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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
type
TVTItem
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
label
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
page
TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
comment
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (竹取物語, Taketori Monogatari) is a Japanese fairy tale dating to approximately the 10th century. It is considered the oldest monogatarinote fictional prose narrative in Japanese literary history.As the story goes, an old bamboo cutter chances upon a beautiful stalk of bamboo, in which he finds a lovely baby girl the size of his thumb. Since he and his wife have no children, they adopt the baby as their own and christen her Nayotake no Kaguya-hime (なよたけのかぐや姫, "Shining Princess of the Young Bamboo"). Kaguya brings the family wealth — every time the bamboo cutter cuts a stalk, he finds a nugget of gold — and soon grows into a woman of extraordinary beauty. This attracts five suitors who want to marry her. Unwilling to marry any of them, Kaguya asks them to find an impossible item, and remains unmarried when all of them fail. Eventually the Emperor himself comes to ask for her hand. Kaguya rebuffs him, but they remain in contact, and the Emperor eventually falls in love with her.Eventually, Kaguya reveals to her parents that she belongs to a race of people who live on the moon, and she must now return to them. The Emperor sends his men to try and stop her departure, but to no avail — the moon's entourage brings Kaguya back to their home, breaking the hearts of her adoptive parents.The Emperor receives an elixir of immortality left to him by Kaguya. Unwilling to live without her, he orders his men to bring the elixir to the summit of the mountain closest to heaven and burn it along with a letter for her. This is mentioned as the reason smoke rises from Mount Fuji.Since it's about a thousand years old, the story is in public domain, and has been adapted many times. Direct adaptations include Princess From the Moon in 1987 and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya in 2013. It also memorably received a Whole-Plot Reference in 1989 Big Bird in Japan with the story narrated by Pat Morita. Many other pieces of media also take inspiration from the story, to the point that you can expect a female character named "Kaguya" to have something to do with the legend. Due to its extraterrestrial plot elements, it is also sometimes considered one of the earliest examples of Science Fiction.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
fetched
2023-08-09T06:27:58Z
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
parsed
2023-08-09T06:27:58Z
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
isPartOf
DBTropes
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_3587b71c
type
Wonder Child
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_3587b71c
comment
Wonder Child: The bamboo cutter and his wife are childless, and adopt a baby they find in a bamboo stalk.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_3587b71c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_3587b71c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_3587b71c
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_48e8fe57
type
Happily Adopted
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_48e8fe57
comment
Happily Adopted: Kaguya genuinely loves her adoptive parents and is sorrowful about having to leave them for the moon.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_48e8fe57
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_48e8fe57
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_48e8fe57
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_5d90c8e
type
Lunarians
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_5d90c8e
comment
Lunarians: Kaguya belongs to a race of extraterrestrials who live on the moon.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_5d90c8e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_5d90c8e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_5d90c8e
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_6a49268
type
"Just So" Story
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_6a49268
comment
"Just So" Story: Explains Mount Fuji's volcanic activity as the Emperor burning an elixir of immortality to reach Kaguya on the moon.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_6a49268
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_6a49268
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_6a49268
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_70426578
type
First Contact Farmer
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_70426578
comment
First Contact Farmer: Princess Kaguya is found and raised by a lowly bamboo cutter, who decides to raise her until she decides to return to the moon where she was born.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_70426578
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_70426578
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_70426578
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_7e676cdf
type
Engagement Challenge
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_7e676cdf
comment
Engagement Challenge: Kaguya asks each of her five suitors to find an impossible item — the Buddha's begging bowl, a jeweled branch from the mythical island of Hōrai, a robe made of Chinese fire-rat skins, a jewel from a dragon's neck, and a cowry shell born from a swallow — and says she'll marry the one who brings her the real thing.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_7e676cdf
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_7e676cdf
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_7e676cdf
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_a2e887be
type
Secondary Character Title
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_a2e887be
comment
Secondary Character Title: Despite the title describing it as his tale, the bamboo cutter isn't the protagonist, or even a major focus for the entire thing like Kaguya is.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_a2e887be
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_a2e887be
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_a2e887be
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_bd6b86df
type
Impossible Task
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_bd6b86df
comment
Impossible Task: Kaguya intentionally devised her Engagement Challenge to be impossible to fulfill, and her suitors either try to con her or die in the attempt.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_bd6b86df
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_bd6b86df
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_bd6b86df
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_d3427b48
type
Yamato Nadeshiko
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_d3427b48
comment
Yamato Nadeshiko: Kaguya-hime was sweet, polite, gentle and devoted to her adoptive parents. While she did ask her suitors to do impossible things as the condition to marry any of them (which meant, none succeeded), it wasn't because of hate or cruelty, but because she had to return to the Moon at some point. Various interpretations do have her issue the tasks because of annoyance or because she genuinely didn't want to marry the men.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_d3427b48
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_d3427b48
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 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_d3427b48
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e30c7674
type
Sliding Scale of Beauty
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e30c7674
comment
Sliding Scale of Beauty: Kaguya is a Divine Beauty, as her unearthly attractiveness is implied to be because she's a lunarian.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e30c7674
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e30c7674
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e30c7674
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e87efd00
type
Born from Plants
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e87efd00
comment
Born from Plants: Kaguya is seemingly born from a stalk of bamboo.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e87efd00
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e87efd00
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_e87efd00
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_ea39d156
type
Who Wants to Live Forever?
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_ea39d156
comment
Who Wants to Live Forever?: An emperor is given the elixir of life by the beautiful Princess Kaguya as she departs, but refuses to drink it because if he won't be able to see said princess's beauty again, then he doesn't want to live forever.
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_ea39d156
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1.0
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_ea39d156
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 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_ea39d156
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_name
type
ItemName
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_name
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 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_name
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 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_name
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 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_name
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter / int_name
itemName
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Alien Works / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Artifact Title / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Born from Plants / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Crossover Cosmology / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Elite Four / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Engagement Challenge / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Fairytale Motifs / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
First Contact Farmer / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Fractured Fairy Tale / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Happily Adopted / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Impossible Task / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
"Just So" Story / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Lunarians / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Magical Floating Shawl / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Princess Stories / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Prophetic Names / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Public Domain Canon Welding / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Spoiled Sweet / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
The X of Y / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Who Wants to Live Forever? / int_1567f203
 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
hasFeature
Wonder Child / int_1567f203