Prince Kuramochi (車持皇子)
Prince Kuramochi (Kuramochi no miko) is one of five kikoshi (a young nobleman) who appeared in "Taketori Monogatari" (the Tale of Bumboo Cutter).
Genealogy
Unknown. It seems that he is a fictitious person as there is no such a prince with this name. However, considering the fact that the three out of five kikoshi existed, the Prince Kuramochi may be an actual person who was not recorded in history or the known person with a different name.
Model
Morohira KANO, a scholar of Japanese classical literature in the Edo Period points out the possibility that FUJIWARA no Fuhito, udaijin (minister of the right) in the reign of Empress Genmei, may be the Prince Kuramochi (Fuhito's mother is the Kuramochi clan). There is another theory that the Prince Kuramochi is a prince of either Emperor Tenchi or Emperor Tenmu because Fuhito is not a prince.
Backgrounds
In "Taketori Monogatari" (the Tale of Bumboo Cutter), Kaguya-hime (Princess Kaguya) told him to bring 'the branch of a tree with juseled fruit from Penglai,' which is said to be on the eastern ocean, as a condition for marrying her. However, he didn't head for the eastern ocean, and had craftsmen including Ayabe no uchimaro make a fake and presented it to Kaguya-hime, on the pretence that he had been to the eastern ocean.
The old bamboo-hewer believed the branch which the Prince Kuramochi brought was real, and started to prepare a bed for him. However, it turned out to be a fake as the craftsmen claimed that they didn't receive rewards for the fake branch. Kaguya-hime immediately returned the branch to them and gave rewards to the craftsmen. Prince Kuramochi unduly resented and punished the craftsmen to the extent that they bleed.