The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is a well-known Japanese legend in which an old man finds a baby girl hidden in a bamboo stalk while cutting the plantsto make baskets. He takes her home and he and his wife raise her as their own. The girl, Kaguyahime (Shining Princess), grows into a beautiful young woman and eventually returns to her home in the Moon Palace without accepting any of the proposals made by her suitors, including the emperor. This print illustrates the moment when the bamboo cutter begs Kaguyahime not to leave.