him by allowing him to stay at her palace
for a while.
Just don’t use her razor.
Not everything is communal Kevin!
Urashima Taro enjoys the beauty and luxuries of the palace for a time.
It’s not clear how long he stays, but it’s enough for him to grow homesick and he tells
the princess to let him return.
She tries hard to convince him to stay, but he would not relent.
Finally, she acquiesces, and gives him a parting gift and a warning.
The gift is a jeweled box, and the warning is that he should never open it.
And so Urashima Taro gets on the turtle who speaks perfect Japanese and returns home.
Or so he thinks.
It’s the right location, but the wrong everything else.
His home is nowhere to be found.
Same with his parents.
After talking to the locals, the truth emerges.
It seems time works differently within the Dragon Palace.
Though he only spent days or years in the underwater palace, centuries have passed in
the normal world.
Urashima Taro has lost everyone and everything.
Ignoring the princess’ warning, he opens the box.
He watches as white smoke escapes, carried off by the wind.
Then Urashima Taro’s black hair turns white and his smooth skin turns thin and wrinkled.
He has become an old man, the punishment for a promise broken.
So if you’ve been paying attention then you would notice some weird things about this
story.
If you haven’t been paying attention… how dare you, drop and click the like button
an odd number of times.
Here are 3 things that don’t make sense.
One.
Why does the princess want him to stay so badly?
The story doesn’t mention any romance between the two.
She’s just being a good host and repaying his kindness.
You would think letting him stay for a few days or years would be enough.
Trying so hard to prevent his leave went beyond being a good host.
Two.
What kind of a gift is that?
Who gives a gift that can only hurt you?
It has no upside.
It’s like if someone gave you a box of chocolates but when you open it, it’s just s--t inside.
Like he just s--t in a box, closed it, wrapped it up and gave it to you.
But why did you give this s--t box?
Three.
Why does he open the box?
There is no reason to.
Is he just curious?
That’s way too random.
It would have nothing to do with the rest of the story.
Now whenever people ask about weirdness in these stories, I usually respond with
“because folktale,”
but in this case we may have an explanation.
It could be, there was an original version of the tale, but over time, parts of the story
were lost or changed.
It could be.
And it is.
Because I already looked it up.
If we go all the way back 1300 years ago to ancient times, we find the oldest version
of this story that we know of.
And it answers all of our questions.
And the changes in the story give us a glimpse into changes in Japanese society regarding
relationships between men and women.
In the ancient story, his name is Ura no Shimako.
It doesn’t say anything about him being a fisherman, but it does say that he is a
hottie oh boy.
You couldn’t take your eyes off him.
One day, he gets on a boat to go fishing far from land.
When he finally catches something, it’s not a fish, but a five-colored turtle.
His surprise intensifies as the turtle transforms into a ravishing young woman.
She says,
“I was swimming in turtle form and saw a handsome man fishing alone.
I had to come say hi.
Do you fish here often?”
He says, “Okay okay you can buy me a drink.”
She says, “It is love at first sight.
I swear eternal love that will last until the end of Heaven and Earth and the sun and
the moon.
Tell me quickly, will you accept me?”
He says, “Of course, turtle mama.”
It turns out, she is a divine being, an immortal.
She makes Shimako close his eyes, and when he opens them, a huge island appears before
him.
They have been transported to the mythical island of Mount Horai (蓬莱山).
If you know your Asian legends, you’d know that Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his
subject Xu Fu to find the elixir of immortality on Mount Horai.
If you don’t know your Asian legends, I have a video about it.
The island looks magical.
The ground sparkles like stars.
In fact he even meets 7 children who were the stars of the Subaru constellation, which
is the Pleiades in English.
Shimako learns that turtle mama’s name is Kamehime (亀姫), Turtle Princess.
The princess takes him to her palace, where her parents and the community throw a big
ol kegger, and the two become husband and wife.
For 3 years, Shimako lives a life of luxury talking to turtles and immortals and star
children.
But then he grows homesick, becoming more morose by the day.
He finally tells the princess he wants to go home for a while to visit his parents.
She doesn’t take this well.
“Only 3 years have we been together, and you already want to leave, just to see your
parents?
How can you stand to be away from me, even for a little?”
Try as she may, she cannot convince her dreadful husband to stay.
So she gives him a jeweled comb box, and tells him that if he doesn’t forget her and wants
to see her again, he just needs to hold the box tight.
But he must never open it.
Following the rules will prove that he really loves her.
With that, she makes him close his eyes, and when he opens them, he’s back at his village.
Obviously, everything has changed.
He learns that 300 years have passed.
After moping about for a time, he starts to miss his wife, the Turtle Princess.
He holds the box tight, but he is so sad that he forgets the promise and opens the box.
And that’s when his beautiful face and body turns old and he realizes that he has broken
his promise and can never see his wife again.
Now we can see that the ancient story is a love story.
Tell me in the comments which story did you prefer?
One thing, in ancient Japan, the comb represented a woman’s spirit.
The princess doesn’t give him some random box, it’s a comb box.
It symbolizes her spirit sealed within.
This ancient story answers our questions.
One.
She isn’t repaying his kindness, they’re in love.
That’s why she tries so hard to make him stay.
Two.
The box is a test of his devotion, rather than the worst gift in the world.
And three.
He opens the box because he longs for her.
Remember, a comb box was said to contain a woman’s spirit.
The story places love above everything else.
Ancient Japan had a lot of stories where a couple would fall in love, get married, and
then tell their parents afterwards.
The relationship was first and foremost their choice, not their parents’ choice.
Shimako and the Turtle Princess choose each other first, it’s not a marriage arranged
by their parents nor does it require their parents’ consent.
Shimako’s parents aren’t even there.
It’s more important that the community accept the couple rather than just her parents.
And then, Japan went through changes.
Chinese culture came to Japan, including Confucianism.
Confucianism had a lot of rah rah male power, and we see the story change with the times.
Duty to your parents was a Confucian virtue, so the whole falling in love and getting married
without your parents’ consent thing disappeared from the story.
When the princess blasts Shimako for wanting to visit his parents, clearly she places their
marriage above his duty to his parents.
Also, speaking so brazenly to her husband would have made Confucius’s head explode
and patriarchy fall out.
Not only that, it’s a story where a woman falls in love, propositions the man, introduces
him to her family, and has a public declaration of love.
What kind of a woman would have been so uppity?
Over time, this whole love aspect disappeared, bringing us to the modern story.
And now that you know, try listening to the modern story again to see how much was changed.
And if you wanna see more folktales, I have a whole playlist of em, check it out.
Okay, so we have two new emperors this week Schadenfraulein and はやしいかつ.
Thank you so much you guys.
We also have some new patrons: Amelia Cooper, YellowVacuums, Michael Buelow, and Sara Romo.
Alright, much love, you, and spread the knowledge.