Stories & Fairy Tales

(竹取物語) Taketori Monogatari – The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (and Princess Kaguya): A Modern English Translation of Japan’s Oldest Story (Moon Princess)

About the book

This text was translated to modern english using the latest AI technology.

Long ago, in a quiet bamboo grove, an old bamboo cutter finds within a glowing stalk a tiny girl of unearthly beauty. Raised as his own, she grows into Princess Kaguya—radiant, distant, and impossible to possess. Noble suitors come from across the land, each sent on impossible quests. An emperor himself falls under her spell. Yet beneath her beauty lies something untouchable—something not of this world. It is considered Japan’s earliest story, and perhaps the first ever sci-fi story.

As the seasons pass, and the moon grows fuller, a quiet sorrow begins to gather. This is a story of longing without fulfillment, of love that cannot remain, and of a beauty that belongs elsewhere. It carries the feeling of something glimpsed and lost—like moonlight on water, or a voice heard in a dream. Both simple and profound, in this translation, it is presented with clarity and care, while preserving the stillness, strangeness, and quiet ache that have endured for over a thousand years.

Author Zak

Book familyGreat Texts Translated to Modern English

CollectionStories & Fairy Tales

Available formatsKindle · Paperback

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