The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

Record summary

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is a classical Japanese narrative in which a bamboo cutter discovers the luminous princess Kaguya-hime inside a bamboo stalk. Raised on Earth, she attracts suitors, rejects impossible demands, and ultimately returns to the Moon. The text matters for comparing celestial descent, abduction or adoption motifs, mortality, and the relationship between folklore and court literature. Its date, authorship, and relation to oral materials remain uncertain. The lunar court and several episode details should be read as literary constructions rather than reports of an encounter.