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JAPANESE FOLKTALE SERIES
"URASHIMA TARŌ"

Once upon a time, there lived a kind-hearted fisherman by the name of Urashima
Tarō. One day, Taro saw some children teasing a tortoise on the beach, rescued it and
let it loose into the sea.
Some days later, when Taro was fishing, the tortoise appeared and said to him
that it would take him to the Palace of the sea God as a token of its appreciation for
being rescued. The undersea Palace was indescribably beautiful. A beautiful princess
appeared and thanked him for rescuing the tortoise which had been exposed to danger
on the beach. She entertained him with all kinds of delicacies.
At the Palace, Taro came to realize that three years had already elapsed since his
arrival at the Palace and he decided to go back to his native village. The Princess gave him
a little box as a gift.
When he had returned to his native village, Taro found that the village had been
completely changed. He could find neither his acquaintances nor his own home.
Completely annoyed, Taro opened the Princess' box, although she had told him to do
so. A streak of white smoke leaped from the box and he immediately became a white-
haired old man.

— Text from Ministry of Posts and Communications

 

(A)
Date of issue:January 28, 1975
Denomination: 3 kinds of 20 yen
Design: (A) Tortoise
(B) Ryūgū (Dragon Palace)
(C) Tamatebako (Pandora's box)
Size of impression: 35.5mm x 25mm
Printing process:photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (5x4) stamps
Designer: Chusaku ŌYAMA
Arranged by:Takashi SHIMIZU
(B) (C)

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