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Kaguya
Version 1
An old woodcutter lived alone with his wife. They longed for children, but
had none. Each day he went to cut bamboo for fine baskets and the children of
the village would ask if they too might have one. The old woodcutter asked if
they would stay with him if he made them one, to which they replied that they
did not love the old man.
One day, after cutting a particular tree, the bamboo trunk erupted in light. At
the heart, a child sang, arrayed in the robes of a young princess. She smiled
lovingly at the cutter as she quieted. The old man's heart filled with joy and he
rushed home with the tiny child, to his wife.
She must be a princess, they thought, as did the scholar they asked for
advice. Because she was so beautiful and radiant, she was named Princess
Kaguya.
They raised her with love, and the family was happy. Kaguya grew tall and
lovely to behold. They told no one of the child, keeping to the scholar's advice
to not attract attention to her.
Time passed. But a day came when he heard a strange sound from the stem
of the bamboo. Suddenly, a shower of coins of gold came forth. Each time he
returned, the bamboos revealed the same treasure. Finally, he, his wife, and
Kaguya grew quite wealthy because of this miracle.
His neighbors did not take long to speculate and envy the cutter and his
family. They insinuated, and spread rumors of a beautiful young girl in his
household. The old man and his wife could hide Kaguya no longer, so they
decided to hold a grand ceremony for a coming out for the young maiden. With
it, news soon spread across the land of the enchanting girl and the miracles since
she had been found. Curious gawkers and bold suitors came, none of which
proved worthy of the princess. Princes tried for her hand, but the tasks she set
before them proved too great.
Gradually, the young men gave up, and Kaguya was left to the contentment
of her family. Yet, one day a message arrived from the emperor himself for an
audience with the maiden. She refused, until the day he found himself at their
cottage. The emperor became more determined than ever to have her for his
wife.
Four years passed, and the princess lived happily with her parents though a
shadow seemed to have fallen over her. On nights with the Moon bright in the
heavens, the young girl gazed so longlingly and sad upon the wintry sphere that
the couple could not help but grow sad and worried themselves.
When they could stand their child's weeping no longer, they pleaded to know
the cause of Kaguya's sorrow. She told them she could keep her secret no
longer. She was not born in their country, but of the land of the Moon. For
many weeks, voices had been calling her home, and on the night of the full
August Moon they would come to bring her home.
The words broke the young girl's heart as she spoke them, and the old cutter's
and his wife as well. She loved them and did not want to be parted from them,
but her place was with her people, and she could not stay though she wished it
so.
The night arrived, and the young Moon God came for her. Try as they
might, her father and mother could not keep her, and Kaguya-hime returned to
the kingdom of the Moon.
I recommend reading the whole tale which can be found in Japanese Tales and
Legends retold by Helen and William McAlpine.
Version 2
"Once upon a time an old man lived in the province of Suruga, where is Mount Fuji. He cultivated bamboo-trees. One spring two
nightingales made their nest in his bamboo grove, and there he found a charming little infant who called herself Kaguya-hime. The old
man took the child and nursed her with great affection. When she grew up she was the most beautiful girl in the country. She was called
to the Imperial residence and was made Princess-consort of the Emperor. Seven years passed after the marriage and one day
the Princess said to her husband: 'I am not like you a human being, yet a certain tie has held me to you. Now my time on earth is ending
and I must return to my celestial home. I am sorry to leave you, but I must. In memory of me keep this mirror, in which you may see
my image.'
With these words she disappeared from his sight. The Emperor missed his beautiful consort so much that he determined to follow her to
Heaven. Accordingly he climbed to the summit of Fuji, the highest mountain in the country, carrying the mirror in his hands. Yet when
he had reached the summit he could find no trace of the lost maiden, nor could he by any means ascend further toward Heaven. His
passion was so strong that a flame burst out of his breast and set the mirror ablaze. The smoke drifted up to the sky, and from that day
it continually arises from the summit of Fuji."
This version is taken from The Mythology of All Races Vol. VIII, published by the Marshall Jones Company.
In Anime & Manga
This story was the basis for Volume 11 of the Sailor Moon manga and 2nd movie.
Reiko Shimizu wrote a manga titled Kaguya Hime that borrows from the Bamboo Cutter's Tale. The girl in the story, Akira (her name means "shining brightly"), was found abandoned
in a bamboo field. Later two boys show up at her foster home to kidnap her, and call her their princess. One of the boys, Yui, has hair and eyes the color of the moon.
In volume one of Bride of Deimos, Minako's teacher Ms. Tsukiko (tsuki-moon, ko-child) is Kaguya herself. But the legend has a twist, she grew so rapidly in
three months because the baby had wolf-blood. She would have been raised by wolves. She cries on the night of a full moon because her pack calls to her, and also she turns into a wolf by
the moonlight. She killed her five suitors but for the emperor who escaped. She went on living, very lonely, until she met a man of wolf-blood and the two lived as wolves and lovers in the snowy
mountains. But one day her lover was killed, and Tsukiko came to be among humans to find the man and take her revenge.
In Inu-Yasha: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass, the Kaguya legend is the backbone for a good bit of the film. The five gathered items
(stone bowl of buddha - earth, robe of the fire rat - fire, cowrie shell - water, branch placed at the sealed mirror's shrine - wood,
jewel of a dragon's neck - metal) each correspond to one of the Eastern elements and was dropped within one of the five lakes after it was acquired. When all
five were together, the seal was able to be broken. The Kaguya of this story says she rules the night and brings a perpetual full moon. The moon is also
used as a comparison between itself and Earth, two separate homes and worlds. Kagome can't help but compare herself to Kaguya in the first half of the film.
Thinking their enemy dead, Kagome realizes she doesn't really want to go back to her home, she wants to stay with Inu-Yasha, and this is represented by her coming to ponder
the legend and think to herself that Kaguya probably didn't really want to return to the moon. Note the Kaguya story is also a love story between a supernatural being and a mortal
(the princess of the moon and a nobleman or prince). Kagome and Inu-Yasha's love is implied in the comparison since the two are lovers of an immortal and mortal pairing, and the tension is whether the two will
ultimately be able to realize their feelings or if they will have to part in the end forever.
From Chris, the story is mentioned in the manga Planet Ladder.