Message from jwyss

[Anonymous]

Marton, Farina Lady Kaguya's Secret: A Japanese Tale. New York: Annick Press.
1997

This is another of those gorgeous picture books written for 7-12 year olds that I find so useful for short lessons about the culture that is being studied. I convert the illustrations to a PowerPoint so they are easily viewed by all and read and discuss the story. This one is particularly applicable to late elementary school, maybe even earlier, and for 6th and 7th grade social studies.

Marton gives a beautiful rendering of this Japanese origin tale which is greatly enhanced by her sumptuous illustrations. In reading it, I was struck by a superficial resemblance of this story to that of Turandot and her many suitors.

An old bamboo cutter and his wife lived near Mt. Fuji and one day he saw a glow in a bamboo trunk. When he cut it down he found a baby girl, and, each time he returned, he found gold nuggets. The childless couple called her Kaguya-hime, "Radiant Princess," and, when she came of age for marriage, many suitors came but she paid no attention to them. The woodcutter told his daughter it was customary to marry , but she said she never would. However, to keep from insulting the family, she agreed to meet the suitors and send them on quests to see who was most courageous. When none succeeded, she came to the attention of the young emperor who fell in love with her when first he saw her. Soon she had to reveal to him and her parents that she was not a creature of Earth, but a lady of the Moon who would have to soon return. The emperor and Kaguya grew close through an exchange of messages but one night the Moon King came for his daughter. The emperor tried to protect her but could not. Though she wanted to stay as a mortal, Kaguya's father insisted and she transformed on drinking the potion of immortality. Before returning she offered the potion to her Earth parents who refused to live forever without her. Leaving a note and the elixir of immortality in the emperor's hands, she bid her parents goodbye and disappeared into the night. The emperor read the note and took it to the mountain top nearest the moon where he burned the note and poured the elixir of immortality on the flames. He wanted the smoke to reach her and remind her, if only for an instant, of his love. From that day on a trace of smoke could be seen wafting into the sky from the top of Mt. Fuji.