Urashima Tarō (浦島太郎) is a Japanese fairy tale about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and is rewarded with a visit to the Ryūgū-jō, the Dragon Palace. A fairy tale is a story, either told to children or as if told to children, concerning the adventures of mythical characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. ... Categories: Stub ... Families See text Turtles are reptiles of the order Chelonia, most of whose body is shielded by a special bony or cartilagenous shell developed from their ribs. ... In Japanese legend, Ryūgū-jō (竜宮城) is the undersea palace of Ryujin, the dragon god of the sea. ...

He spends many days in happiness at this underwater kingdom, however soon becomes homesick and asks to be allowed home. The queen of the palace allows him to go home and gives him as a gift a jewel encrusted box. Upon arriving home Urashima discovers that over 300 years have passed in the real world and no one can remember him or any of his contemporaries. Wallowing in depression he heads to the beach and remembers the box he was given. He opens it and a white cloud is released and he suddenly ages and dies - the box having contained his true age. Variants of this story have developed throughout Oceania and the actual origin is unknown. A tall tale is a story that claims to explain the reason for some natural phenomenon, or sometimes illustrates how skilled/intelligent/powerful the subject of the tale was. ... Map of Oceania. ... The origin of something (from the Latin origo, beginning) is where it came from, in the sense of a physical location or a metaphysical source. ...

The story influenced a number of works of fiction and movies. Among them are Urusei Yatsura and Love Hina. It is retold in and used as the basis for the short story Another Story by Ursula K. Le Guin (published in her story collection A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, named for the character of this story). Urusei Yatsura (うる星やつら) is a well-known 1980s manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi. ... Love Hina manga, volume 1 (North America English version) Love Hina (ラブひな Rabu Hina) is a popular manga (and anime) series by author Ken Akamatsu. ... Ursula K. Le Guin at an informal bookstore Q&A session, July 2004 Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (born October 21, 1929), is an American author. ... A Fisherman of the Inland Sea is a 1994 collection of short stories by Ursula K. Le Guin. ...

Similar stories also exist in Europe, being about a monk who goes to sleep one afternoon and wakes up several centuries later, then dies of old age when he realizes it. World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...

See also

• Rip van Winkle
• sleeping heroes
• The Picture of Dorian Gray

Rip van Winkle is a short story by Washington Irving, as well as the name of the storys fictional protagonist. ... DVD cover for the 1945 film version showing Hurd Hatfield (centre) as Gray, Donna Reed (left) as Gladys Hallward, Angela Lansbury (right) as Sibyl Vane and George Sanders (background) as Lord Henry Wotton The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde first published in 1890. ...

External links

• Urashima Taro (in English)