Urashima and Kaguyahime

Urashima Taro. The young fisherman who rescued a turtle, he was taken to the palace of the sea king, as a reward. Thought he’d spent three days and wanted to go home. Princess says, OK, gives him a box, tells him never to open it. He gets back to his village, realizes he’s been away 300 years, opens the box, smoke comes out and he turns really, really old.

Why did he open the box?

It’s not clear.

Maybe you need to rewrite the ending to explain more for modern audiences.

Well, I did try. I had him going back, but he is invisible and no one can see him, he speaks but no one can hear him. He gets unbearably lonely, opens the box, becomes 300 years older, visible, but like a ghost, so now everyone is too afraid to speak to him.

Not bad. Urashima loses on a double bounce. Modern rewriting but still ghostly enough to be medieval.

Maybe a good one for the ghost story season just beginning.

Oh, speaking of which, there’s a new ending to Kaguyahime on TV.

On TV?

It’s an ad. All her servants come down from the moon and tell her she has to go back there. But she’s sitting in a nice room with a new air conditioner and she says, “I don’t want to go back. I like it here.” So they go away. But then they come back again.

In force this time?

No, no. This time they say, “We’re coming to stay with you. We don’t want to go back either. You have a nice place. We like your air conditioner.”

Hmm. Clever twist for modern life. Sometimes those old stories have ho-hum endings.

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