Utsuro-bune - translated from Japanese as "hollow ship". It is an unknown object that was washed ashore in 1803 in the Hitachi province on the east coast of Japan. Inside this object was a young, beautiful girl who did not speak Japanese.
This amazing event was told in three old chronicles:
Toen shōsetsu (Stories from the Rabbit's Garden), composed in 1825 by Kyokutei Bakin. The manuscript is now kept in Machida (Tokyo Prefecture).
Hyōryū kishū (Diaries and Escape Stories), compiled during the Edo period in 1835 by an unknown author. It is located in the Tenri University Library in Nara Prefecture.
Ume no chiri (Apricot Dust), composed in 1844 by Nagahashi Matajiro. It is kept in the Iwasa-Bunko-Toshokan private library in Nara.
The description in all three books is almost identical. However, the chronicle "Tales from the rabbit's garden" contains the most detailed version.
On February 22, 1803, local fishermen on the banks of the Haraiadori in Hitachi province saw an ominous "ship" in the waters, very similar to a ball - something they had never seen before. The ship resembled a Japanese incense burner. The fishermen towed the ship to land. The ship was approximately 3.30 m high and 5.45 m wide.
Promotional video:
Its upper part was made of mahogany and rosewood, and the lower part was covered with copper tiles, apparently to protect it from sharp stones. The vessel was impervious to water, there were no cracks in it.
In the upper part there were several glass or crystal windows. The windows were crystal clear and the fishermen looked inside.
The inside of Utsuro-bune was decorated with texts written in an unknown language. The fishermen found two sheets inside the boat, a bottle with 3.6 liters of water and bread. And the fishermen also saw in her a beautiful young woman, perhaps 18 or 20 years old. She was only 150 cm tall. The woman had red hair and eyebrows, and long strips of fur and fabric were woven into her hair. A similar hairstyle has never been seen before in the Japanese. The lady's skin was very pale pink. She was wearing long and sleek clothes of unknown fabrics.
The woman began to speak, but no one understood her. She didn't seem to understand the fishermen either, so no one could ask her about her origins. Although the mysterious woman seemed friendly and polite, she acted strangely as she was always clutching a square box made of mysterious material.
The woman did not allow anyone to touch the box, no matter how kindly and persistently they asked her. The Japanese elders decided that the woman in a strange boat was sent to serve her sentence, her fate is in the hands of the gods, and therefore it is impossible to interfere with her. The woman was put back into the boat and sent to sea.
The story of Utsuro-bune is quite often played out in modern Japanese culture, for example, in manga-style cartoons.
Natalia Trubinovskaya