The Legend of Kaguya and Mount Fuji
Long ago, in a peaceful village surrounded by towering bamboo forests in Japan, there lived an old bamboo cutter named Taketori. He and his wife had lived a quiet and content life, though they had always longed for a child. One day, as Taketori was walking through the forest cutting bamboo, he noticed a strange glowing stalk. Curious, he cut it open, and to his astonishment, inside was a tiny, radiant girl no bigger than his hand.
The little girl was so beautiful that Taketori knew she must be a gift from the gods. He hurried home with her, and he and his wife decided to raise her as their own child. They named her Kaguya-hime, which means “Radiant Princess.” As the years passed, Kaguya-hime grew into the most beautiful woman in all of Japan, and her beauty shone as brightly as the moon. Many suitors came to seek her hand in marriage, but Kaguya-hime always turned them away with impossible tasks.
To one suitor, she asked for the legendary jewel from a dragon’s neck. To another, she demanded the golden branch from the mythical island of Horai. The suitors all failed, and Kaguya-hime remained unmarried. Her parents, however, grew increasingly concerned, for they loved Kaguya-hime dearly but noticed that she often looked up at the moon with a wistful expression.
One night, as the full moon hung high in the sky, Kaguya-hime finally revealed her secret to her parents. “I am not of this world,” she said. “I come from the moon, and soon I must return to my true home. I was sent to live among humans as a punishment, but now my time here is ending.”
Her parents were heartbroken at the thought of losing their beloved daughter. They pleaded with her to stay, but Kaguya-hime’s fate was already sealed. She assured them that she loved them deeply and that they would always be in her heart.
On the night of the next full moon, a celestial procession descended from the heavens. Heavenly beings came to take Kaguya-hime back to the moon. Despite her parents’ tears and the villagers’ pleas, Kaguya-hime gracefully ascended with the moon maidens, leaving behind a letter of farewell and a small vial of the Elixir of Immortality for her parents.
However, Taketori, too heartbroken to live without his daughter, took the elixir to the highest mountain in Japan, now called Mount Fuji, and poured it out, hoping to send his love to the heavens. The smoke from the elixir is said to still rise from the peak of the mountain to this day.
And so, Kaguya-hime returned to her celestial home, leaving behind a story of beauty, mystery, and love that is told through the ages.