A tamatebako "jeweled hand box", "jewel box", "jeweled box", "treasure box", "casket", etc., is the name of a mysterious box that in the Japanese folk tale "Urashima Tarō", is a parting gift that the fisherman Urashima Tarō receives from mistress of the sea, after his stay at the Dragon Palace, to which he was invited after saving a turtle. Katami no hako "memento box" is another name by which the box is referred to in the tale. Tamakushige "comb box" is the name that occurs in earlier precursors, such as the anecdote of Ura-no-Shimako in the Fudoki of Tango Province and the Manyōshū. The term tamatebako was first employed in reference to the tale in a quoted poem in Otogizōshi.
Etymology and aliases
Tamatebako is literally rendered "jewel-hand-box" but sometimes it is seen as not imparting any special meaning and translated as "casket". It was glossed as meaning a "beautiful box" by McKeon. The first instance of its use in the Urashima tale is in an inserted poem in the Otogizōshi. And there seems to be a double entendre word-play since tama can mean "jewel" or "soul". The box is also referred to as katami no hako "memento box" in Otogizōshi texts.
Modern version
The tamatebako appears in the story of "Urashima Tarō", whose modern version are generally all based on the national textbook. It is told that Urashima Tarō the fisherman was invited to a sea palace by the princess after saving a turtle. He spent a number of days, fed and entertained and upon his leaving received the tamatebako with explicit instructions to never open the box. When he returned, his parents had died and he recognized no one. In dismay he forgot the princess's caution. When he opened the tamatebako, a white puff of smoke escaped, and he was transformed into an old, white haired man. It is understood during the short time he spent at the Dragon Palace, many years had elapsed in the worldback home. Otohime had stored his old age away in the tamatebako, which Urashima Tarō released.
Seki's variant
A three-tiered jeweled hand-box is given to Urashima Tarō and the princess actually encourages him to use it in the moment of need. This is what occurs in "Urashima Taro" variant collected by Keigo Seki, a telling from Nakatado District, Kagawa. When he opened the lid of the box, the first box contained crane's feather; the second box issued a puff of white smoke that transformed him into an old man; the third box held a mirror for him to look at himself. The feather from the first box then fastened itself on his back, now transforming Urashima into a crane, and the princess appeared in the guise of a turtle to see him. A version with the three-tiered "Tamatebako" was also published in English by the Japanese foreign ministry in 1969.
Early versions
The box is referred to as tamakushige "comb box" in a precursor tale, recorded as historical in the Fudoki of Tango Province, where the principal character is known by the slightly different name, Ura-no-Shimako, and the female identifies herself as a member of the immortals. Shimako's visit to the Horaisan or "Tokoyo-no-kuni" lasts three years, at the end of which he is given the box as a gift. The legend in the Manyōshū refers also to a tamakushige, translated "jewel-casket" by Aston, which Urashima receives from the lady or daughter of the Sea-God.
Poem and expression
In several of the Otogizōshi texts of Urashima Tarō is inserted the waka poem which is an allusion to Urashima: The "akete kuyashiki" in the poem might be restated as "mortified by the opening" of the box. The poem led to the common stock phraseakete kuyashiki tamatebako "opened to his regret, the tamatebako".
