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Last Updated:11.27.06
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(Okami, np) Kaguya is a relatively minor character in Okami, and yet she stars in one of the more interesting tales of Japan's mythos. F. Hadland Davis explains the story of the bamboo-cutter and the moon-maiden, in which an old bamboo-cutter discovers a young girl inside a bamboo reed and raises her as his own daughter, naming her Kaguya (65). Okami presents parts of this myth almost "as is," with the characters and basic concept remaining the same, except the game injects a little modern-day twist in the end. 
Okami truncates a good portion of the Kaguya myth, however. Davis, in his translation of the story, delves into a series of events involving suitors and contests, of which the game makes no mention. Ultimately, though, he chronicles how Kaguya gazes at the moon in sorrow, realizing that she's not of this earth, and how she's eventually borne away into the heavens by Moonfolk in a special car (75-79). This last part of the story is what Okami faithfully retells. When the player first encounters Kaguya, who happens to be jailed in the Emperor's palace, she seems forlorn and confused, and is described as a "Moonlight Beauty," hinting at her mythical lunar origins (np). Like in the story, she knows there's something different about her past, that she doesn't "belong" on earth, and she's determined to find out exactly what's bothering her. 
It's up to the player, then, to help Kaguya discover her mysterious past. After following her to the bamboo grove of her origin, the player aids Kaguya in digging around the area, ultimately finding a giant spaceship hidden beneath the ground. 
This is where Okami injects a modern-day difference from the original story. In Davis's explanation, Kaguya is taken to the moon by her own lunar people in a special car. In the game, however, Kaguya departs for the heavens herself in a spaceship--which is, of course, a type of "car" in that it's used for transport, but ultimately it's a different kind of car than the one envisioned in the past. Amaterasu and the Bamboo-cutter end up watching the lift-off, and the player is rewarded for helping Kaguya return home. 
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