Urashima Returns Home from the Dragon Palace, January 1886
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paperexpand_more
The Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation, gifts of various donors, by exchange, and gift of Edmond Freis in memory of his parents, Rose and Leon Freisexpand_more 2017.106.180a,b
Not on Viewexpand_more
This diptych illustrates a scene from a popular Japanese fairy tale. One day, the main character, Urashima Tarō, observes children toying with a turtle on the beach. Pitying the turtle, he buys it and releases it in the ocean. A few days later, the grateful turtle returns to take him to the underwater Dragon Palace, where Princess Otohime thanks him personally for his kindness. Days pass in her company, and he decides to return to the surface to tend to his elderly parents, much to the disappointment of the princess, who gives him a mysterious box he must never open. Returning home, he realizes that he has been gone many years, and his parents have perished, along with everyone else he knew. Not recalling the princess’s words, he opens the box and turns into a white-haired old man.
Details
- Title
- Urashima Returns Home from the Dragon Palace
- Artist Life
- 1839 - 1892
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2017.106.180a,b
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Keyes, Courage and Silence (1982), no. 482.3; Iwakiri, Yoshitoshi (2014), p. 290.
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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