Urashima Taro - Urashima Taro

This tale was recorded as a legend in classical literature. It is also a folk tale passed down nationwide, in which Urashima travels to a foreign land (Tokoyo no Kuni, Horai-go, Ryugu-jo) thanks to the kindness of an animal (a turtle). The story roughly goes like this: One day, while out fishing, Urashima catches a turtle, but returns it to the sea. However, the next day, she appears on his boat in the form of his wife. He is asked to escort her to Ryugu-jo, where they become husband and wife. When he returns home after three years, the wife gives him a beautiful box (Tamakushige, Tamatebako) as a keepsake, with instructions never to open it. 700 years have passed since his hometown fell into ruin. When he breaks the taboo and opens the box, three clouds rise up and Urashima becomes an old man (in Otogi Zoushi, he later appears as Urashima Myojin and marries Princess Kamehime). In ancient times, Volume 9 of the Manyoshu states, "One poem and a tanka poem by Urashima Ko." As a myth handed down by the clan of the Kusakabe clan of Tango (Kyoto Prefecture), which describes his origins, it was translated into Chinese literature by the early Heian period, such as the entry for the 22nd year of Emperor Yuryaku in the Nihon Shoki, the Itsubun of Tango no Kuni Fudoki (quoted in the Shaku Nihongi), the Urashima Ko Biography, and the Continued Urashima Ko Biography (included in Gunsho Ruiju 135). There is also the Abridged Continued Urashima Ko Biography (included in the Fuso Ryakuki). The Tale of Genji's Yugiri also contains a poem about Urashima's feelings for the Tamabako, and there are many waka poems about it. Even in the medieval period of narrative literature, the Kojidan, Uji Shui Monogatari (volume 12, 22), Honcho Shinsenden, Mumyosho, and Genko Shakusho continue this tradition, and in the Otogi Zoushi Urashima Taro, the name "Taro" is given for the first time, and the tragic nature of the legend is changed to a congratulatory one from the original. The Noh play Urashima follows the same trend, but in the early modern period, it was included in Akahon and adapted for children, and was also made into Nishikie (a detailed investigation can be found in Enseki Zasshi 4). Even in the Meiji period, it was taken up in the interpretations of Koda Rohan, Mori Ogai, Tsubouchi Shoyo, and others. The various legends kept at Ura Shrine (Urashima Shrine) in Ine Town, Yosa County, Kyoto Prefecture are traditions with local roots.

In addition, there are about 20 other legends that have been passed down nationwide, mainly in the Tango Peninsula, such as Renpo-ji Temple in Yokohama, Nezame-no-toko in Kiso-gun, Nagano Prefecture, and Ogano-cho in Chichibu-gun, Saitama Prefecture, and they overlap with the "Wanka-shi-buchi" and "Dragon Palace Legends." The motifs of this legend can be said to be three: staying in a foreign land, breaking taboos, and the excessive passage of time. The plot, in which the view of awe of the other world that is different from the human world is violated by the iron rule of taboo and inviolability (the Tamabako or Tamatebako), leading to social punishment and ruin, is a type of old tale of interspecies marriage through animal retribution. The story of animals from the other world, who could be called messengers of the sea god, showing their gratitude, can be found not only in the legend of Urashima, but also in medieval tales such as the first chapter of the Nihon Ryōiki, "The fate of purchasing a turtle and releasing it to receive reward in the present world," and is in line with the folktale "The Clam Wife." It can be said that this is an ancient idea of ​​the promise of the spirits of the deity to bring fertility and wealth in the horizontal view of the other world that exists in the Nirai Kanai faith of Okinawa. There are similar legends in the South Pacific islands.

Today, the most well-known story of Taro traveling to and from Ryugu-jo Castle on the back of a turtle is a form from the Middle Ages onward. In oral legends, Taro is a stepchild (Fukui), turns into a crane (Kagawa), is the eldest son of three brothers (Kyoto), and the turtle is a flounder (Aomori). It should also be compared with motifs such as "Ryugu Doji," "Ryugu Nyobo," "Golden Axe," and "Letter from the Swamp God." Also, the short time in the afterlife that becomes super-time in the human world can be seen in "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" and "Koga Saburo-tan," and these stories also convey a reverence for the afterlife.

[Shogo Watanabe]

"A Study of the Legend of Urashima by Takagi Toshio" (included in "Studies of Japanese Mythology and Legends", 1925, Oka Shoin) " "On the Tale of Urashima and Similar Examples by Izushi Masahiko" (included in "Studies of Chinese Mythology and Legends", 1938, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" " A Study of the Tale of Urashima by Sakaguchi Tamotsu (1955, Shinkosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

伝説として古典文学に記された説話。動物（亀(かめ)）の報恩によって異郷（常世国(とこよのくに)、蓬莱(ほうらい)郷、竜宮城）を訪れたという昔話の全国的伝承でもある。およその梗概(こうがい)は次のごとくである。ある日漁に出ていた浦島は、亀を釣ったが、海に返してやる。ところが、翌日、女房の姿となって小舟に現れる。請われるままに竜宮城に送って行き、そこで女房と夫婦になる。3年を経て故郷に帰るとき、女房から、けっしてあけるなと、形見に美しい箱（玉匣(たまくしげ)、玉手箱）をもらう。故郷は荒れ果てて700年の時がたっていた。禁を犯して箱をあけると三筋(すじ)の雲が立ち上り、浦島は老人となる（御伽草子(おとぎぞうし)では、のちに浦島明神として現れ亀姫と結ばれる）。古くは、『万葉集』巻9に「詠水江浦島子一首并(ならびに)短歌」とある。丹後(たんご)（京都府）の日下部(くさかべ)氏の氏族伝承的な、己の出自を述べる神話としては『日本書紀』雄略(ゆうりゃく)天皇22年条や、『丹後国風土記(ふどき)逸文』（『釈日本紀(しゃくにほんぎ)』所引）、『浦島子伝』『続浦島子伝記』（『群書類従』135所収）など、平安初期までに漢文学化されている。『続浦島子伝略抄』（『扶桑(ふそう)略記』所収）もある。『源氏物語』夕霧にも浦島の玉匣への思いが詠まれているし、和歌も多く、中世説話文学の時代に入っても、『古事談』『宇治拾遺(うじしゅうい)物語』（巻12の22）、『本朝神仙伝』『無名抄(むみょうしょう)』『元亨釈書(げんこうしゃくしょ)』にその系統を継ぎ、御伽草子『浦島太郎』で初めて「太郎」の名を与えられて伝説の悲劇性を本地物の祝言性に変更する。謡曲『浦島』も同じ傾向であるが、さらに近世に入ると赤本などにも収められ子供向きに脚色され、錦絵(にしきえ)などにもなった（『燕石(えんせき)雑志』4に詳しい考証がある）。明治期に入っても幸田露伴(こうだろはん)、森鴎外(おうがい)、坪内逍遙(しょうよう)などの解釈において取り上げられている。京都府与謝(よさ)郡伊根町の宇良神社（浦嶋神社）蔵の諸縁起は、在地性を備える伝承である。

　そのほかに、全国的伝承は丹後半島を中心に、横浜市の蓮法寺(れんぽうじ)や長野県木曽郡の寝覚床(ねざめのとこ)や埼玉県秩父(ちちぶ)郡小鹿野(おがの)町など約20ほどの伝説が報告されていて、「椀貸淵(わんかしぶち)」や「竜宮伝説」とも重層している。この伝説のモチーフは、他郷滞在、禁忌(タブー)侵犯、時の超経過の三つといえる。人界から異なる他界への畏怖(いふ)観を、禁忌不可侵（玉匣、玉手箱）の鉄則を破ることで社会的な罰則、破綻(はたん)をこうむるという筋立ては、昔話の動物報恩による異類婚姻譚(たん)の型である。海神の使者ともいうべき他界の動物報恩は、浦島伝説のみならず、『日本霊異記(にほんりょういき)』上「亀を購(あがな)ひて放生せしめ現報を得る縁」をはじめ中世説話文学にもみえ、昔話「蛤(はまぐり)女房」などと軌を一にするものである。それは沖縄のニライカナイ信仰などに伝存する他界水平観における神霊の豊穣(ほうじょう)致富の約諾の古代的発想が伝承されたといえる。南太平洋諸島にも類似の伝承がある。

　今日もっとも知られている亀の背による竜宮城往復は中世以降の型である。口承の伝説的昔話では、太郎が継子(ままこ)であったり（福井）、鶴(つる)と化したり（香川）、3人兄弟の長男の申し子であったり（京都）、亀がカレイであったり（青森）する。「竜宮童子」「竜宮女房」「黄金の斧(おの)」「沼神の手紙」などのモチーフとも比較されるべきであろう。また他界の短時間が人界の超時間となるのは、『竹取物語』や、甲賀(こうが)三郎譚などにみえ、そこには同じく他界への畏敬観が伝承されている。

［渡邊昭五］

『高木俊雄著「浦島伝説の研究」（『日本神話伝説の研究』所収・1925・岡書院）』▽『出石誠彦著「浦島の説話とその類例について」（『支那神話伝説の研究』所収・1938・中央公論社）』▽『坂口保著『浦島説話の研究』（1955・新光社）』

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