Who Is Prince Ishitsukuri?
The first suitor, who offered a fake bowl
Ishitsukuri no Miko
Prince Ishitsukuri is the first of the five noble suitors who asked to marry Princess Kaguya. She asked him to bring her the Buddha's stone begging bowl, which was said to be in Tenjiku (India).
A calculating man, the prince only pretended to set out for India. After some time had passed, he presented a soot-blackened bowl from a mountain temple in Japan as the real thing. But the Buddha's true bowl should have given off light, and this one did not shine at all. Kaguya saw at once that it was a fake and sent it back.
The prince threw the bowl away at her gate and still kept trying to win her. The tale says that this is why shameless behavior came to be called "haji wo sutsu" ("casting off shame"), a pun on "hachi" (bowl) and "haji" (shame).
Episodes featuring this character3
NEWEpisode 1
He Cut the Bambooand Found a Tiny Girl — Princess Kaguya
In a bamboo grove at dawn, the Bamboo Cutter finds a glowing stalk with a palm-sized girl inside, and he and his wife take her home. In just three months she grows into a beautiful young woman, and she is named Princess Kaguya. Five noble suitors refuse to give up on her. When the Bamboo Cutter begs her to marry, she replies, "I will marry whoever shows me the thing I wish to see."
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
To Marry Her, Find What Doesn't ExistPrincess Kaguya's Five Impossible Tasks
Five noble suitors just won't stop showing up, so Princess Kaguya sets them a challenge: if they truly love her, each must bring her a treasure that doesn't exist in this world. Prince Ishitsukuri goes first, and he cheats to get his bowl. The real one is said to glow blue. Will this one glow in the princess's light?
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
He Paid a Fortune for a Fireproof FurThe Fire-Rat Robe and the Dragon's Jewel
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Episode 4. Minister of the Right Abe no Miushi spends a fortune on a "fireproof" fur robe, and Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Miyuki tries to take a dragon's jewel by brute force. Princess Kaguya sees both of these vain quests through with her own eyes, and quietly hopes both men come home safe. Only one suitor is left...
19 pages