One day, while gathering bamboo stalks in the forest, a farmer is amazed to find a mysterious sprout that grows incredibly fast right before his eyes. The plant flowers and opens to reveal a tiny little girl inside of the flower, whom the farmer believes was sent from heaven for him to take care of, so he takes the tiny girl home with him. Once home, the farmer’s wife holds the little forest nymph and she turns into a baby, which the couple care for. They, with the help of the neighborhood children, name her Princess Takenoko (“Little Bamboo”). Their baby grows fast, and before they know it, she is…