From which celestial body does Princess Kaguya originate?

Princess Kaguya originates from the Moon. In “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” she is a celestial being who arrives on Earth as a tiny child inside a glowing bamboo stalk. An elderly bamboo cutter discovers her and raises her with his wife.

As Kaguya grows, she becomes known for her extraordinary beauty and is pursued by powerful men, including five aristocratic suitors and the Emperor. Although she builds relationships on Earth, she gradually reveals that she does not truly belong there. Her return to the Moon is foreshadowed by messengers from the celestial realm and by her increasing longing for her original home.

The film adapts “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” a Japanese narrative generally dated to the late ninth or early tenth century. Its lunar origin is sometimes mistaken for a metaphor or for a generic fairy-tale kingdom, but the Moon is explicit in the story. At the ending, Kaguya is taken back to the celestial world despite her attachment to her earthly family.