Editing Urashima Tarō (section)

== Comparative mythology ==
The story bears varying degrees of similarity to folktales from other cultures. ''[[Rip Van Winkle]]'' is the foremost familiar example, although strictly speaking this cannot be called a "folktale", since it is a fictional work by [[Washington Irving]] loosely based on folklore.<ref name=seal&white /> Nevertheless, Urashima has been labeled the "Japanese Rip van Winkle", even in academic folkloristic literature.<ref name=mills /> "Urashima"{{efn|name=urashima-taro-jotai}} is also a Japanese metaphor similar to "Rip Van Winkle" for someone who feels lost in a world that has changed in their absence.<ref>Shin Wa-Ei Daijiten, 5th edition, entry "Urashima Tarō. Kenkyūsha. 2006.</ref>

This pair of tales may not be the closest matching among the motif group. Writing in the 19th century, [[Lafcadio Hearn]] suggested that Irving wrote another piece called "The Adelantado of the Seven Cities", based on Portuguese tradition, which bore an even stronger resemblance to Urashima.<ref name=hearn-notes /> Japanese art collector [[William Anderson (collector)|William Anderson]] also wrote that a certain Chinese tale was closer to "Rip Van Winkle" than Urashima was.<ref name=anderson />

That Chinese analogue is the anecdote of the woodcutter Wang Zhi,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Wang Chih (王質<ref name=mayers />).}} who after watching [[Chinese immortal|immortals]] playing a board game discovers many years have passed.<ref name=anderson /> The piece is a selection in the {{illm|Shuyiji (Ren Fang){{!}}''Shuyiji''|zh|述異記 (任昉)|ja|述異記}}{{efn|''Shu i Chi''}} or "Accounts of Strange Things", and is also known as the legend of [[Ranka (legend)|Lankeshan]]{{efn|"Lan-k'o shan"}} or "Rotten Axe Handle Mountain".{{sfnp|Sugiyama|1964}}<ref name=wu-jtw-notes /> Sometimes this Chinese tale is conjectured as a possible actual source for Urashima, but there is lack of consensus among folklorists regarding their interrelationship.{{sfnp|Sugiyama|1964}}

Other cognate tales include the Irish legend of [[Oisín]]{{efn|Ossian}} who met [[Niamh (mythology)|Niamh]] and spent his life with her in [[Tír na nÓg]],{{sfnp|McKeon|1996|pp=14–15}}<ref>{{harvp|Tagaya|2011|p=99}}, citing Doi, Shinwa 1973 pp. 19–25</ref><ref name=briggs /> and the Vietnamese [[The Tale of Từ Thức Marrying a Goddess|legend of Từ Thức]], who aids a goddess arrested for plucking a peony flower during a festival.<ref name=costineanu /> In both these cases, the hero is united with a goddess who dwells in a land beyond the sea. Từ Thức's story is collected in ''[[Truyền kỳ mạn lục]]'' by [[Nguyễn Dữ]].

The tale of Urashima Taro holds many similarities with tales of the international catalogue [[Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index]], grouped under type ATU 681, "The Relativity of Time". A similar story is ''The Marsh King's Daughter'', a [[literary fairy tale]] by [[Hans Christian Andersen]]. However, Hiroko Ikeda's Japanese index of folktales lists ''Urashima Taro'' as type 470*, "The Dragon Palace" or "Urashima Taroo".<ref>Hiroko Ikeda. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=EPgZAAAAIAAJ&q=urashima A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature]''. Folklore Fellows Communications Vol. 209. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. 1971. pp. 119-120.</ref>