Japanese mythology and folktales continue to fascinate people all around the world. Many of my students every year are enthralled with Japanese culture, anime, and manga, so incorporating these stories into my classroom is only natural. The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child is a wonderful tale to weave in to your Japanese units if you do not already!
This tale is both a blend of mythology as well as folktale. There is an old bamboo cutter and his wife who were childless and one day the bamboo cutter is in the forest harvesting bamboo. As he cuts a stalk, the most beautiful light glows from inside and the bamboo cutter finds a tiny, illuminating child. She explains that she has come from the moon to live with him for a time and falls asleep. There are also coins and jewels in the bamboo stalks.
The girl grows quickly and is so beautiful that she is known far and wide. 5 knights try to win her hand and fail. The emperor also falls in love with her. However, the story ends sadly when the moon people come to take her back home against everyone’s wishes.
In 2013, the movie The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was released in Japan. It is a historical anime adaptation of this ancient story and is still the most expensive Japanese film every made. I find some of the changes/additions to be quite interesting and wonder what it says about the shift in Japanese culture.
One change being that Princess Kaguya spends much of her early years on the planet living in poverty in the country. However, this turns out to be the only place she was truly happy. Once the bamboo cutter has amassed enough of the coins and jewels to build a mansion, fine clothes, and a position in society; he rips his wife and daughter away from the simple life they loved. Princess Kaguya goes through some horrific body rituals required by her station (including staining her teeth with black ink because a lady of her station shouldn’t be speaking or laughing enough to show her teeth anyway). Only after she rejects all of these beauty rituals and returns to her simple nature does she start to become herself again.
I do wonder if these changes were put into the movie to reflect more of the Buddhist philosophies that are more prevalent in modern Japan as well as the desire to live more simplistic lives.
The only true love of her life also lived near her childhood home and we see the heartbreak of losing her one chance at happiness. Towards the end of the film, she finds him again and they have a fleeting moment of pure joy of finally being together. However, it is ripped away and she accepts the fact that she must return to the moon.
I am not entirely sure why this major shift was put in and what it says about modern Japan in comparison. Perhaps this too goes along with the desire many modern Japanese citizens for a simple life. In the original tale she leaves the Emperor an elixir for immortality, but in this movie his character is seen as fake as the knights.
There is also one moment in the film in which she finally gets to go and see the cherry blossoms that she has never been able to see. However, the moment of awe is short lived. In Japanese culture cherry blossoms symbolize beauty and fragility of life due to their brief growing season. I do love that this scene was added because this thought is prevalent with her story in both versions. She only stays on Earth for 20 years, so it is brief, especially for an immortal. In such a short time she experiences so much.
If you would like some resources to use to teach this beautiful tale, please feel free to check out my store! I have handouts for basic comprehension, inference questions, and 3 possible writing pieces. I highly recommend comparing with the movie if you can! It is currently on HBO Max streaming. Be sure to leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on this famous Japanese tale and movie.
Around the World With Mrs. C 
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