You might already be familiar with this story. Urashima Taro is a long-standing and popular Japanese fairy tale. Even if you are not, you are probably familiar with another story of a person who encounters an animal who turns out to be a human in disguise. The most popular European version of this story is the tale of Beauty and the Beast, which sees a beautiful young woman fall in love with a hideous (but kind) beast, who turns out to be an enchanted prince.
Long before a Beauty fell in love with a Beast, however, a young fisherman in Japan fell in love with a turtle. The tale of Urashima the Fisherman was first recorded in eighth-century Japan, and it tells a similar narrative of animal transformation and love.
THE LEGEND OF URASHIMA
There once was a young man named Urashima who lived in the province of Tango in the year 477. One day, he decided to take his boat and
