Who Is Middle Counselor Isonokami no Maro (Isonokami no Marotari)?
The counselor who risked his life for a swallow's shell
Middle Counselor Isonokami no Marotari
Isonokami no Marotari is the fifth of the five noble suitors of Princess Kaguya, a nobleman holding the rank of Middle Counselor. She asked him to bring the cowry shell (koyasugai) said to be held by a swallow.
An old man named Kuratsumaro taught him a method: hoist one person up in a basket and snatch the shell at the moment a swallow lays its egg. Too impatient to wait, the counselor climbed into the basket himself and grabbed something in the nest, but at that instant the rope broke, and he fell and badly injured his back. Worse still, what he held in his hand was not a shell but old swallow droppings.
The counselor grew weak and died, and when Kaguya heard of it, she is said to have felt a little pity for him. The episode is told as the origin of "kai nashi," meaning "worthless" or "in vain," a pun on "kai" (shell).
Episodes featuring this character4
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
NEWEpisode 5
The Fifth Suitor, Dangling from the SkyThe Swallow's Cowrie Shell and the Emperor
Young Middle Counselor Isonokami rides a basket into the sky to seize the swallow's birth-charm shell. He falls, the whole capital laughs at him, and he dies. His death stirs Princess Kaguya's heart for the first time. Then the Emperor, having heard the rumors, comes to see her for himself, and she turns into a shadow before his eyes. Three years of letters later, the princess begins to gaze up at the moon.
20 pages