The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
A bamboo cutter finds a tiny luminous girl inside a stalk. She grows into Kaguya-hime, attracts noble suitors with impossible tasks, and ultimately returns to her moon realm, leaving earthbound hearts behind.
Story beats
- 1) The bamboo cutter discovers a thumb-sized girl glowing within bamboo; caring for her brings them wealth from glowing stalks.
- 2) Named Kaguya-hime, she grows with supernatural speed and beauty. Five noble suitors beg for marriage.
- 3) She sets impossible quests: retrieve the Buddha’s stone begging bowl, a fire-rat robe, jeweled branch from Horai, a dragon’s jewel, and a swallow’s shell. Each suitor fails or cheats and is exposed.
- 4) Even the Emperor is enchanted but cannot win her. Kaguya becomes melancholic, revealing she must return to the moon on the night of the full moon in autumn.
- 5) Celestial beings descend, place a robe of feathers on her, erasing earthly sorrow, and take her to the moon. She leaves an elixir of immortality, which the Emperor orders burned atop Mount Fuji; its smoke is said to be the mountain’s plume.
Context & symbolism
The tale (Taketori Monogatari) is among Japan’s oldest prose narratives. It balances wonder with impermanence: beauty visits and departs. Impossible tasks satirize courtly pursuits and test sincerity. The moon robe erases attachment, contrasting celestial detachment with human longing. The burned elixir shows mortality embraced over lonely immortality.
Mount Fuji’s smoke etiology ties landscape to narrative. The bamboo cutter’s sudden wealth critiques fortune’s volatility.
Motifs
- Celestial maiden in earthly foster care
- Suitors set impossible proofs
- Robes of feathers for ascent
- Impermanence of beauty and love
- Mountain plume as story residue
Use it in play
- A found child brings wealth and omen; must return to a celestial court.
- NPC sets impossible item quests; revealing cheats alters the social balance.
- A robe removes memories; deciding to wear it is a sacrifice of bonds.
- Burning an elixir to avoid immortality—mountain smoke becomes a beacon or ward.
- Moon envoys retrieve a reluctant descendant; PCs can bargain for one more season.
Comparative threads
- Heavenly maidens: Swan maiden and tennin tales also feature feather robes and return to sky realms.
- Impossible suitor tasks: Echoes stories like “Princess on the Glass Mountain.”
- Impermanence: Mirrors Buddhist themes of nonattachment.
Hooks and campaign seeds
- Collecting impossible items could unlock a moon gate—or expose a fraudster.
- A mountain’s smoke guides travelers; stopping it requires letting go of immortality.
- A lunar court claims a PC; keeping them requires negotiating celestial law.