Program Note:

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari), also known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari), is considered to be the oldest Japanese folktale. Although a precise date and author are unknown, it is thought to have been written by a nobleman sometime within the mid-tenth century.

While not a fairytale per se, the story evokes many of the genre’s characteristics: a princess, extraordinary birth conditions, a marriage plot, and characters defined by a prescribed social function. In adapting this work, the composer has focused on the tension this creates with the character of Kaguya-hime as an outsider—an immigrant—whose identity is constantly and severely contested by outside forces (parents, suitors, political entities), yet mediated by the subversive expression of her innermost desires. Indeed, hers is a struggle for self identity in a strange, foreign world.

Act I:

1. The Bamboo Cutter in the Forest

Taketori no Okina (“old man who harvests bamboo”) and his wife live in a small village far from the capital. The Okina makes a living by crafting various wares with the bamboo he cuts. One day, when he goes to the forest, he sees an unusually luminous stalk of bamboo.

2. The Girl Inside the Bamboo

The curious Okina cuts the bamboo and finds a lovely girl about three inches tall sleeping inside. He and his wife have no children of their own, so he decides to take her home to raise as their child.

3. Name Day for Kaguya-hime

The child grows considerably quickly each day, reaching adolescence in a mere three months. She becomes an incredibly beautiful lady, and Taketori no Okina calls upon someone to give her a name. She receives the name “Nayotake no Kaguya-hime”, meaning "princess of flexible bamboo scattering light".

4. Moving to the Capital (Upward Mobility)

Ever since bringing home Kaguya-hime, when Taketori no Okina goes to forest, gold spills from all the bamboo he cuts. In this way, he amasses a vast wealth. He and his wife use this to build a large, beautiful house for their daughter in the capital. They move from their small village into the bustling city.

Act II:

1. Fanfare for Five Suitors

Kaguya-hime is recognized by all as an incredibly beautiful, mysterious maiden. Desperately seeking her hand in marriage, five court nobles visit the Okina’s house each day and night. The Okina, realizing that these men won’t give up, tells his daughter, “Women should marry men. You should choose one from them.”

Displeased but relenting, Kaguya-hime says, “Please tell them that I would like to marry the man who will bring me something I want.”

That night, the five men gather in the Okina’s house. He tells them what the princess would like from each man. Each is to obtain a particular legendary treasure.

The men depart, daunted by the difficulty of their tasks. Yet after a certain period of time, each man begins to return with the “treasure” for his hoped-for bride.

2. Prince Kuramochi’s Debt

Prince Kuramochi has been told to bring the famed Jeweled Branch of Horai. Unwilling to make the trip, he instead hires a craftsman to make an imitation. He presents the gilded branch to the Okina, who in turn shows it to his daughter. It is so beautiful that the princess is momentarily struck with a great sorrow. But at that very moment, the craftsman shows up seeking payment from his debtor, who quickly flees the Okina’s house.

3. The Princess Behind the Veil

Kaguya-hime does not show her face to any of the suitors, choosing instead to remain hidden behind a veil. The men try to imagine the princess’s appearance behind this sheet. 

4. Prince Ishitsukuri’s Flute

Prince Ishitsukuri is sent to bring the Stone Bowl of Buddha. Hiding out in a mountain monastery with his servants for the next few years, he returns with what turns out to be a very ordinary stone bowl.

5. Minister Mimuraji Ignites the Mink Coat

Abe no Mimuraji is to bring a Chinese fire-mink fur coat. He sends his servant overseas to complete this task, and the servant eventually brings back a luxurious coat. The minister presents this to the Okina and Kaguya-hime, the latter of whom asks him to burn it to test its authenticity. With slight hesitation, the minister holds a candle to the coat, and all three witness as the article is promptly consumed by flames. All parties are regretful: the minister, over the loss of his investment, the Okina, over the failure of the suitor, and the princess, over the destruction of the beautiful (though inauthentic) fur coat.

6. Ootomo no Miyuki Meets the Dragon

Ootomo no Miyuki is to bring a five-colored jewel from the neck of a dragon. He bravely sets out in a ship to face the dragon, only to encounter a terrible storm. In exchange for his safety, Ootomo no Miyuki desperately assures the dragon by prayer that he will not pursue the jewel. Eventually the storm subsides, and the relieved councilor abandons both the treasure and princess.

7. Middle Councilor Isonokami’s Basket

Kaguya-hime and Taketori no Okina receive word that Middle Councilor Isonokami has died falling out of a basket while trying to retrieve a cowry shell from a swallow’s nest.

8. The Emperor

The Mikado (the Emperor) hears about what is going on with the suitors, and decides that he wants to see Kaguya-hime. The Okina tries to arrange the meeting, but she refuses, even disappearing from the Mikado’s sight when he attempts to look at her. However, the two eventually begin to exchange poems.

Act III:

1. She Dreams of the Moon

Three years have passed since Kaguya-hime began exchanging poems with the Mikado, and she increasingly becomes lost in thought whenever she looks at the moon. As the August full moon approaches, she cries, telling her father, “I am not from this planet but from the moon, and I have to return to it on 15th.”

2. Letter from the Emperor to Kaguya-hime

The Mikado learns of Kaguya-hime’s impending departure and sends his troops to ward off the moon people. Amidst the preparations for battle, we find the final letter the Mikado has written to the princess.

3. The Arrival of the Moon Parade

On midnight of the 15th, a parade of moon people descends with a magnificent carriage from the sky. Despite their best efforts, neither the troops nor the Okina and his wife can resist them, and moon people reach Kaguya-hime’s room. They present the princess with a feathered robe. She writes a final letter to the Mikado before putting on the robe. It casts her into a dreamlike state, forever erasing her memories of the Earth.

4. The Apotheosis of Kaguya-hime

The Okina, his wife, the Mikado and his men watch as the moon parade carries Kaguya-hime in their carriage up into the sky. The letter she has written to the Mikado, which he has not yet read, reads simply: “I truly would have liked to become your wife.” A bit before the breaking of dawn, the parade finally disappears like a tiny speck up into the clouds.