Urashima Taro and the Princess of the Sea

The box in this story is a symbol. The box is a symbol because it shows that everyone makes promises and breaks promises. The box symbolizes something that happens every single day. Breaking a promise is something we don't realize that we've done until we have already done it. For example, in Urashima Taro and the Princess of the Sea, Urashima Taro opens the box to try and find his family and only remembers his promise to the princess, not to open the box, after he opens it. The box in this myth symbolism how we all break promises.