Urashima Taro

Creative Development for an animated version of the Japanese Folk tale, Urashima Taro.

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Urashima Taro is a man who is fishing in the sea when he sees a turtle that is being tortured by a group of kids. Taro then saves the turtle and releases it back into the sea. A couple of days later while Taro is fishing in his boat as usual, a large turtle tells Taro that the small turtle he had saved was the princess of the sea and that her name is Otohime. The turtle gives Taro gills as a reward and takes him to the deep sea to the underwater Dragon Palace, where he meets Emperor Ryujin and Princess Otohime.

After staying under the sea for three days with the princess, Taro gets homesick and wishes to return home to see his parents. The princess tries to stop him from leaving, but when he insists, she gives him a mysterious box called the “tamatebako” which she says will protect him. After giving him the box, she warns him not to open it no matter what.

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Upon reaching the shore, Taro finds that things have changed so much that even his house, his parents, and all the people he knew are gone. When he asks around, he is told that Urashima Taro vanished into the sea a long time ago. In confusion, he opens the box, which turns him into an old man. 300 years have passed on land even though he only spent three days in the deep sea.