Lost Daughter Inlet (WW)
The Lost Daughter Inlet (WW) was the famous island where the first Hantei found his bride, Doji Mioko, the daughter of a Crane fisherman. [1] It was located within Lost Daughter Bay. [2]
Naming[]
Michi ni Mayotta Musume Irie
The island was a sacred place to not only the Doji family but also the Hantei, because it was the island where the first Hantei found his bride. The Emperor searched for a wife to marry, and the Crane frantically searched their lands for the most beautiful woman they could find. In a fishing village named Ikieto, a fisherman hid his daughter Doji Mioko on a small island to make sure they would not select her for the Emperor.
Meanwhile the Emperor continued his search, but none of the women put before him stirred his heart. Finding himself on the ocean shore he heard a haunting melody on the wind. Seeking out this voice, he went to Ikieto where the fisherman was made to take him to Mioko. Mioko hid in a cave, and the Emperor returned without meeting her.
The Fisherman lied to his daughter, telling her it had been a beggar. Mioko penned a haiku and attached it to the leg of her pet bird, in the hope that it would reach the man. That same evening the Emperor found a white dove in the bushes, and read the poem. He decided he would marry the girl, and again approached the Fisherman. The Fisherman tried to pass off a simple maiden of the village as his daughter, but the Emperor saw through the ruse when he asked her to compose a new poem.
Hantei finally forced the Fisherman to tell the truth about his daughter. Hantei was again brought out to the island, and when he first laid eyes on Mioko he cried Jade Tears. The pair were wed, and the island was named for the fisherman's lost daughter.
Since that day, whenever the heir to the Emperor was about to marry, the Empress-to-be would spend one night alone on the island communing with the spirits that lived there.[3]
Masterpiece[]
The most famous telling of this tale was by the famous playwright Akodo Taberu. The play, which was considered his masterpiece, made the Crane characters look like villains, without portraying them as villainous. [4] [1]
References
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