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Urashima Taro: a book club kit
Where it comes from. People in Japan have told this tale for more than 1,200 years. It was first written down in a history of Japan in the year 720.
In short (for the leader; it gives the ending away). Urashima Taro is a kind young fisherman who saves a turtle from some children. The turtle carries him to the Dragon King's palace under the sea, where the princess Otohime, who was the turtle, welcomes him. When he goes home with a box he promised never to open, he finds that three hundred years have passed.
The lesson, in one line. Kindness is repaid, and a promise should be kept even when we are sad.
Reading plan, by the story's parts. Meeting 1: Part One, “The Turtle on the Sand” and Part Two, “Down to the Sea King”, pages 1–6 (about 4 minutes aloud); Meeting 2: Part Three, “The Four Seasons” and Part Four, “Home Again” and Part Five, “The Little Black Box”, pages 7–15 (about 6 minutes aloud). Each stop's own questions, which never give away what comes next: Urashima Taro by chapter.
Questions to talk about
- What is the moral of Urashima Taro?
The story's answer: Kindness is repaid, and a promise should be kept even when we are sad. Urashima is rewarded for saving the turtle, but he loses his way back when he opens the box he promised to keep shut. - What was in Urashima Taro's box?
The story's answer: Only a little purple cloud. When he opened it, the cloud floated away, and all the years that had passed while he was under the sea came back to him at once, so he became an old man. - How old is the story of Urashima Taro?
The story's answer: It is more than 1,200 years old. An early form of it appears in the Nihon Shoki, a history of Japan finished in the year 720, and it has been retold in Japan ever since. - Is Urashima Taro like Rip Van Winkle?
The story's answer: Yes, in one way. Both men are gone for what feels like a short time, and both come home to find that many years have passed and nobody knows them. Urashima's time away is far longer: three hundred years. - What does this story tell you about the place it comes from?
Listen for: Food, weather, animals, how people live: anything the story shows. - Does it remind you of another story you know?
Listen for: Many folk tales have cousins in other countries.
Did you know?
- Urashima Taro is one of the oldest stories in Japan, first written down in the year 720.
- The undersea palace is called Ryugu-jo, the palace of the Dragon King.
- The princess's box is called a tamatebako in Japanese.
Activity: Tell it round the circle
Find where the story comes from on a map. Then retell it, one sentence each, round the circle, without the book.
More to talk about
More facts for the leader
- A few days in the palace turn out to be three hundred years on land.
- The story is often compared with Rip Van Winkle, another man who comes home to find that many years have passed.
Words to teach before you start
- coral: sea rock
- blossoms: flowers
- maple: a tree
- wisps: thin strands
- wrinkles: skin lines
Questions leaders ask
How long does a Urashima Taro book club meeting take?
Reading it aloud takes about 10 minutes in all, so plan one meeting of 30 to 45 minutes, with time left for the questions. The reading plan on the sheet says where to stop.
What age is Urashima Taro for?
It is written at Peabody level 10, a grade 5 reading level, so most children at that level can read it alone. Younger children can listen to it read aloud.
Do the children need to read it before the meeting?
No. Each child can read it free on Peabody, before the meeting or together at it, and the questions work either way. The sheet's short version gives the ending away, so keep it for the leader.
How do I use the questions?
Start with the story's own questions, which have answers in the leader's notes, then move to the open ones and listen for reasons. There is no wrong answer to an open question. Stop when the group runs out of things to say.
Club kits for stories like this
- Yeh-Shen (level 10)
- Aladdin (level 11)
- Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom (level 9)
- The Boy Who Drew Cats (level 9)
- Momotaro, the Peach Boy (level 8)
How this kit is made
The short version, the facts and the first questions with their answers are the story's own, written for its page in Peabody's library and checked against the sources named there. The open questions, the activity and the plan are Peabody's, written for this kind of story. No part of it is written by a computer model.
Running the meeting: the meeting plans (30, 45 and 60 minutes) and the sign-up sheet.