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Urashima Tarō (Fisher-boy Urashima), a MythSource painting
Japanese

Urashima Tarō (Fisher-boy Urashima)

01Identity

Urashima Tarō (Fisher-boy Urashima) in Japanese tradition

Urashima is a fisherman whose kindness to a tortoise brings him to the Dragon Palace and its Sea-God's daughter. He marries her, but after three years he longs to return to his family. A box and a warning accompany his departure; when he opens it on the changed shore, the time he has lost becomes visible in his body. The account ends with his death on the beach. The National Diet Library catalogues this witness as B. H. Chamberlain's English translation, published in Tokyo by T. Hasegawa in 1886.

SourceThe Fisher-Boy Urashima (T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, 1886; B. H. Chamberlain attribution per NDL): The Fisher-Boy Urashima, PDF leaves 2–4 (NDL item 1874069)· The Fisher-Boy Urashima (T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, 1886; B. H. Chamberlain attribution per NDL): The Fisher-Boy Urashima, PDF leaves 5–6 (NDL item 1874069)· The Fisher-Boy Urashima (T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, 1886; B. H. Chamberlain attribution per NDL): The Fisher-Boy Urashima, PDF leaves 7–9 (NDL item 1874069)· The Fisher-Boy Urashima (T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, 1886; B. H. Chamberlain attribution per NDL): The Fisher-Boy Urashima, PDF leaves 10–11 (NDL item 1874069)· The Fisher-Boy Urashima (T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, 1886; B. H. Chamberlain attribution per NDL): The Fisher-Boy Urashima, PDF leaves 12–14 (NDL item 1874069)

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Urashima Tarō (Fisher-boy Urashima)

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Urashima Returns from the Dragon Palace

A tortoise, rather than a fish, came up on Urashima's line. He pitied it and returned it to the sea. Later, as he rested in his boat on a hot afternoon, a girl rose from beneath the waves. She told him that she was the Sea-God's daughter and the creature he had freed. Her father had sent her to learn whether Urashima was good or bad. She asked him to marry her. He agreed, and they rowed together to the Dragon Palace beyond the waves.

The palace had coral walls, and its trees bore emerald leaves and ruby berries. Fish had silver scales, and the dragons' tails gleamed like gold. Urashima married the Sea-God's daughter, and they lived there for three years. At last he longed to visit his parents, brothers and sisters. His wife feared that something might happen, but let him go with a box and a strict warning not to open it. At home he found a changed shore: the trees had been cut, his father's cottage was gone, and two men told him that four hundred years had passed. His family was no longer there. Thinking the box might guide him back, he opened it. A white cloud floated away. His hair turned white, his face wrinkled and his back bent; then his breath stopped, and he fell dead on the beach.

Urashima Returns from the Dragon Palace, a MythSource painting of the scene