The Tale Of Urashima Taro

Japanese mythology is filled with fascinating love stories, often featuring gods and goddesses, supernatural creatures, and mortal humans. Many of these stories are rooted in ancient Japanese folklore and Shintoism, the indigenous religion of Japan.

One of the most famous love stories in Japanese mythology is the tale of Urashima Taro. In my opinion this story or folktale is pretty different from other love stories because we usually expect good ending in them but here our Urashima Taro mess up things with his decisions which end up making him alone.

Urashima Taro is a popular folktale of Japan, which narrates the story of a fisherman who saves a turtle from some boys, and in return, he is granted a visit to the underwater palace of the Dragon God, Ryujin. At the palace, he falls in love with a princess and lives with her for several years before returning to the surface world.

While fishing on the beach, Urashima Taro rescues a small turtle from boys who were tormenting it. The next day, he meets the same turtle while fishing, which then offers to take him to the underwater palace of the Dragon God as a token of gratitude for his kindness.

Taro agrees to go with the turtle and is astonished by the beauty of the palace and the warm welcome of the Dragon God and his daughter, who he falls in love with and lives with for a few years before returning to the surface world.

Taro developed a strong interest in the underwater world and was charmed by the princess's generosity, leading him to fall in love with her. They spent time together playing music, feasting, and enjoying each other's company.

However, after a few days, Taro began to feel homesick and wanted to go back to his village. The princess cautioned him that if he were to leave, he should never look back, as it would prevent him from returning to the palace. Taro pledged to heed her advice and went back to the surface world.

Upon his return, Taro was taken aback to find that everything had changed - his house was gone, and all those he knew had passed away. He realized that he had been residing in the underwater palace for hundreds of years, although it had only felt like a few days for him.

Devastated, Taro recollected the princess's warning not to look back, but he couldn't resist the urge. When he did turn around, he saw only a small turtle and realized that he had forfeited his opportunity to return to the palace and his love.

Now what is the moral of this amazing story? We get many things to learn, but one of the most prominent ones is the importance of keeping one's promises. In the story, Taro promises the princess that he will not look back, but he breaks his promise out of curiosity and loses his chance to return to the underwater palace and to the love of his life. This can be interpreted as a warning against the dangers of temptation and the consequences of failing to keep one's word.

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