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Encyclopedic overview
Urashima Tarō and princess of Horai, by Matsuki Heikichi (1899)
Urashima Tarō (浦島 太郎) is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (otogi banashi), who, in a typical modern version, is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a sea turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There, he is entertained by the princess Otohime as a reward. He spends what he believes to be several days with the princess. But when he returns to his home village, he discovers he has been gone for at least 100 years. When he opens the forbidden jewelled box (tamatebako), given to him by Otohime on his departure, he turns into an old man.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Urashima Tarō” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.