Abstract
The text concentrates on the space and time in the first Japanese fiction called Taketori monogatari. It considers the possible intertextual world of its male hero and its female counterpart, and tries to unearth the story before the plot of the tale.
Then it proceedes to the scrutiny of time in the text and presents the concept of two parallel times used in some sections of the tale in the context of Daoist legends. Daoist way of thinking had probably influenced the depictions of space in the Taketori monogatari.
The authors of the tale portray scenes in which human beings from this world meet with the heavenly beings (immortals) from the Moon. The coordinates of space-time intersect their coordinates in what is decribed as vertical and horizontal moves.
All these moves are allowed to immortals; however, some are forbidden to human beings. These strict principles operate in the narrative and show the intricate way of thinking of the Heian courtiers at the end of the 9th century.