The Motive of Magic in Rip van Winkle The story of Rip van Winkle is a popular folk tale from the United States. Its overall motif is the magical passing of many years in what seems like just a few days. The popular Japanese version of this story is Urashima Taro. In addition to the common motif, the personalities of the main characters, Rip van Winkle and Urashima Taro, and the plot structures are also similar. The main characters, Rip van Winkle and Urashima Taro, in both stories are very similar. Both are simple men. An example of this is how they spend their time. For example, Urashima Taro likes to spend his days fishing, but doesn't care if he catches anything, and Rip van Winkle likes to go hunting in the mountains with his dog as an excuse to get away from his duties. However, both men have social responsibilities that are ill-suited to this lazy lifestyle. For example, Rip van Winkle's hot-tempered wife constantly berates him for his lack of ambition and initiative. Taro has a mother or wife who depends on him for the very few fish he bothers to bring home. Although we recognize that these men are irresponsible, we sympathize with their simple desires and understand that they are also very kind. For example, Rip is depicted as a friendly and caring father, and Taro saves a turtle who is being cruelly teased by a group of boys. It's easy to imagine them as essentially the same man. The first episode of both stories emphasizes these aspects of their characters and habits. The next episode involves them having experiences with magical people far from their own communities. In one instance, Rip goes hunting in the mountains and meets fairies while bowling and drinking. He enjoys their company and, after drinking a magical drink, falls asleep for many, many years. In the other case, the turtle takes Taro to the Ryugu Palace at the bottom of the sea. After joining the beautiful women in a series of fun pastimes, he too discovers that he has been missing for many, many years. The third episode of both stories concerns the return of the men to their communities. In both cases the men find their old homes strange and unfamiliar. They experience loneliness, isolation and old age. These similarities in structure and character help make the stories almost identical..